H2H Volunteer Meeting

This past weekend I went to a Hands to Honduras (H2H) meeting of volunteers going to Tela this coming Jan/Feb. I presented what we did in October and what we've done since then. It was fun to meet some of the folks who will be going down...I'm sure they will have fun and get lots of stuff done. We are working mostly on Jazmin right now, but will pick up the other sites and try to get some stuff done on those in Dec & Jan before volunteers go. Also, in early Dec, I'll order all the UV units and test kits that we'll need! There is no shortage of stuff to do...as with anything worth doing! Thanks for following & I'll up date again soon. Here is my poster!

Rehab Center Water Treatment System

Hi All,



We are still moving forward with providing clean water to schools & institutions in Tela. Here is a picture of the system installed at the Rehab Center along with the new hot water treatment tank! With hot water they are able to have a therapeutic tub!



The silver tube is the UV treatment system, it's plugged directly into the wall. We provided a surge protector & will have to ask George to make sure that gets put on. Now we will encourage them to complete monthly inspections of the system so they can ensure that it remains effective! Wish us luck!

Continuing Work...

Hola!
Believe it or not, we've been hard at work on the water systems at the Tela schools. We have it on good authority that the treatment system has been installed at the Rehab Center, along with a hot water tank. No pictures yet, but they should arrive soon. I will post them when they arrive. When Hands to Honduras-Tela goes back in January, they will test the water using at least the field test kits we used initially. I'm looking for a more rigorous field bacteria testing kit. Contact me if you have any suggestions!

Jeff has spent hours compiling the information we gathered while there and now has a report of sorts put together! Below is a typical schematic of what we think will work at many of the schools. We are now working on specific plans for Jazmin (elementary school). When that is done we will work on IHNFA (daycare) and Grevil Avelar (elementary school).

Check back here regularly...I will update as info becomes available...or sign up as a follower & you will be notified when updates are made!

Hope all is well with you...and hasta pronto (I hope!).

Take care,

Parm

More Pictures

Here are some more pictures from our recent trip:

Snack bar at JFK School where students can purchase soda, chips, lunch food, etc.

Trash/construction rubble at the back of the courtyard/play area at JFK School

Welcome sign at Jubilados

Students hanging out during a quiet moment. Construction debris lays around the perimeter of the schoolyard including boards with exposed nails.

Our engineering student friend, George Vasquez helps interpret at Jubilados.

The old school building at Jazmin.

The new school buildings at Jazmin, they will get another small room and a kitchen this winter.

Little patch of mustard greens being grown by the teacher & students at Jazmin.

Last Day!

Hola Amigos!

Today (well, tues, I am posting Thurs b/c spam issues) was our last day of work in Tela. We spent the morning on "office" work, Jeff entered data into the computer and we met with George. He is on board to help out with maintenance and field inspection of any projects we do. We will start with the system that is being installed in the Rehab Center.

After our meeting we went another quick trip to Jazmin (the school a bit farther out) to show George and take some more pictures. On the way we stopped by the home of Giovanni, the owner of Cesear's Hotel and Restaurant (right next to our hotel). He told us he has a treatment system at his house that plugs in that allows him to drink the water, but it didn't have bulbs (we assumed it was UV). So, we went to check it out. He has a BEAUTIFUL house in a gated community and he & his family can drink the water because he has a small ozone treatment unit on the wall. It is a very effective way of sterilizing water. Something for us to do more research into for use on a larger scale.

In our discussions with him, we asked if it would be beneficial to have drinkable water come out of the taps at his hotel. He responded that nobody expects it because there is no where in the world where you can drink water out of the tap. We told him that we do at our homes, restaurants and hotels in the US & in Europe. He seemed very surprised. It became clear to me that our goals in treating water might be different. But the bottom line is the kids at those schools drink the water because if they can't afford bottle water or teeth-rotting soda, they have no choice.

Overall our trip thus far has been very interesting and eye-opening. There is much work to be done here and most of it is in the area of us understanding the culture and way of life so we can provide good, useful solutions. If at any time you are moved to help out, get in touch with us. If you can help monetarily, please do so! No amount too small! You can send a tax-deductible contribution made out to Hands to Honduras and please put Tela Water Projects on the memo line (for more info: http://handstohonduras.org) to:

Parm Padgett
53 Catherine Street
Burlington, VT 05401

I will keep posting updates here when I can & will post more pictures on Friday (we need to get them organized first!). So, check back. You can sign up to follow the blog, then you will be notified when additions are made.

Muchos gracias to all for listening & leaving comments!

