La Candelaria

  • Overview
  • Medical
  • Dental
  • Engineering
  • Water
  • Business
  • Public Health

Overview

La Candelaria is a medium-sized community in Central Honduras. The top three needs expressed by people in La Candelaria are a better school building, better in-home sanitation infrastructure, and a quality water system. The community has a kindergarten with 18 students and one teacher. The primary school, Escuela Rural Mixta Gloria Figueroa de Lopez, has 4 classrooms which serve 78 students. They have the support of two teachers. People in La Candelaria work in agriculture harvesting corn and beans.

Municipality: Talanga
Department: Francisco Morazán

Homes : 138
Population : 461
Water System : Yes
Community Bank : Yes
Electricity : Yes
Health Center : No
Community Health Workers : Yes
% of Homes with Latrines : 41%
Education : Up to 6th Grade
Distance from Lodging Facility : 65 km

Medical

Program Status

  • Planning
  • Active
  • Complete

HEALTH CARE ACCESS:

La Candelaria does not have its own health center, but travels to the nearby community, Jalaca, in order to get health care. There, the health center is a CESAR, a smaller scale health center where there are no doctors, but nurses. Jalaca is 15 kilometers away, and community members usually travel on foot. The most common illnesses in children are the common cold, cough, and diarrhea. In adults, the most common illnesses are eye sight problems, dengue, and arterial hypertension.

221

Volunteers

3,254

Patient Consultations

470

Vision Screeings Provided

136

Health Education Workshops

COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKERS:

La Candelaria has access to a total of 8 Community Health Workers who were trained in February of 2017. While 4 of these volunteers are from La Candelaria, the eight CHWs were trained in La Candelaria as part of a larger area that also included the community Camalotal. Therefore, these volunteers really cover both communities. The CHWs help to relieve some of the patient load for the staff in the health center. During their training, community members have learned how to treat common illnesses as well as about other health topics such as first aid, caring for pregnancies, and first response in emergency situations.

BRIGADE INFORMATION:

Medical and Dental Brigades use the local school as their brigade site. The school has 4 rooms and one room for the kindergarten, where the various medical stations are conducted. Doctors spend an average of 10 minutes with each patient and we are able to provide 4-5 educational charlas a day.

  • AVERAGE PATIENTS ATTENDED: 463
  • NEARBY COMMUNITIES: LOS PASTOS, OCOTAL, LA CUESTA, LA CHORRERA, JALACA, JALACA ABAJO

MEDICAL/DENTAL BRIGADES IN LA CANDELARIA

Chapter Date # Of Volunteers Chapter Date # Of Volunteers
University of Kentucky Medical Brigade January 2016 33 University of Kentucky Medical Brigade December 2016 22
Boston University Medical Brigade May 2017 33 Queen’s University Medical Brigade & Rutgers University New Brunswick Medical Brigade & McGill University Medical Brigade May 2018 36
University of Kentucky Medical Brigade December 2018 24 Florida Atlantic university Medical Brigade May 2019 26
University of San Diego California Medical Brigade July 2021 14 University of Oklahoma Medical Brigade June 2022 15
Purdue University Medical Brigade January 2023 18

Dental

Program Status

  • Planning
  • Active
  • Complete

DENTAL CARE ACCESS:

In working closely with the Medical Program, the Dental Program provides fillings, extractions, and fluoride treatments as a standard part of medical brigades. Most community members do not have regular access to dental care due to the lack of dentist within a reasonable distance.

494

Patient Consultations

552

Number of Extractions

286

Fillings Performed

86

Dental Education Workshops

BRIGADE INFORMATION:

Medical and Dental Brigades use the local school as their brigade site. The school has 4 rooms and one room for the kindergarten, where the various medical stations are conducted. Doctors spend an average of 10 minutes with each patient and we are able to provide 4-5 educational charlas a day.

