I've always maintained the position that foreigners living in developing countries can do so much for their host countries, if they choose to. I choose to.
As an American living in Honduras, I am using any free time I have to develop projects that benefit the local communities, even though officially, I am not connected with an organization. Here are just a few of the projects I'm currently working on.
If anyone has any suggestions or helpful tips, please feel free to comment, or send me an email!
RENOVATION OF THE NUTRITION WARD AT HOSPITAL ESCUELA
According to UNICEF, 5.6 million children die worldwide from malnutrition every year, and that one out of four children under the age of 5, approximately 146 million, are underweight. Earlier this year, I received a grant from the J Kirby Simon Trust to fix up the Nutrition Ward at Hospital Escuela. While this project won't help prevent malnutrition in Honduras, it will help those children recovering with this.
Comedor:
The main area of focus is the comedor (lunch room), a room where the malnourished children and their families eat. Cynthia and I will start off by working on the aesthetics first - painting the walls, putting up curtains, putting in new Little Tikes tables and chairs so the children can actually sit down to eat, and hiring a local artist to create a beautiful mural. Then we are planning on fixing up the plumbing in the comedor and replacing the current sinks. This will no doubt be the most challenging area of our project, but we're still very optimistic.
Wheelchairs:
We are also going to provide 3 new wheelchairs to the ward. There is only one wheelchair for the whole ward and that sole wheelchair happens to be broken. Still, the doctors have no choice but to use it because it still works, albeit barely. Thanks to the NGO Northwest Medical Teams, International, Inc., I will be getting these much needed wheelchairs in a crate marked for Tegucigalpa in the next couple of months.
Strollers:
I am in need of about 4 umbrella strollers as well. The ward "offers" one umbrella stroller (with a front wheel missing) so that the parents can walk their children back and forth in the hallway. It is small and convenient for both the parent and the child. However, since there is only one, it is in high demand and its poor sate of repair means that it is unlikely to last much longer.
Holes in the Ceiling:
There are huge holes in the ceiling, making the pipes and the wiring visible and more apt for leaks. The plan is to add more ceiling panels to the ceiling to patch it up.
Other:
If there is any money left over, we would love to have the hallway painted, and perhaps work on the individual rooms.
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OJOJONA LATRINE PROJECT
10 years ago, if someone told me I would be involved in a latrine project, I would have never believed it. But this is a project of great importance and I'm glad to be a part of it.
In March of this year, I asked the two Peace Corps volunteers living in Ojojona what the major areas of need are, and they both agreed that it was the lack of latrines. There are currently 180 homes without latrines just in downtown Ojojona alone, not counting the bordering aldeas. It's hard to fathom in more developed countries how living without a place to go to the bathroom is possible, but in the poorer areas of Honduras, this is life.
It's not just a question of convenience but of health. According to Johns Hopkins University, latrines hold the potential for preventing most intestinal diseases and can reduce the environmental contamination of parasites including roundworms and tapeworms. This will be very beneficial to the families of these villages given that they don't have easy access to health care if they do get sick.
So when I heard about this, I wanted to get involved. The materials for each latrine cost about $50 each, and the families themselves are the ones who dig the holes for the latrines, and their neighbors and community members help with the actual construction of the latrines.
In April, two families and I donated $50 each for the construction of 3 latrines in a very poor area of Ojojona. One of the Peace Corps volunteers helped me buy the materials at a local hardware store.
I was told that the construction would take less than a month, but to no surprise, it took longer than expected. The problem is that grounds in Ojojona are mainly solid rock and since each of the families had to dig their own latrine holes with nothing more a chisel, hammer and a shovel, it took a lot longer. Recently, I met with the President of the Water Board in Ojojona and he told me that two of the three holes were finally done and that the board supposedly was going to go in and help build the latrines this week. The third house is still working of their latrine hole.
My plan is twofold - wait until these three latrines are finally built, then if they truly are a success, I plan on raising funds for more latrines to be built. I am planning on going back to Ojojona either late this week or early next week if anyone is interested in going with me for this project.
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OJOJONA TOY DRIVE
Last year, with the help of a few local families and several of my family and friends back in the States, I was able to collect toys for 250 children in Ojojona, 50 of which were distributed in downtown and 200 in Santa Cruz, an aldea two hours away. Given the incredible success of last year's toy drive, it wouldn't make sense to not continue it again this year. Having said that, I will be collecting toys again as soon as possible. Low key toys (dolls, toy cars, clean stuffed animals), ones without batteries, are the best of this toy drive. For the older children, we will give them art supplies like coloring books and crayons, or anything educational. Instead of Santa Cruz, however, we will distribute the toys in an aldea called Jicaro La Cofradia, halfway between downtown Ojojona and Santa Cruz.
