Programs / Water / Communities / El Encinal «

 

About El Encinal

El Encinal is a small community with a population of 251 people in the

municipality of San Juan de Flores.  Prior to Global Brigades' arrival,

community members in El Encinal suffered from a lack of proper water,

hygiene and sanitation infrastructure, healthcare, and education. 

Diarrhea, dengue fever, and asthma were common.  Few homes had

concrete floors, properly functioning latrines, proper water storage, or

efficient stoves with chimneys, which further exacerbated their health

problems.  There is no health center in El Encinal, but community

members can access one in the nearby community of El Junco.  School

is only offered until 6th grade, at which point most children begin to work

in agriculture to support their families or walk to the nearby community of

El Junco to continue their education.  Most families work in agriculture and

the cultivate corn, beans, coffee, and plantains.  Families then sell the

crops that they do not use in their home for an average monthly income

of 2,000 Lempiras ($100.00).

 

El Encinal's Water Challenge

El Encinal is a small community with a population of 251 people in the

municipality of San Juan de Flores. Prior to Global brigades' arrival, the

community of El Encinal was relying on a drinking water supply system
that did not meet all of the adequate conditions of a correctly working
of a correctly working system in terms of water quality and quantity. 
The previously exisiting water sytem was constructed 25 years ago by
the Honduran government institution called Project ALA 86/20.  No monitoring or follow up was provided by his institution after construction.  The original system was constructed to supply a total of 50 households distributed to the two communities of El Encinal and El Junco without taking into account the growth of these communities.  Presently, these communities have a total of approximately 80 inhabited households, about 10 uninhabited households, two schools, two kindergartens, and one health center relying on the water system.  Houses which were not originally connected to the system or located at an elevation about the original storage tank were not connected to the system and were forced to get water by carrying it from a nearby stream.  Pipe diameters in the original system design were not sufficient to provide water consistently to all of the houses that were connected.  In many cases houses could go without receiving water for up to a week.

 

The Water Council had only two members who were not complying with any of their responsibilities.  Due to lack of organiation in the water council and poor water service the vast majority of community members were not paying a water fee.  This lack of organization and general infrastructural failure caused the community to stop treating its water.  Illnesses related to water and poor sanitation and hygiene were common.  As a very under resourced community, El Encinal did not have the funds to improve their existing system, or to consider constructing a new system.  The community had previously solicited support from government organizations without receiving any help.  Water Brigades came to an agreement with the community of El Encinal and El Junco to assist in the reconstruction of their potable water system.

 

 

The Water Solution for El Encinal

Water Brigaders from 13 different universities worked in El Encinal from

August 2009 to June 2010. During that time, these volunteers worked with

community members to:
     •  Install a dam and intake infrastructure with a filter
     •  Build a 5,000 gallon storage tank with chlorinator
     •  Redesign and construct an entire distribution network
     •  Connect all houses and churches to the system
     •  Provide educational seminars to children in the community on water 
        and health related topics

 

To ensure the sustainability of the project, a new seven member Water Council was established and trained by Water Brigades in addition to a Basic Sanitation Committee also trained by Water Brigades.

 

When Water Brigades first entered the El Encinal a dire water need was observed.  Furthermore, the community lacked leadership, organization, and motivation after having lived so many years without a proper water system and no government  support. An enormous success was working with and eventually seeing the change in community organization and buy-in to their water system.

                                                                                           

 

Water Brigades Chapters that Worked in El Encinal
Water Brigades Chapter	Month	Volunteers
UC Berkeley	August 2009	9
Loyola University	August 2009	12
Boston University	May 2010	9
Emory University	May 2010	17
UC Berkeley	May 2010	11
University of Texas - Arlington	May 2010	10
Stonybrook College	May 2010	10
Arizona State University	May 2010	20
Chapman University	June 2010	12
University of Chicago	June 2010	11
UC Santa Cruz	June 2010	13
DePaul University	June 2010	13
Oregon State University	June 2010	13

 

 

Current Status

Last Visit: September 2012
A tropical storm causing flooding and massive landslides hit the mountain of Joyas del Carballo in October 2011. The storm caused the stream that is the El Junco water source to grow exponentially, washing boulders, trees, and other debris downstream in its current and greatly damaging the El Junco water system. The original dam built by Global Brigades was entirely covered by the land movements and was unusable, and the majority of the conduction line was either washed away or damaged beyond use.

 

In May 2012, FORCUENCAS, an institution funded by the European Union, donated the money to El Junco to replace the dam as well as the damaged piping. Fortunately, the central storage tank is located in an area of the community that was not as severely affected by the storm and did not suffer any damage. It is still fully functioning and is well protected by a fence that was installed by the Water Council when the project was originally finished.

 

Visit Other Programs in El Encinal

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 Encinal:

MedicalDentalEngineering Microfinance Public HealthBusinessArchitectureCHW