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One of the most obvious symptoms of underdevelopment is inadequate or unavailable health care. This problem disproportionately affects those living in rural Honduras, where many people have no access to clean water or even the most basic medicines. Lack of health care also fuels the continuation of poverty as minor health issues go untreated and result in major, long-term illness or death.
Current and Ongoing
Volunteer Health Workers
Un Mundo partners with volunteer health care workers and visiting delegations interested in forming a long-term relationship in the Cangrejal Valley.
IF YOU ARE A HEALTH CARE WORKER OR COMMUNITY HEALTH SPECIALIST AND HAVE AN INTEREST IN VOLUNTEERING FOR AN EXTENDED PERIOD OF TIME (6 months or more), PLEASE CONTACT US.
The majority of public health clinics in Honduras are under-funded and
understaffed. Therefore, Un Mundo has recently partnered with the two public health
clinics in the Cangrejal Valley, one in El Pital and the other in Yaruca to
support the health practitioners in educating the local population on
preventative healthcare practices to complement their primary care. Currently the Un Mundo health coordinator works with local practitioners on a weekly basis to develop workshops which are taught in the schools or towards specific target groups.
Partnering with families in need, located in remote areas, Un Mundo is currently launching a composting toilet project in the Cangrejal River Valley. Composting toilets are constructed above the ground and therefore are a good option for regions where ground water is close to the surface or where there is frequent runoff into surface water. Composting toilets have the advantage of always functioning in the same location, unlike the traditionally used pit latrines, which need to be sealed and moved every eight to ten years.
Un Mundo partner WorldCamp for Kids visited El Pital in July 2008 to facilitate high school students in a workshop on AIDS and HIV. World Camp is a grassroots non-profit organization dedicated to empowering youth in communities throughout the world through education. Each summer WorldCamp brings a group of college students to Honduras to participate in workshops throughout high schools on the north coast. The volunteers spent several days in El Pital, teaching and mentoring in classrooms and getting to know the local families through Un Mundo's home-stay program, Mi Casa Su Casa. Sixty youths from various communities in the Cangrejal Valley participated in the workshop, focused on sex education and health awareness. As an additional service project, each afternoon volunteers helped paint the walls of the new high school.
World Camp for Kids recently returned this summer of 2009 to continue their education programs at the high school in the upper Cangrejal communities of Yaruca and Toncontin.
Proposed or Pending
Solid Waste Management
In 2005, Un Mundo implemented a community beautification project by working with El Pital citizens to obtain trash cans. After conducting a community assessment, Un Mundo has found that these trash cans are being underutilized by the larger community. Therefore, Un Mundo is proposing to launch a follow-up and expansion of this beautification project. This follow-up program would include a major education campaign for diverse age groups, which would also incorporate various advertising campaigns. This campaign of events would not only discuss the esthetic importance of this issue, but also the human and environmental health connected to solid waste. Finally, this program would facilitate the community to create innovative solutions to other solid waste challenges, which could lead to obtaining more trash cans, soliciting the government, or implementing a program such as Cambio Verde as practice in Curitiba, Brazil, which exchanges garbage for fruits and vegatables. Components of this program could be conducted in collaboration with other local organizations such as USAID/MIRA, BreakArts, and Guaruma.
Past and Completed
In the wake of Hurricane Mitch many generous friends of Un Mundo donated money to help alleviate suffering in the area. The bulk of this money purchased a much-needed health center now serving many villages in the region.