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About El Zurzular

El Zurzular is a community of about 87 homes and a population of

approximately 520 people.  Located at an elevation of over 5,000 feet It

is a very mountainous community, belonging to the municipality of

Cantarranas, in the department of Francisco Morazan.  El Zurzular is an

agricultural community relying on the production of corn and beans for

sustenance.  The primary cash crop in the community is coffee.  Families

receive income once a year during the coffee season and coffee prices

have an extreme influence on that income. There is a health center in the

community which also serves many surrounding communities and villages. 

As Global Brigade’s first Holistic Model community, El Zurzular has a

community bank, a middle school built by Architecture Brigades, public

health infrastructure in all homes and Community Health Workers.

 

El Zurzular's Public Health Challenge

Many community mambers in El Zurzular lacked the resources needed to
improve their homes and prevent diseases caused by unsafe living

conditions.  The majority of homes were made of adobe, straw, and mud

and very few homes had hygiene stations, cement floors, and eco-stoves

prior to the arrival of Global Brigades.  Such living conditions triggered

disease.  The lack of hygiene stations led to high rates of diarrhea and

water-borne disease, the absence of cement floors caused parasitic
infection and Chagas Disease, and the lack of eco-stoves resulted in
respiratory problems in many community members.  Not only did the
creation of health infrastructure better the health of community members
through improved sanitation and hygiene, but it also improved their
quality of life as the new water storage units will reduce time spent
walking to water sources and the eco-stove reduced firewood
consumption by about 70%.

 

Although community members recognized the problems inherent to their living environments, they did not have the economic resources nor the technical knowledge needed to address them.  Moreover, the level of awareness concerning sanitation and the importance of health is very low as the children did not receive any education about the topic.

 

The Public Health Solution for El Zurzular

Public Health Brigaders from several different universities and the Public Health Brigades in-country team worked in El Zurzular from December 2010 – September 2011. 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 84 eco-stoves, 85 litrines, 66 water storage units, and 191 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 El Zurzular
Public Health Brigades Chapter	Month	Volunteers
DePaul University	December 2010	17
USC Graduates	December 2010	23
University of Southern California	January 2011	16
Penn State	January 2011	10
Boston University	January 2011	9
St. Louis University	January 2011	12
Washington University in St. Louis	January 2011	10
Columbia University	January 2011	5
UC Berkeley	January 2011	17
San Francisco State	January 2011	14
UC Berkeley Post-Docs	January 2011	10
Johns Hopkins University	January 2011	7
University of Victoria	February 2011	20
Mt. Allison University	February 2011	13
University of North Carolina	March 2011	14
Wake Forest University	March  2011	12
Indiana University	March  2011	24
Marquette  University	March  2011	20
UC Irvine	March 2011	28
UC San Diego	March 2011	26
Athletico	April 2011	20
University of Pennsylvania	May 2011	5
University of Southern California	May 2011	6
Boston University	May 2011	10
Arizona State University	May 2011	16
University of Nottingham	May 2011	25
Soka University	May 2011	8
Illinois Wesleyan College	May 2011	10
Johns Hopkins University	May 2011	6
University of Michigan	June 2011	20
Chapman University	June 2011	8
Arizona State University	June 2011	17
University of Virginia	June 2011	13
UC Berkeley	June 2011	12
UC Davis	June 2011	12
UC Los Angeles	June 2011	6
UC Santa Barbara	June 2011	19
University of Washington	June 2011	8
DePaul University	June 2011	20
UC Riverside	June 2011	4
University of Birmingham	July 2011	22
Marshall University	July 2011	8
Emory University	August 2011	7
University of Tampa	August 2011	14
Lower Columbia College	August 2011	6
Northwestern University	August 2011	7
Imperial College	August 2011	12

 

Current Status

Completed: August 2011

After numerous successful brigades, the Public Health Brigades Program exited the community of El Zurzular. Exiting the community signifies that the program  no longer be brings brigades to this community and will gradually lessen follow-up to one visit every 6 months-1 year. The Public Health Brigades program trusts that the community members will maintain their projects with the assistance of the trained masons and understand the importance of building safe living environments whenever they construct new homes.

 

Visit Other Programs in El Zurzular

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 Zurzular:

 

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