Clean Water for Rural Honduras

Dear GlobalGiving Supporter,

Greetings from Honduras, friends! I sincerely hope that you are staying safe and healthy. The world has certainly changed since the last time I was in touch.

Just like most countries around the world, Honduras is feeling the effects of COVID-19. Since mid-March, the population has been under curfew, orders to practice social distancing, and following safety protocols. At EcoLogic, our priority is to keep our staff and communities protected and we have been observing these guidelines. So far, COVID-19 cases have concentrated mostly in urban centers, but the trend continues to be a rising number of cases. The rural communities where we work remain vigilant, practicing social distancing, and keeping outsiders from coming into their villages.

However, our work hasn’t stopped over that time. Our technical staff has been providing ongoing information and technical support to our community partners. On a strategic basis, we've also supported the implementation of activities such as the recent establishment of home gardens with our local partner the Alliance of Municipalities of Central Atlántida (MAMUCA) to have an immediate, tangible impact on the health and wellbeing of rural communities in need during the ongoing pandemic. Supplies include local plants such as sweet potato, banana, yucca, green beans, cilantro, onion, and ayote, among others.  These home gardens provide a source of food and ensure a greater diversity of nutrition to supplement families’ current diets which are becoming more and more limited due to the crisis.

We're extremely grateful for your partnership in supporting this community-based project in support of sustainable livelihoods and self-sufficiency. We look forward to continuing our collaboration and keeping you updated on progress made as we navigate these uncertain times.

In solidarity,

Carlos Duarte Euraque

EcoLogic Program Officer, Honduras

Dear GlobalGiving supporters,

I recently hosted our volunteer and supporter Warren who visited us from North Carolina. For this update, I will share some of his photos and observations about the work we are carrying out. As Warren says, “I travel to Honduras and Guatemala to see EcoLogic's work with my own eyes, "boots on the ground" (or in the mud really), so to speak.”

• One of the areas I visited was the village of San Martin, which now has 12 “sumideros” or greywater drains - underground concrete and stone cisterns which enable greywater (from bathing and kitchen use, no sewage) to infiltrate into the ground. This protects surface water quality and reduces habitat for mosquitoes that carry dengue - which struck at least 107,000 people and killed at least 175 in Honduras during 2019. Children are especially vulnerable. 
• A sumidero is about 8 feet deep. The family and community contribute rock and all the labor - EcoLogic, in partnership with Arizona Municipality, contributes concrete, pipe, and technical assistance. More sumideros are needed.
• In rural Central America, firewood is the usual household cooking fuel, often burnt in wasteful, unsafe, and unhealthful crude stoves or open fires. EcoLogic and its partners enable families to obtain fuel-efficient stoves, which reduce firewood consumption by about one-half, thus reducing household labor and expense. The smoke is safely vented outdoors where it will not damage the lungs and eyes of the family.
• The recipients contribute some of the cost and most of the labor; they love the efficiency, safety, healthfulness, and cleanliness of these stoves. Obtaining stoves is often a community effort with leadership by women.

We're grateful to Warren for his visit and ongoing support in making these initiatives possible. If you have any questions or comments, please get in touch with me at ceuraque@ecologic.org. Or, better yet, come visit us and see for yourself!

In solidarity,

Carlos Euraque, Program Officer, Honduras

EcoLogic Development Fund