| General Overview | |
| Population | 1429 |
| Number of Houses |
260 |
| Student Volunteers* |
37 |
| Health Center Type |
CESAR |
| Brigade Site |
School |
| Most Common Illness | Eyes, Throat, Noes and Ears |
| Most Recent Brigade Date | Feburary 2015 |
El Espinal Healthcare Access
El Espinal is a community located in the municipality of Pespire in the department of Choluteca. The community has access to a local health center that is at most a 20 minute walk for community members. This local health center is known as a CESAR, which is the smaller of the two different types of health centers provided by the government. It is usually staffed by at least one auxiliary nurse and occassionally community health workers. Should a visitor to the health center require more medical attention than can be given at the center, community members can travel to the hospitals in Choluteca or Valle most commonly by bus. Overall, El Espinal has a decent health center that is readily accessible.
Community Demographics
El Espinal is home to about 1,429 people and has about 260 homes, with an average of 6 inhabitants per home. It is the located in the arid terrain of Honduras and is surrounded by about 12 other, smaller communities including Plan Verde, a community that frequents brigades in El Espinal. Since the health center is in El Espinal, these smaller communities must travel to there to seek care.
Brigade Site Information
Since space is limited in the health center, brigades are held at the school. The school is medium sized and the classrooms are close to one another, with rooms for triage, consultation and pharmacy, a small kindergarten room for Dental, and plenty of outdoor space for charla and Data Informatics. Doctors spend an average of 10 minutes with each patient and volunteers are able to provide 5-6 educational charlas a day. Each brigade sees an average of 300 patients per day. Below are some pictures of the Brigade Site:
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Current Community Initiatives
El Espinal has various community initiatives taking place throughout the year. The Red Cross, a local development organization, and the local mayor play significant roles in these initiatives.
Community Health Statistics
Below is a chart showing the illnesses treated on our most recent brigade to El Espinal.
| Illness Type | # of Cases |
| Common Cold | 189 |
| Respiratory Problems |
230 |
| Gastrointestinal |
175 |
| Ears, Eyes, Nose and Throat |
245 |
| Dermatological |
62 |
| Systemic |
78 |
| GenitoUrinary |
31 |
| Chronic | 112 |
| MusculoSkeletal | 169 |
Community Dental Statistics
Below is a chart showing the dental procedures performed on our most recent brigade to El Espinal.
| Extraction Patients |
95 |
| Total Extractions |
148 |
| Filling Patients | 61 |
| Total Fillings | 62 |
| Fluoride Treatments | 264 |
| Children in Charla | 269 |
| Dental Charlas Given | 17 |
Current Status
Last Visit: 2/25/2015
This past Feburary, a group of volunteers from Mount Allison University visited El Espinal on their brigade. With the help of both Honduran and US health care professionals, they saw a total of 1029 medical patients over three days, as well as 115 dental patients. Patients came from 8 different surrounding communities to receive medical care on the brigade.
Visit Other Programs in El Espinal
Global Brigades strives to implement a model of Holistic Development in communities through a system of collectively implementing health, economic, and education initiatives to strategically meet a community's development goals. Learn more about the other programs being implemented in El Espinal:
Dental
Engineering
Water
Public Health
Business
Architecture
CHW