Los Hatillos 1 is a community in the municipality of Choluteca in southern Honduras. This area of the country is extremely hot, with temperatures often soaring to well over 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Los Hatillos 1 neighbors Los Hatillos 2 and Familias Unidas, two other communities that share a water system with Los Hatillos 1.
Municipality: Choluteca
Department: Choluteca
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.
The nearest health center to Los Hatillos 1 is in the community Guanacastillos, about 30 minutes away. The local health center is known as a CESAMO, which is visited by at least one doctor and several nurses. On occasion, community members have access to a dentist.
Volunteers
Patient Consultations
Vision Screenings Provided
Health Education Workshops
COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKERS:In June of 2016, Global Brigades finished training 14 Community Health Workers based out of Los Hatillos 2. They have built a connection with the health center in Guanacastillo in order to strengthen each others impact. 1 of these volunteers trained is from Hatillos 1, and there are more members from surrounding communities such as Agua Caliente, Las Marias, El Garzon, El Piton, and Guanacaste. The Community Health Workers bridge a gap in the healthcare system by providing basic medical attention to community members who can’t travel to the health centre. CHWs also help to treat and prevent common illnesses and address other health topics such as first aid, caring for pregnancies, and first response in emergencies.
Since space is limited in the health care centre and due to the lengthy distance, brigades are held at the local school in Los Hatillos 1. Doctors spend an average of 10 minutes with each patient and volunteers are able to provide 5-6 educational charlas a day. Each brigade sees an average of 300 patients per day.
| Chapter | Date | # Of Volunteers | Chapter | Date | # Of Volunteers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Arizona Medical Brigade | March 2013 | 37 | Harvard University Medical Brigade | January 2014 | 31 |
| Imperial College London Medical Brigade | September 2014 | 20 | New Hampshire Medical Brigade & Cornell Medical Brigade | May 2015 | 47 |
| Boston University Medical Brigade | May 2016 | 22 | University of Maryland Dental Brigade | January 2018 | 31 |
| California State University Bakersfield Medical Brigade & Johns Hopkins University Medical Brigade | May 2018 | 37 | Pennsylvania State University Hershey College of Medicine Medical Brigade & Western Michigan University Medical Brigade | March 2019 | 24 |
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.
Patients Consultations
Number of Extractions
Fillings Performed
Dental Education Workshops
BRIGADE INFORMATION:Since space is limited in the health care center and due to the lengthy distance, brigades are held at the local school in Los Hatillos 1. Doctors spend an average of 10 minutes with each patient and volunteers are able to provide 5-6 educational charlas a day. Each brigade sees an average of 56 dental patients.
| Chapter | Date | # Of Volunteers | Chapter | Date | # Of Volunteers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Arizona Medical Brigade | March 2013 | 37 | Harvard University Medical Brigade | January 2014 | 31 |
| Imperial College London Medical Brigade | September 2014 | 20 | New Hampshire Medical Brigade & Cornell Medical Brigade | May 2015 | 47 |
| Boston University Medical Brigade | May 2016 | 22 | University of Maryland Dental Brigade | January 2018 | 31 |
| California State University Bakersfield Medical Brigade & Johns Hopkins University Medical Brigade | May 2018 | 37 | Pennsylvania State University Hershey College of Medicine Medical Brigade & Western Michigan University Medical Brigade | March 2019 | 24 |
Prior to Global Brigades’ partnership with the three communities, Los Hatillos 1, Los Hatillos 2, and Familias Unidas, never had a centralized water system providing access to all members of the community. Community members used various strategies to obtain water depending on their neighbourhood. Regardless of how they accessed water, there was no central treatment and few families treated the drinking water within their homes, increasing the risk of water-borne disease.
In Los Hatillos 1, some community members built wells to fulfil the water needs of the community. These families allowed neighbours to fill buckets and tubs with water from their wells and then lug the water to their homes. Similarly, those living in Familias Unidas went to nearby wells to collect water and carry it to their homes. Community members believe that the contaminated water caused both skin rashes and diarrheal disease.
*The number of project beneficiaries and general information reflects the entire system, which supplies water to Los Hatillos 1, Los Hatillos 2, and Familias Unidas.
Volunteers
Project Beneficiaries*
Kilometers of Pipeline Designed
Average Community Volunteers
LOS HATILLOS 1’S ENGINEERING SOLUTION:To ensure the sustainability of the project, a Basic Sanitation Committee and a Water Council were established and trained by Water Brigades.
| Chapter | Date | # Of Volunteers | Chapter | Date | # Of Volunteers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of California Irvine Engineering Brigade | March 2014 | 15 | Summer Interns | July 2014 | 4 |
Prior to Global Brigades’ partnership with the three communities, Los Hatillos 1, Los Hatillos 2, and Familias Unidas, never had a centralized water system providing access to all members of the community. Community members used various strategies to obtain water depending on their neighbourhood. Regardless of how they accessed water, there was no central treatment and few families treated the drinking water within their homes, increasing the risk of water-borne disease.
