| General Overview | |
| Population | 350 |
| Number of Houses |
65 |
| Student Volunteers |
83 |
| Health Center Type |
None |
| Brigade Site |
School |
| Most Common Illness | Respiratoy Problems |
| Most Recent Brigade Date |
May 2014 |
Guanacaste Healthcare Access
Guancaste is a community located in a valley far from any
main road. Guanacaste does not have a health center in the community due to its small size. There is no communinty health committee to monitor health at the community level.
The closest health center is in a community called Villas de
San Francisco. At this CESAMO, there are both doctors and nurses on staff and occassionally a dentist. Although the
quality of care is relatively high at this health center, it is not
very easily accessible. Community members must walk to
the health center as there is no bus that comes to the community. The walk can take over to 2.5 hours to reach the health center.
Community Demographics
Guanacaste is home to about 350 people and has about 65 homes, with an average of 5 inhabitants per home. Guancaste is located near the municipalities of Villas de San Francisco and Valle de los Angeles. These are main areas of commerce where community members can get access to more resources. However, since there is no bus that goes to the community, it is difficult for community members to get to these places. During brigades, there are many patients that live in the surrounding mountain communities that come to receive medical and dental care.
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Brigade Site Information
Since this community does not have a health center, the brigade is held at the school. The school is medium sized, with 5 rooms and ample outdoor space. Brigades will see an average of 175 patients each brigade day, and doctors typically spend about 20 minutes with each patient. Brigades are able to provide an average of 5-6 adult charlas a day, totaling about 5 hours of adult health education each brigade. Below are some pictures of the Brigade Site:
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Current Community Initiatives
There are no other organizations that bring brigades to Guanacaste and no other current initiatives.
Community Health Statistics
Below is a chart showing the illnesses treated on our most recent brigade to Guanacaste
| Illness Category |
# of Cases |
| Common Cold |
85 |
| Respiratory Problems |
95 |
| Gastrointestinal |
78 |
| Ears, Eyes, Nose and Throat |
79 |
| Dermatological |
16 |
| Systemic |
8 |
| GenitoUrinary | 9 |
| Chronic | 46 |
| MusculoSkeletal | 45 |
Community Dental Statistics
Below is a chart showing the dental procedures performed on our most recent brigade to Guanacaste.
| Extraction Patients |
20 |
| Total Extractions |
31 |
| Filling Patients | 12 |
| Total Fillings | 25 |
| Fluoride Treatments | 101 |
| Children in Charla | 101 |
| Dental Charlas Given | 10 |
Current Status
Last Visit: 5/16/2014
This past May, a group of volunteers from Cornell University visited Guanacaste on their brigade. With the help of both Honduran and US health care professionals, they saw a total of 340 medical patients over two days, as well as 32 dental patients.
Visit Other Programs in Guanacaste
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 Guanacaste:
Dental
Microfinance
Engineering
Water
Public Health
Business
Architecture
CHW