El Junquillo, Goascorán

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

Overview

El Junquillo is a community located in the department of Valle in the southern region of Honduras. The community does not have access to a local health center so community members must travel about 1.5 hours on foot to the nearest center in Langue, which is about a one hour walk from the community. The closest secondary school is located in El Platero. School is only offered until 6th grade in El Junquillo and many students leave school to begin working to support their families after 6th grade.  Like their parents, they often work in agriculture, raising corn for subsistence, or work in construction. Several other families rely on remittances from the United States or other countries to support their families.

Municipality: Goascorán
Department: Valle

Homes : 82
Population : 245
Water System : Yes
Community Bank : Yes
Electricity : Yes
Health Center : No
Community Health Workers : Yes
Homes with Latrines : 89%
Education : Up to 6th Grade
Distance from Lodging Facility : 53 km

Medical

Program Status

  • Planning
  • Active
  • Complete

HEALTH CARE ACCESS:

The Honduran government provides two different types of health centers throughout rural Honduras: Centros de Salud Médico Odontológico (CESAMOs) and Centros de Salud Rural (CESARs). CESAMOs are the larger of the two, often found in municipalities, and typically have at least one physician on staff at all times with nurses and potentially a dentist. CESARs are found sporadically in rural communities and generally have a single nurse available. Even with this coverage, it is important to note that medications, supplies, and materials are often not available in these health centers and the physician density in Honduras remains around 1,220 people for every one doctor. According to the World Health Organization, there should be a maximum of 435 people per physician to qualify a country as having adequate access to medical attention.

El Junquillo does not have access to a local health center so community members must travel about 1.5 hours on foot to the nearest center in Goascarán. This health center in Goascorán is known as a CESAMO, which is the larger of the two different types of health centers provided by the government. It is usually staffed by at least one doctor and several nurses. Should a visitor to the health center require more medical attention than can be given at the center, community members can travel to the hospital in San Lorenzo.

318

Volunteers

2,173

Patient Consultations

80

Vision Screenings

24

Health Education Workshops

COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKERS:

The Community Health Worker (CHW) Program in began in December 2016. There is a total of 14 CHWs currently working in El Junquillo. All 14 Community Health Workers were trained in El Junquillo, but serve a total of 12 different communities including Ranchería, Santa Lucia, Platero, Limón, Barrio Nuevo, Picacho, Monumento, La Torre, Hato Nuevo, Rinconada, and El Resbaloso. These CHWs help to treat and prevent common illnesses and address public health topics such as first aid, caring for pregnancies, and first response in emergency situations. The Community Health Workers also help to provide basic medical attention in the absence of the nurse in the Community Health Center. 

BRIGADE INFORMATION:

Since there is no health center in the community, brigades are held at the school. The school is on the smaller side, with 3 classrooms and one kitchen used for brigade stations. Outside space is used for the charla. Doctors spend an average of 10 minutes with each patient and volunteers are able to provide 9 educational charlas a day.

  • AVERAGE PATIENTS ATTENDED: 456
  • NEARBY COMMUNITIES: EL PICACHO, PLAN DE JOCOTE, EL RESBALOSO

 

MEDICAL/DENTAL VOLUNTEERS IN EL JUNQUILLO, GOASCORAN

Chapter Date # Of Volunteers Chapter Date # Of Volunteers
Martha’s Heart Ministries Medical Brigade & Oulton College Medical Brigade & College of William & Mary Medical Brigade March 2014 50 University of Florida Medical Brigade December 2014 37
University of California Riverside Medical Brigade June 2015 34 Pennsylvanian State University Medical Brigade January 2016 35
University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Dental Brigade March 2017 29 Southwest High school HOSA TeleBrigade July 2020 13
Marquette University Medical Brigade October 2020 40 Syracuse Area Medical TeleBrigade January 2021 27
Ossining High School Health Telesquad February 2021 8 University of North Chapel Hill May 2024 29

 

Dental

Program Status

  • Planning
  • Active
  • Complete

DENTAL CARE ACCESS:

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.

520

Patient Consultations

365

Number of Extractions

494

Fillings Performed

114

Dental Education Workshops

BRIGADE INFORMATION:

Since there is no health center in the community, brigades are held at the school. The school is on the smaller side, with 3 classrooms and one kitchen used for brigade stations. Outside space is used for the charla. Doctors spend an average of 10 minutes with each patient and volunteers are able to provide 9 educational charlas a day.

  • AVERAGE PATIENTS ATTENDED: 456
  • NEARBY COMMUNITIES: EL PICACHO, EL RESBALOSO PLAN DE JOCOTE

MEDICAL/DENTAL VOLUNTEERS IN EL JUNQUILLO, GOASCORAN

Chapter Date # Of Volunteers Chapter Date # Of Volunteers
Martha’s Heart Ministries Medical Brigade & Oulton College Medical Brigade & College of William & Mary Medical Brigade March 2014 50 University of Florida Medical Brigade December 2014 37
University of California Riverside Medical Brigade June 2015 34 Pennsylvanian State University Medical Brigade January 2016 35
University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Dental Brigade March 2017 29 Southwest High school HOSA TeleBrigade July 2020 13
Marquette University Medical Brigade October 2020 40 Syracuse Area Medical TeleBrigade January 2021 27
Ossining High School Health Telesquad February 2021 8

 

Engineering

Program Status

  • Planning
  • Active
  • Complete

EL JUNQUILLO’S  ENGINEERING CHALLENGE:

Prior to Global Brigades’ arrival, the community of El Junquillo didn’t have a centralized water system providing access to all members of the community. Many community members dug wells on their property but generally found very limited quantities of water. The water that was available dried up quickly with the hot, dry climate of southern Honduras, leaving families without enough water to meet their needs and forcing them to skip basic hygiene and sanitation practices. Additionally, few community members treated their water prior to consuming it and there was no centralized water treatment plan, which greatly increased their risk of contracting a water-borne disease. With dry wells and increasingly sparse access, water was a prized commodity in El Junquillo.