In Los Hatillos 1, some community members built wells to fulfil the water needs of the community. These families allowed neighbours to fill buckets and tubs with water from their wells and then lug the water to their homes. Similarly, those living in Familias Unidas went to nearby wells to collect water and carry it to their homes. Community members believe that the contaminated water caused both skin rashes and diarrheal disease.
*The number of project beneficiaries and general information reflects the entire system, which supplies water to Los Hatillos 1, Los Hatillos 2, and Familias Unidas.
Volunteers
Project Beneficiaries*
Kilometers of Pipeline Installed
Storage Tank Volume (gallons)
Global Brigades volunteers first broke ground in Los Hatillos in December 2014. Over the course of the project, more than 20 groups of brigaders and hundreds of community members performed the following tasks:
To ensure the sustainability of the project, a Water Council and a Basic Sanitation Committee were established and trained by Global Brigades staff. The completion of this project comes after an arduous process of tackling various obstacles, such as seeking a viable water source. In late 2015, the community joined together in a celebration to inaugurate the project.
| Chapter | Date | # Of Volunteers | Chapter | Date | # Of Volunteers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Illinois at Chicago Water Brigade | December 2014 | 13 | DePaul University Water Brigade | December 2014 | 20 |
| UT Medical Branch Water Brigade | December 2014 | 9 | UVA Water Brigade & University of Rochester Water Brigade | January 2015 | 26 |
| Boston University Water Brigade | January 2015 | 22 | Loyola, Lehigh Water Brigade & SLU Water Brigade | January 2015 | 33 |
| Mizzou Water Brigade & Columbia University Water Brigade | January 2015 | 12 | University of Victoria Water Brigade | February 2015 | 9 |
| Mount Allison University Water Brigade | February 2015 | 11 | Brandeis University Water Brigade | February 2015 | 29 |
| Central Michigan, Georgetown University Water Brigade & Hoyas Water Brigade | March 2015 | 22 | UNC Chapel Hill Water Brigade, Washington University St. Louis, Yale, & Sherman Texas University Water Brigade | March 2015 | 37 |
| Carnegie Mellon University Water Brigade | March 2015 | 11 | Indiana University Water Brigade | March 2015 | 10 |
| University of Arizona Water Brigade | March 2015 | 18 | UIC, UC Irvine, & UC Davis Water Brigade | March 2015 | 28 |
| UC San Diego Water Brigade | March 2015 | 28 | Tulane University Water Brigade | March 2015 | 14 |
| Acadia University Water Brigade | April 2015 | 8 | University of Pittsburgh Water Brigade | April 2015 | 27 |
| Calgary Water Brigade & British Columbia University Water Brigade | May 2015 | 13 | Chicago Brigades | May 2015 | 13 |
| Penn State Water Brigade & Emory University Water Brigade | May 2015 | 29 | Temple University Water Brigade | May 2015 | 23 |
| UNC Wilmington Water Brigade | May 2015 | 13 | Penn State University Water Brigade | May 2015 | 28 |
| Case Western Reserve Water Brigade | May 2015 | 32 | UT Austin, Berkeley, Dublin City Water Brigade & Dublin Institute of Technology Water Brigade | May 2015 | 25 |
| New Hampshire Water Brigade & Cornell University Water Brigade | May 2015 | 55 | Stevenson University Water Brigade | June 2016 | 21 |
| Chapman University Water Brigade & San Diego State University Water Brigade | June 2015 | 21 | University College of London, UCSB Water Brigade & UC Riverside Water Brigade | June 2015 | 13 |
| UC Riverside Water Brigade | June 2015 | 48 |
The majority of community members in Los Hatillos 1 grow corn and beans to eat and sell. Others work on nearby shrimp farms to earn money. This work is generally seasonal and does not provide steady employment. For their labor, community members earn roughly 3,500 Lempiras or US $150 per month.
*These statistics represent information from the rural bank in Los Hatillos 2, where community members from Los Hatillos 1 are members, can take out loans, and can open savings accounts.
Volunteers
Loans Disbursed
Savings Accounts Opened
Capital Invested
LOS HATILLOS 1’S MICRO-FINANCE SOLUTION:Los Hatillos 1 has access to a newly-formed community bank in Los Hatillos 2, which will provide financial services such as loans and savings accounts to community members. The bank has 7 female and 5 male shareholders, and the members meet in the bank’s structure every month. They can 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 before planting season 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.
The next step for Los Hatillos 1 will be to establish a micro-enterprise that can bring more income into the community. The Global Brigades business team will soon host Business Brigades in Los Hatillos 1 to study the local market and identify potential business opportunities for the community.
| Chapter | Date | # Of Volunteers |
|---|---|---|
| Vanderbuilt University Business Brigade | March 2017 | 17 |
Global Brigades is working on the implementation of the Holistic Model in Los Hatillos 1 but has not yet begun with the Public Health program. Now in the planning phase, the delivery and installation of household health products will start as soon as feasible.