La Presa

  • Overview
  • Medical
  • Dental
  • Engineering
  • Water
  • Business
  • Public Health

Overview

La Presa is located within the municipality of Cedros in the department of Francisco Morazan in central Honduras.  The typical house is made of adobe, cement blocks, and wood. Children in the community have access to primary school. Most of the community members work in agriculture and day labor. The top needs expressed by La Presa‘s inhabitants during their initial communications with Global Brigades are the construction of a water project, public health infrastructure, and support with the existing community bank.

Municipality: Cedros

Department: Francisco Morazan

 

 

Homes : 35
Population : 147
Water System : Yes
Community Bank : Yes
Electricity : Yes
Health Center : No
Community Health Workers : No
% of Homes with Latrines : 26%
Education : Up to 6th Grade
Distance from Lodging Facility : 59 km

Medical

Program Status

  • Planning
  • Active
  • Complete

HEALTH CARE ACCESS

The Honduran government provides two different types of health centers throughout rural Honduras: Centros de Salud Médico Odontológico (CESAMOs) and Centros de Salud Rural (CESARs). CESAMOs are the larger of the two, often found in municipalities, and typically have at least one physician on staff at all times with nurses and potentially a dentist. CESARs are found sporadically in rural communities and generally have a single nurse available. Even with this coverage, it is important to note that medications, supplies, and materials are often not available in these health centers and the physician density in Honduras remains around 1,220 people for every one doctor. According to the World Health Organization, there should be a maximum of 435 people per physician to qualify a country as having adequate access to medical attention.

La Presa does not have its own health center, but travels to the nearby community, Agalteca, in order to get health care. There, the health center is a CESAMO, a larger scale health center where doctors and occasionally dentists are on staff. The health center is 12 kilometers away and medications are not commonly available. The most common illnesses are common cold, diarrhea, skin allergies, hypertension, and diabetes.

*Based on brigades in La Candelaria, where community members of La Presa attend brigades.

174

Volunteers*

2,792

Patient Consultations*

352

Vision Screenings Provided*

94

Health Education Workshops*

COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKERS:


The community of La Presa does not yet have Community Health Workers.  The Global Brigades Honduras team is working diligently to train volunteers as CHWs in our partner communities as part its Holistic Model. La Presa will receive training as soon as possible to further support the health of its community members.

BRIGADE INFORMATION

Community members in La Presa attend Medical and Dental Brigade clinics hosted in La Candelaria. The various stations of the clinic are held in the school’s four classrooms. Doctors are able to spend an average of ten minutes with each patient. More information is available on at La Candelaria’s community profile.

Dental

Program Status

  • Planning
  • Active
  • Complete

DENTAL CARE ACCESS:

In working closely with the Medical program, the Dental program provides fillings, extractions, and fluoride treatments as a standard part of Medical Brigades. Most community members do not have regular access to dental care due to the lack of dentist within a reasonable distance.

* Based on brigades in La Candelaria , where community members of La Presa attend brigades.

 

367

Patient Consultations*

439

Number of Extractions*

286

Fillings Performed*

76

Dental Education Workshops*

BRIGADE INFORMATION

Community members in La Presa attend Medical and Dental Brigade clinics hosted in La Candelaria. The various stations of the clinic are held in the school’s four classrooms. Doctors are able to spend an average of ten minutes with each patient. More information is available on at La Candelaria’s community profile

 

Engineering

Program Status

  • Planning
  • Active
  • Complete

LA PRESA’S ENGINEERING CHALLENGE

When Global Brigades arrived in La Presa, community members did not have a formal water system and to walk to nearby stream to collect water daily for hygiene, cooking and cleaning needs. The water community members were collecting was not being treated and lead to illness. There is a tank without a distribution network but this had very limited supply and community members were forced to collect from the stream. The time and energy that was necessary in order to retrieve water caused families to sacrifice important hygiene and sanitation practices that would require more water.

18

Volunteers

249

Beneficiaries

5.66

Kilometers of Pipeline Designed

20

Average Community Volunteers

LA PRESA’S ENGINEERING SOLUTION

A strong partnership between Global Brigades, community leaders, World Vision, and local government allowed for the completion of a new water system in La Presa in 2019. The sysem is a surface water system with a pump that connects too a 10,000 gallon water tank. This elevated tank is able to distribute water through 5 km of piping to 249 people in the community of La Presa.

ENGINEERING VOLUNTEERS IN LA PRESA

Chapter Date # Of Volunteers
University of California Irvine Engineering Brigade & University of Warwick Engineering Brigade September 2018 18

Water

Program Status

  • Planning
  • Active
  • Complete

LA PRESA’S WATER CHALLENGE

When Global Brigades arrived in La Presa, community members did not have a formal water system and to walk to nearby stream to collect water daily for hygiene, cooking and cleaning needs. The water community members were collecting was not being treated and lead to illness. There is a tank without a distribution network but this had very limited supply and community members were forced to collect from the stream. The time and energy that was necessary in order to retrieve water caused families to sacrifice important hygiene and sanitation practices that would require more water.