N/A

Volunteers

320

Project Beneficiaries

9

Kilometers of Pipeline Designed

N/A

Average Community Volunteers

EL JUNQUILLO’S ENGINEERING SOLUTION:

Water

Program Status

  • Planning
  • Active
  • Complete

EL JUNQUILLO’S WATER CHALLENGE:

Prior to Global Brigades’ arrival, the community of El Junquillo didn’t have a centralized water system providing access to all members of the community. Many community members dug wells on their property but generally found very limited quantities of water. The water that was available dried up quickly with the hot, dry climate of southern Honduras, leaving families without enough water to meet their needs and forcing them to skip basic hygiene and sanitation practices. Additionally, few community members treated their water before consuming it and there was no centralized water treatment plan, which greatly increased their risk of contracting a water-borne disease. With dry wells and increasingly sparse access, water was a prized commodity in El Junquillo.

424

Volunteers

320

Project Beneficiaries

9

Kilometers of Pipeline Installed

10,000

Storage Tank Volume (gallons)

EL JUNQUILLO’S WATER SOLUTION:

WATER VOLUNTEERS IN EL JUNQUILLO, GOASCORAN:

Chapter Date # Of Volunteers Chapter Date # Of Volunteers
University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Water Brigade & Washington University in St.Louis Water Brigade September 2014 34 University of Indiana Water Brigade & University of Nevada Las Vegas Water Brigade & University of Arizona Water Brigade March 2014 33
Carnegie Mellon University Water Brigade March 2014 29 University of Connecticut Water Brigade March 2014 19
University of California San Diego Water Brigade & University of California Irvine Water Brigade & Drexel University Water Brigade & Williams College Water Brigade March 2014 39 University of California Davis Water Brigade March 2014 14
University of Pittsburgh Water Brigade April 2014  21 University of Michigan Water Brigade & University of North Carolina Wilmington Water Brigade May 2014 19
Arizona State University Water Brigade & University of California Berkeley Water Brigade May 2014  16 University of Missouri Water Brigade May 2014 14
Temple University Water Brigade May 2014 15 Acadia University Medical Brigade May 2014 87
Maryville University Medical Brigade  May 2014  23 Rice University Medical Brigade May 2014 33
Mississippi State University Medical Brigade May 2014 28

Business

Program Status

  • Planning
  • Active
  • Complete

EL JUNQUILLO’S ECONOMIC CHALLENGE:

In El Junquillo, the majority of families grow corn and beans on their own land for sustenance. They often work seasonally on shrimp farms in Nacaome or in construction to earn an income. Others receive remittances sent by family members living abroad. The average monthly income is estimated to be roughly 4,000 Lempiras, or US $170. Some families do earn more, however, per the remittances they receive from family members.

51

Volunteers

419

Loans Distributed

$1,499

Capital Invested

EL JUNQUILLO’S MICRO-FINANCE SOLUTION:

In 2016, Global Brigades helped El Junquillo to establish their community bank. The bank has 20 female and 14 male shareholders, and the members meet in the bank’s own structure every month. They are able to offer loans and savings accounts to community members so that families can plan and stabilize their finances. This is especially beneficial for farmers, who are able to take out loans before planting season and pay them back after the harvest. Loans allow many once subsistence farmers to not only use the crops they grow for their own consumption but sell their excess.

EL JUNQUILLO’S BUSINESS SOLUTION:

The next step for El Junquillo will be to establish a micro-enterprise that can bring more capital into the community. The Global Brigades business team will soon host Business Brigades in El Junquillo to study the local market and identify potential business opportunities for the community.

BUSINESS VOLUNTEERS IN EL JUNQUILLO, GOASCORAN

Chapter Date # Of Volunteers Chapter Date # Of Volunteers
Indiana University Business Brigade January 2014 10 Chicago Brigades (Loyola) Business Brigade January 2015 13
Brandeis University Business Brigade February 2015 12 Rutgers University Business Brigade & Texas Tech University Business Brigade May 2018 16

Public Health

Program Status

  • Planning
  • Active
  • Complete

EL JUNQUILLO’S PUBLIC HEALTH CHALLENGE:

Many community members in El Junquillo lacked the necessary resources to improve their homes and prevent diseases caused by unsafe living conditions. The majority of homes were made of adobe, straw, and mud, and few homes had hygiene stations, cement floors, or eco-stoves prior to the arrival of Global Brigades. These living conditions resulted in disease. The lack of hygiene stations led to high rates of diarrhea and water-borne disease, the absence of cement floors caused parasitic infection and Chagas Disease, and the lack of eco-stoves resulted in respiratory problems in many community members.

Although community members recognized the problems inherent to their living environments, they did not have the economic resources nor the technical knowledge needed to address them. It also was necessary to increase the level of awareness concerning sanitation and the importance of health in the community.

57

Volunteers

19

Sanitation Units Installed

72

People Benefited with Public Health Infrastructure

N/A

Hours of Public Health Education

PUBLIC HEALTH VOLUNTEERS IN EL JUNQUILLO, GOASCORAN

Chapter Date # Of Volunteers Chapter Date # Of Volunteers
Central Michigan University Medical Brigade March 2019 31 Arizona State University Medical Brigade May 2019 26

Local Reference Points

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

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