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About Buena Vista

Buena Vista is a community of about 120 homes and a population of

approximately 516 people.  Located over 5,000 feet above sea level, it is

an extremely mountainous community, belonging to the municipality of

Morocelí.  Buena Vista is an agricultural community relying on the

production of corn and beans for sustenance. School is offered until 9th

 

grade and approximately 95% of community members know how to read

and write. After completing school, most children begin working in

agriculture like their parents. They grow coffee, corn, and beans. 

Their harvest is used to sustain their families, but they earn roughly

700 Lempiras ($35.00) per month selling some of their crops.

 

Buena Vista's Public Health Challenge

Many community members in Buena Vista lack the resources to

improve their homes and prevent diseases caused by unsafe living

environments.  The majority of homes are made of adobe, mud, and

straw and very few homes have hygiene stations, cement floors, and

eco-stoves. The lack of hygiene stations lead to high rates of diarrhea

and waterborne disease, and the absence of cement floors cause

parasitic infection and Chagas Disease, and the lack of eco-stoves

result in respiratory problems in many community members. 

 

The Public Health Solution for Buena Vista

Public Health Brigaders from several different universities and the Public Health Brigades in-country team have  worked in Buena Vista beginning in  January 2015. During this time, volunteers and staff members will work with community members to:

     • Identify community leaders and train them to form the Basic Sanitation Committee

     • Increase cultural sensitivity and awareness by working side by side with qualified masons and project

       beneficiaries

     • Build  eco-stoves,  latrines, showers,  water storage units, and  cement floors

     • Conduct educational workshops emphasizing the importance of sanitation and hygiene in the local

        primary school

 

To ensure the sustainability of the in-home infrastructure projects, the Public Health Program provides continuous follow-up in the community. It also forms and trains the Basic Sanitation Committee, a community body formed by local leaders which monitors the correct usageand maintenance of the new infrastructure. Clear responsibilities and powers are assigned to each member, making the beneficiaries themselves an even stronger stakeholder in the Public Health projects.

 

 

Public Health Brigades Chapters that Worked in Buena Vista
	Public Health Brigades Chapter	Month	Volunteers
	Brandeis University	January 2015	29
	University of Kentucky	January 2015	18
	Washington University in St. Louis	March 2015	31
	Central Michigan University	March 2015	25
	Penn State	March 2015	19
	UC Irvine	March 2015	18
	UC Davis	March 2015	7
	University of Pittsburgh	May 2015	26
	University of South Florida	May 2015	10
	Emory University	May 2015	18
	University of Michigan	May 2015	13
	Case Wastern Reserve University	May 2015	9
	Rutgers University	May 2015	32
	University of Missouri	May 2015	12
	University of Arizona	May 2015	31
	SUNY Binghamton University	May 2015	34
	Seton Hall University	May 2015	31
	University of Washington	June 2015	27
	Dublin City University	June 2015	10
	Drexel University	June 2015	26
	University of California	June 2015	17
	Oxford University	September 2015	10
	University of College London	September 2015	6
	DePaul University	December 2015	29
	University of Kentucky	January 2016	8
	University of Missouri	January 2016	19
	St. Louis University	January 2016	15
	Kuztown University	January 2016	27

 

 

Current Status

In Progress

Global Brigades entered Buena Vista in 2011 with Medical and Dental Brigades.  In November 2012,

the Engineering and Water Team completed a water system giving Buena Vista access to clean water.  With water connected to each home, the Public Health Team entered in Janaury 2015 and began  building latrines, eco-stoves, concrete floors, and water storages to address the respiratory infections, pneumonia, parasites and diarrhea that were  prevelant in Buena Vista. The Public Health Program continues to construct these infrastructure projects in Buena Vista, and the Business Program has begun working with Buena Vista in order to develop a microenterprise.  

 

Visit Other Programs in Buena Vista

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 Buena Vista:

 

MedicalDentalEngineeringWater BusinessCHW