655

Volunteers

249

Project Beneficiaries

5

Kilometers of Pipeline Installed

10,000

Storage Tank Volume (gallons)

LA PRESA’S WATER SOLUTION

A strong partnership between Global Brigades, community leaders, World Vision, and local government allowed for the completion of a new water system in La Presa in 2019. Community Leaders organized community participation and payments, Corporación Municipal de Cedros, Francisco Morazán donated funds, and Global Brigades alongside community members constructed the system, trained the water council, and trained the maintenance person. Community Members and Global Brigades celebrated La Presa’s completed water system in April of 2019. Water now reaches the entire community.

WATER VOLUNTEERS IN LA PRESA

Chapter Date # Of Volunteers Chapter Date # Of Volunteers
Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Brigade January 2019 22 Brown university Medical Brigade & University of Maryland Baltimore Medical Brigade January 2019 7
Duke University Medical Brigade & University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Medical Brigade January 2019 31 University of Toledo Medical Brigade January 2019 36
Saint Louis University Public Health Brigade & University of Missouri Public Health Brigade January 2019 7 Virginia Tech Medical Brigade January 2019 34
University of Missouri Medical Brigade January 2019 36 University of Maryland Dental Brigade January 2019 39
California State University Sacramento Medical Brigade January 2019 33 Johns Hopkins University Medical Brigade January 2019 20
Brandeis University Medical brigade February 2019 10 Mount Allison University Water Brigade February 2019 13
Brandeis University Medical Brigade & University of Victoria Medical Brigade February 2019 25 Milwaukee School of Engineering Water Brigade February 2019 14
Milwaukee School of Engineering Public Health Brigade February 2019 13 Milwaukee School of Engineering Medical Brigade February 2019 18
Central Michigan University Public Health Brigade February 2019 14 Stetson University Medical Brigade & University of Arizona Medical Brigade & Appalachian State University Medical Brigade March 2019 36
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Medical Brigade & Vanderbilt University Medical Brigade & University of Detroit Mercy Medical Brigade March 2019 32 Michigan State University Medical Brigade March 2019 35
Pennsylvania State University Engineering Brigade & University of Arizona Engineering Brigade March 2019 18 University of Virginia Water Brigade March 2019 11
Texas A&M International University Engineering Brigade March 2019 16 Texas A&M International University Medical Brigade March 2019 24
Duke University Public Health Brigade & University of Notre Dame Public Health Brigade March 2019 14 University of Mississippi Medical Brigade March 2019 30
Belmont University Medical Brigade March 2019 26 New Jersey Institute of Technology Medical Brigade & New York University Medical Brigade & Boise State University Medical Brigade March 2019 25
California State Polytechnic University San Luis Obispo Medical Brigade & DePaul University Medical Brigade March 2019 16

Business

Program Status

  • Planning
  • Active
  • Complete

LA PRESA’S ECONOMIC CHALLENGE:

The majority of community members in La Presa work in agriculture and as day labourers. This primarily consists of subsistence farming, although excess crops are sometimes sold. Most agricultural workers make about 100 lempiras (approximately US $4.25) a day during the rainy season. Regardless of occupation, most families earn around 4,000 lempiras per month (approximately US $170). Almost all household income is used to purchase food for consumption.

N/A

Volunteers

N/A

Loans Disbursed

3

Savings Accounts Opened

N/A

Capital Invested

LA PRESA’S MICRO-FINANCE SOLUTION:

In 2019, Global Brigades worked alongside La Presa to establish a community bank. The bank has 8 female and 3 male shareholders, and the members meet in the bank’s own structure every month. They are able to offer loans and savings accounts to community members so that families can plan and stabilize their finances. This is especially beneficial for farmers, who can take out loans to invest in their agricultural production and pay them back after the harvest. Loans allow many subsistence farmers to not only consume the crops they harvest but also earn an income from selling their excess.

Public Health

Program Status

  • Planning
  • Active
  • Complete

LA PRESA’S PUBLIC HEALTH CHALLENGE:

Many community members in La Presa lacked the necessary resources to improve their homes and prevent diseases caused by unsafe living conditions. The majority of homes were made of adobe, straw, and mud, and few homes had hygiene stations, cement floors, or eco-stoves prior to the arrival of Global Brigades. These living conditions resulted in disease. The lack of hygiene stations led to high rates of diarrhea and water-borne disease, the absence of cement floors caused parasitic infection and Chagas Disease, and the lack of eco-stoves resulted in respiratory problems in many community members.

Although community members recognized the problems inherent to their living environments, they did not have the economic resources nor the technical knowledge needed to address them. It also was necessary to increase the level of awareness concerning sanitation and the importance of health in the community.

36

Volunteers

5

Sanitation Units Installed

12

People Benefited with Pubic Health Infrastructure

2

Hours of Public Health Education

PUBLIC HEALTH VOLUNTEERS IN LA PRESA

Chapter Date # Of Volunteers Chapter Date # Of Volunteers
Acadia University Medical Brigade April 2018 26 University of Toronto Public Health Brigade & London Ontario University Public Health Brigade May 2018 10

Local Reference Points

View the map to see the closest volunteer lodging facilities, hospitals, and other relevant points of reference.

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