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About Buena Vista

Buena Vista is a mountainous community with a population of

516 people in the municipality of Morocelí.  Prior to Global Brigades'

arrival, people in Buena Vista suffered from a lack of clean water,

hygiene and sanitation infrastructure, healthcare, and education. 

Few homes had concrete floors, properly functioning latrines, proper

water storage, or efficient stoves with chimneys.  Thus, respiratory

infections, pneumonia, parasites and diarrhea were common.  In

Buena Vista, 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 agricultural just 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 Water Challenge

Prior to Global Brigades' arrival, Buena Vista has a partial, simple gravity

system that was constructed in 1987 by the government institution. 

The water source was a mountain spring located about one kilometer

outside of the community that had a flow rate of 25 gallons per minute. 

The dam was a rough concrete structure with no filter and no proper

intake infrastructure.  The system used gravity to carry water from the

source to two storage tanks within the community.  However, the system

did not have a distribution network as many of the houses are at a higher
elevation than the storage tanks in order to retrieve water for household
use, which often required multiple trips each day.  Furthermore, the
water was not chlorinated, leading to high rates of waterborne disease.

 

There were two storage tanks in Buena Vista's old water system.  The first tank was too small with a capacity of only 5,000 gallons and it also showed signs of leaking.  The second take was even smaller (about 1000 gallons).  It was likley that the poor operation of the control valves at both of these tanks was responsible for the many pipe bursts that plagued the water system.

 

The people of Buena Vista were not paying a monthly water fee.  There was a ten member Water Council which did not meet regularly.  The members of the Water Council were untrained volunteers.  Furthermore, due to the lack of a monthly water fee, the Water Council did not employ a plumber to treat the water, maintain, and operate the system.  Any issues with the system were addressed by the Water Council.

 

The Water Solution for Buena Vista

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Water Brigades Chapters that Worked in Buena Vista
Water Brigades Chapter	Month	Volunteers

 

Current Status

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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:

 

MedicalDentalEngineering  Microfinance Public HealthBusinessArchitectureCHW