Projects

5/4/08       Mark Skopin, Dan Applegate, Nick Roth, Andrew Jones, Mr.                   Clifford Gordon travel to Honduras to begin assessment trip.                    Data collection and information on the community will be                   collected at this time.

 

2/16/08     Project to Honduras is approved!  Work begins on planning                   assessment trip

 

12/15/07   Applied for a project in Los Sanchez, Honduras.  The project                   involves water supply from a spring to a common storage tank.

                  The EWB-USA decision date for this project was Feb. 15, 2008.

 

Click to see pictures of Los Sanchez!

 

Engineers Without Borders (EWB), through The University of Toledo chapter (EWB-UT) has undertaken the responsibility to develop a Water Supply Project for the Village of Los Sanchez, Honduras. To this regard, a few members of the chapter conducted an assessment trip to the Village during the week of May 4, 2008. The objective was to compile basic information needed for designing the system and to assess the overall sanitation needs of the community.

 

The Village of Los Sanchez is located within the Municipality of Orocuina, in the Department of Choluteca, Honduras and approximately 15 miles north of the City of Choluteca.  The Village is very organized with a strong sense of unity, and there is indication that the community has been exposed to (and adopted) basic health/sanitation practices.

 

The high level of organization within the community was one of the reasons why Los Sanchez was selected for this project. For over 7 years, the community has been conducting efforts to obtain clean water supply. They have created a Water Board that has negotiated the rights to obtain water from a nearby spring and for right-of-way for the conduction line.

 

Information provided by the Health Department of Orocuina indicates that as of 2006 there were 29 residences occupied by 156 inhabitants (83 female, 73 male), for an average of 5.3 inhabitants per residence. Approximately 58% of the population (90 youths) are less than 19 years or younger, with children under 12 years old being the highest demographic.

 

Relations between EWB-UT and the Village of Los Sanchez were originally established via a personal contact working in the Peace Corps in Orocuina.  This contact also established relations between EWB-UT and the mayor’s office of Orocuina, which helped provide transportation, food, and housing during the assessment trip.  During the assessment trip, members of the chapter met with other Peace Corps volunteers stationed in the area to keep a very strong connection with the community of Los Sanchez.

 

None of the residences have any basic infrastructure such as electric light, potable water, or even latrines. Most residences only have one room that serves the entire need of the household (living room, sleeping quarters and kitchen). Due to the lack of latrines, basic sanitation is performed outdoors beyond the limits of the Village. Cooking is performed indoors with wood-burning makeshift clay stoves. The stoves are not equipped with chimneys and the walls of their homes are coated with soot. As a result, smoke inhalation is another health issue of concern.

 

Garbage is usually separated with organic matter (usually food waste) composted to be used as fertilizer. Other garbage is burned by each household at a designated location.