Hasta Luego!
Parm & Jeff

The engineering is the easy part...

Well, today we saw the remaining three facilities where Hands to Honduras is hoping to provide clean water. It is exhausting for us to see these facilities...its hot, and we are trying to gather and process as much information as we can. We don't want to miss something or forget something. So, we are working with a checklist and with forms at each site.

We started out the day meeting with the contractor at the Rehab Center. The thinking was we could install the system there easily because a new water storage system was just installed there (the building is only 2 years old). Well, its never easy and it seems the safest and simplest thing to do is redesign their water system. So, we designed it and when it is done they should have clean water and hot water. Unfortunately, its not going to happen while we are here, but hopefully soon after.We’ll see!

After the Rehab Center we visited three more schools, each with their own set of technical challenges but the one thing they all have in common is the lack of maintenance. When something breaks or stops working, they just don’t do anything about it. Even lights, a light bulb can be blown out & they won’t replace it even if they have extras. Maintaining a facility is just not part of the culture. As Jeff says, “The engineering is easy part.” For these projects figuring out how to install a system that will be cared for is the hard part.

At one school we visited, Hands to Honduras installed a pump and pressure tank last January. The system is functioning, but has leaks that no one has thought to take care of. The adults in charge all seem very interested and want clean water for their students. They know it is making them sick. For us, it is very difficult to provide something that we think will be effective long term. We need to empower the people to provide clean water by maintaining any system that we purchase and install.

We have met a civil engineering student, George, who was born in Tela and says he will die here. He seems dedicated to helping with these problems and he is young and forward thinking. We hope that George will help us to bridge the cultural gap that is preventing these fixes from having a long term impact.

So, enough of the posturing…time to get back to work! I’ve included some pictures below from today. More soon!

Water bubbling out of the JFK water system

A child taking a drink at Jubilados School, the water runs continually during the day & is the only free source of drinking/wash water.

The store at Jubilados School where children who have money can purchase sugary snacks & pepsi products (maintained by pepsi) - we also saw one of these at JFK School.

E.coli test from Rehab Center shows positive for bacteria including e.coli.

Water sample from Jazmin, collected on same day & analyzed at same time as Rehab Center. Negative for bacteria, but I still wouldn't drink it! Our field test is more of an "it's definitely there test", to know if it is safe for drinking we would need to do duplicates and perform a more rigorous analysis.

Punta Sal (our day off!)

Hola Amigos!

We had a busy day off yesterday! Let me start first with Sat night...we went to the fiesta in town and saw the production I told you about. It was mostly high school aged kids with a few older folks in there. It was basically a humorous narration on how poorly Hondurian men treat women. We could tell it was funny by the laughs around us. In between bits of narration were dance/ movement/ puppet/ fire ball numbers. It was great & tons of work for the kids & the director/ producer, a former Montrealer, Jean-Chaarles, who moved here with his wife, Suzanne, 7 years ago. We had dinner at their incredible home on Sunday night (see pic of view from their house below...this is their jungle view, they also see the town & ocean from their house). It was great to connect with someone else here working in the arts with kids and folks working on trying to improve the lives of their neighbors (alot of what they do...especially Suzanne).

During the day on Sunday, we went to Punta Sal National Park. We took a boat from Tela (about 45 min) to a little cove, covered up with clothing & bug spray & headed into the jungle. It was a great little hike (except for the mosquitos...ok for us, thanks to DEET)! We saw lots of little & fairly big sand crabs, some monkeys & amazing trees. Our tour guide ate some termites, as did one of our tourmates...the consensus was that they taste like carrots...we figure we'll just wait to come home & eat the real thing!

After the hike (which was one way across the peninsula) we got back in the boat & headed for some coral. We snokelled from the boat for about 45 min & then went to a beach where two families live. There we hung out in hammocks, swam & snorkelled more & ate a lunch of fish, rice & beans, & fried bananas (our new favorite snack). The meal was huge & prepared by one of the families that live there and cost less than $5.00. Below is a picture of Jeff getting personal with his fish & Parm walking on the beach.

So today (Monday) is back to work. We meet the contractor at 8 am and head to the Rehab Center to install the one water treatment system we brought here. Then we hope to meet with the city engineer & then see more schools. The initial water samples we took from 3 locations show that there is considerable bacteria including e.coli at 2 locations. At Jazmin the water so far looks good...although our field tests are nothing to go by when trying to decide to drink the water! At Jazmin there is a gentleman in the community who hikes up to a collection system every couple of days & adds chlorine.

Well, we're off to eat breakfast before our busy day.

Hasta Luego!

Parm & Jeff