  • AVERAGE PATIENTS ATTENDED: 463
  • NEARBY COMMUNITIES: LOS PASTOS, OCOTAL, LA CUESTA, LA CHORRERA, JALACA, JALACA ABAJO

MEDICAL/DENTAL BRIGADES IN LA CANDELARIA

Chapter Date # Of Volunteers Chapter Date # Of Volunteers
University of Kentucky Medical Brigade January 2016 33 University of Kentucky Medical Brigade December 2016 22
Boston University Medical Brigade May 2017 33 Queen’s University Medical Brigade & Rutgers University New Brunswick Medical Brigade & McGill University Medical Brigade May 2018 36
University of Kentucky Medical Brigade December 2018 24 Florida Atlantic university Medical Brigade May 2019 26
University of San Diego California Medical Brigade July 2021 14 University of Oklahoma Medical Brigade June 2022 15
Purdue University Medical Brigade January 2023 18

Engineering

Program Status

  • Planning
  • Active
  • Complete

Global Brigades is working on the implementation of the Holistic Model in La Canedlaria but has not yet begun with the Engineering Program. Now in the planning phase, the evaluation of the community’s existing water system and design of any necessary improvements will start as soon as feasible.

Water System : Yes
Type of Water System : Gravity
Homes with Access to Water : 100%
Water Council : Yes

Water

Program Status

  • Planning
  • Active
  • Complete

Global Brigades is working on the implementation of the Holistic Model in La Candelaria but has not implemented the Water Brigades program. La Candelaria currently has a working water system that provides water for 100% of the community households.

Water System : Yes
Type of Water System : Gravity
Homes with Access to Water : 100%
Water Council : Yes

Business

Program Status

  • Planning
  • Active
  • Complete

LA CANDELARIA’S ECONOMIC CHALLENGE:

The majority of community members in La Candelaria work in agriculture. This primarily consists of subsistence farming, although excess crops are sometimes sold. Most agricultural workers make about 100 lempiras (approximately US $4.25) a day during the rainy season. Regardless of occupation, most families earn around 4,000 lempiras per month (approximately US $170). Almost all household income is used to purchase food for consumption.

13

Volunteers

78

Loans Disbursed

N/A

Savings Accounts Opened

$1,500

Capital Invested

LA CANDELARIA’S MICRO-FINANCE SOLUTION:

In 2018, Global Brigades worked alongside La Candelaria to establish a community bank. The bank has 11 female and 2 male shareholders, and the members meet in the bank’s structure every month. They can offer loans and savings accounts to community members so that families can plan and stabilize their finances. This is especially beneficial for farmers, who can take out loans to invest in their agricultural production and pay them back after the harvest. Loans allow many subsistence farmers to not only consume the crops they harvest but also earn an income from selling their excess.

BUSINESS VOLUNTEERS IN LA CANDELARIA

Chapter Date # Of Volunteers
Michigan State University Business Brigade &University of California Berkeley Business Brigade May 2018 13

Public Health

Program Status

  • Planning
  • Active
  • Complete

LA CANDELARIA’S PUBLIC HEALTH CHALLENGE

Many community members in La Candelaria lack the resources to make improvements to their household infrastructure. The majority of homes in La Candelaria are made of adobe. There are approximately 150 homes in La Candelaria, with an average of 4 people living in each. Hygiene stations, which include showers and water storage units, are necessary to facilitate handwashing, allow water storage for hygienic processes, and offer privacy while bathing. Additionally, eco-stoves evacuate smoke from the living space and decrease the risk of respiratory illnesses, and latrines improve hygiene practices and prevent contamination of natural water sources caused by open defecation. By partnering with Global Brigades’ Public Health Program, La Candelaria’s inhabitants are hoping to avoid preventable diseases and adopt proper hygiene and sanitation practices.

36

Volunteers

N/A

Sanitation Units Installed

20

People Benefited with Public Health Infrastructure

N/A

Hours of Public Health Education

PUBLIC HEALTH VOLUNTEERS IN LA CANDELARIA

Chapter Date # Of Volunteers Chapter Date # Of Volunteers
Brown University Medical Brigade January 2018 19 East Carolina University Medical Brigade May 2018 17

Local Reference Points

View the map to see the closest volunteer lodging facilities, hospitals, and other relevant points of reference.

  • Feature