One of the reasons Evan Miles and I visited Honduras last month was to evaluate potential water projects for the Ann Campana Judge Foundation (ACJF). That was also the reason we visited Nicaragua, except that there we were looking to fund others, not conduct projects ourselves.
Here are some photos from our 19 June trip along the coast highway west of Omoa, towards the Guatemala border. This one to the left shows an unhappy camper in a 'ecological park' at which we stopped. The one to the right - well, an interloper.
Above right is amigo Rolando López, on the hike down from the village of Brisas de Cuyamel. We visited that impoverished village of 20 families, none of whom has clean drinking water.
Alex del Cid, shown here by a tank for a large gravity-flow system that serves three villages, conducted a study on the water supply potential for Brisas de Cuyamel and recently provided a brief survey report to me:
Download Brisas de Cuyamel Proyecto
The total cost is about 102,000 Lempiras or about $5,700. The system is a straightforward gravity-flow system.
One issue before the project can proceed is the land ownership one; the water source (la fuente) is on someone else's land. We told the villagers they would have to secure written permission from the landowner before a study/project could begin.
Here are Alex, Evan, and Rolando are shown discussing water issues with a member of the junta de agua for the aformentioned three-village water system. The system was damaged in the recent earthquake and the locals are seeking help to rebuild parts of it. Since the three villlages are considerably better off than Brisas de Cuyamel, I'm inclined not to support their request. They have a large enough base (a few hundred families) and are better off financially to generate enough funds to effect repairs.
Rolando also has a potential water project in La Mosquitia, the remote northeastern part of Honduras. It is for the village of Pimienta on the Rio Patuca, the longest river in Honduras and second longest in Central America. Pimienta is in the department of Gracias a Dios, the easternmost one of Honduras.
Here are some pictures of the Rio Patuca and Pimienta (bottom picture), taken by Rolando López.
We plan to visit Pimienta next March in the middle of the dry season; it's far too wet this time of year. It will be a good time to assess the project feasibility.
Such a project will be logistically daunting, involving plane, trucks, and boats, and perhaps quadrupeds. It will be a real challenge.
I'm looking forward to the trip as I've long had a desire to see La Mosquitia in Honduras, and the analogous region in eastern Nicaragua.
"Es mejor tostón asegurado que dime apostado." - Honduran proverb [Translation: "Secured 10 cents is better than 20 cents in the betting pot."]
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