Programs / Public Health / Communities / Palo Verde «

 

About Palo Verde

Palo Verde is a community with a population of approximately 250 people

living in 42 homes.  Located more than 2 hours from Global Brigades'

compounds, it is a fairly secluded community that belongs to the

municipality of Cantarranas in the department of Francisco Morazán. 

Palo Verde is an agricultural community relying on the production of

corn, coffee and beans for sustenance.  The main form of employment

is agriculture on owned land.  There is little economic opportunity outside

of agriculture as there is little access to credit.  This is changing, however,

as the community bank is Zurzular is beginning to serve community

members in Palo Verde, thus providing them with more entrepreneurial

opportunity.  Similarly, there is no health center in the community, so they

utilize the services of the health center in Zurzular.  Palo Verde does have

a functioning water system and it is regularly visited by Medical Brigades.

 

Palo Verde's Public Health Challenge

Many community members in Palo Verde lack the resources needed to

improve their homes and prevent diseases caused by unsafe living

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

Only 50% of the community is believed to have latrines that currently

function.  Community members do not have eco-stoves or cement floors. 

The creation of health infrastructure will not only better the health of
household members through improved sanitation and hygiene, but also
improve their quality of life.  The new water storage units will reduce time
spent walking to water sources as well as the overall incidence of skin
and respiratory diseases, which are common in the community of
Palo Verde.

 

Although community members recognize the problem inherent to their living environments, they do 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 do not receive any edcuation about the topic.

 

The Public Health Solution for Palo Verde

Public Health Brigaders from several different universities and the Public Health Brigades in-country team worked in Palo Verde from January 2013 – May 2014. During this time, volunteers and staff members worked 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 42 eco-stoves, 40 latrines, 37 hygiene stations, and hundreds of square meters of cement floor

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

 

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 is entitled to monitor the correct utilization and maintenance of the infrastructures. Clear responsibilities and powers are assigned to each member, making the beneficiaries themselves an even stronger stakeholder of the Public Health projects.

 

Public Health Brigades Chapters that Worked in Palo Verde
Public Health Brigades Chapter	Month	Volunteers
Washington University in St. Louis	January 2014	18
Tulane University	January 2014	18
University of Virginia	January 2014	5
Brown University	January 2014	16
University of California - Berkeley	January 2014	15
Boston University	January 2014	21
Johns Hopkins University	January 2014	13
Columbia University	January 2014	14
Mt. Allison University	February 2014	19
Carnegie Mellon University	March 2014	25
University of Pennsylvania	March 2014	7
Yale University	March 2014	12
Duke University	March 2014	5
University of North Carolina Chapel Hill	March 2014	18
Washington University in St. Louis	March 2014	34
Central Michigan University	March 2014	44
University of California San Diego	March 2014	39
University of California Irvine	March 2014	30
McMaster University	May 2014	11
University of Pittsburg	May 2014	16
Boston University	May 2014	26

 

Current Status

COMPLETED

After several successful brigades, the Public Health Brigades program exitED the community of Palo Verde in May 2014. Exiting the community signifies that the program will no longer be bringing 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 theyconstruct new homes.

 

Visit Other Programs in Palo Verde

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 Palo Verde:

 

MedicalDentalEngineering MicrofinanceWaterBusinessArchitectureCHW