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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 an

extremely 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 Water Challenge

A community gravity water system had been built in 1985 by the

government in El Zurzular. At the time the system was designed to provide

water for only 30 homes and in June 2009 was only connected to 54 of the

87 homes in the community.  Those people without a water connection

were using water from streams and springs nearby which they carried to

their homes in buckets other plastic containers.  Due to small piping

diameters and a lack of control and cleaning valves in the system, only

12 gallons/minute was entering the storage tank, an insufficient quantity

for the population.  The Water Council of El Zurzular only consisted of three

members whom were not active in the administration, operation and
maintenance of the water system.  For this reason and damage to the
chlorination system, water was not being properly treated before being
distributed to people’s homes.  In the six months leading up to July 2009,
the Health Center of El Zurzular had seventeen reported cases of diarrhea
in children under the age of five. Considering these are the cases that were
extreme enough to warrant a visit to the health center, this number is
alarming. Due to the lack of oversight and dissatisfaction with the water
system, the majority of community members had stopped paying their
monthly water fee.

 

The Water Solution for El Zurzular

Water Brigaders from four different universities worked in El Zurzular between August and December 2009.  During that time, those volunteers worked with community members to:
     •  Install a filter and control valve at the water source.
     •  Replace all piping in the conduction line with larger diameter pipes and  
        cleaning and air valves.
     •  Repair the chlorination system at the storage tank.
     •  Construct an entirely new distribution network.
     •  Install water connections at all previously unconnected homes.
     •  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.
 
El Zurzular was the first full scale water system completed by Water Brigades and was a great success. Community participation was incredible with over 90 community members working on the project every day. Once completed 38 gallons/minute enter the storage tank, 100% of the homes in the community are connected to
                                                                                                           the water system, and zero cases of diarrhea in children
                                                                                                           under 5 years old were reported in the first 6 months after
                                                                                                           the completion of the project.

 

Water Brigades Chapters that Worked in El Zurzular
Water Brigades Chapter	Month	Volunteers
University of Texas at Arlington	August 2009	10
New York University	August 2009	9
University of Washington	August 2009	11
DePaul University	December 2009	19

 

Current Status

Last Visit: August 2014
El Zurzular’s water system is functioning very well.  Flow rates at the tank and faucets are excellent.  The Water Council is properly administrating the project.  The one issue identified is the lack of chlorination in coffee season, a problem that Water Brigades is working with community leaders to fix.

 

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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