Montaña Verde

  • Overview
  • Medical
  • Dental
  • Engineering
  • Public Health

Overview

Montaña Verde is located within the municipality of Marcala in the department of La Paz in southern Honduras. The typical house is made of adobe, wood, and cement blocks. Children in the community have access to primary and middle school. The community members of Montaña Verde mostly work in agriculture, as day labourers, and animal raising. The community doesn’t have a water system to provide drinking water to the community members but is closely working with Global Brigades to build and improve this area of the community. The top needs expressed by Montaña Verde‘s inhabitants during their initial communications with Global Brigades are building a water system and latrines.

Municipality: Marcala
Department: La Paz

Homes : 70
Population : 350
Water System : Not Started
Community Bank : Not Started
Electricity : Yes
Health Center : Yes
Community Health Workers : No
Homes with Latrines : 71%
Education : Primary and middle school
Distance from Lodging Facility : 80 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.

Montaña Verde doesn’t have a community health care centre in their community adequately staffed nor do they have access to a stock of medications. They have to attend the health centre in a nearby community. The most common illnesses children face are the common cold and respiratory issues. The most common illnesses seen in adults are hypertension and diabetes.

N/A

Brigade Volunteers

N/A

Patient Consulations

N/A

PAP Smears Performed

N/A

Health Education Workshops

COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKERS

The community of Montaña Verde does not yet have Community Health Workers. Global Brigades Honduras’ Medical Program is working diligently to train volunteers as CHWs in its partner communities as part of the Holistic Model. Montaña Verde will receive training as soon as possible to further support the health of its community members.

Community Health Workers, or Guardianes de Salud, work on a volunteer basis as advocates for health care within their communities. While this is an existing program in Honduras and Guardianes de Salud are identified by other organizations and some health centres, Global Brigades can bridge gaps in access to training and provide more comprehensive technical skills. Our CHWs are some of the very few Guardianes de Salud to receive certification from the Honduran government.

Our CHWs are tasked with treating and preventing common illnesses, and some of their responsibilities include first aid, supporting and caring for pregnancies and newborns, and responding to emergency situations. They are also responsible for following up with chronic patients to ensure proper administration of medications and treatments to avoid further complications. Additionally, CHWs provide support for brigades that are hosted in their area. At the completion of their training, CHWs are equipped with basic medical supplies and equipment provided by Global Brigades and its partners.

The presence of these volunteers and their advocacy for health within their community contributes to the sustainability of health care supported by Global Brigades’ Medical Program and is one of the most impactful disease prevention strategies in rural communities across the globe.

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 a dentist within a reasonable distance.

N/A

Patient Consultations

N/A

Fluoride Treatments

N/A

Fillings Performed

N/A

Dental Education Workshop

Engineering

Program Status

  • Planning
  • Active
  • Complete

MONTAÑA VERDE’S ENGINEERING CHALLENGE:

Currently, the community of Montaña Verde doesn’t have a water system. The community members have a water storage unit also known as “pila” where they collect and store rainwater when they can. The community also has a well but community members have to pay a fee to acquire water from it.

7

Volunteers

331

Beneficiaries

7.12

Kilometers of pipeline designed

MONTAÑA VERDE’S ENGINEERING SOLUTION:

Montaña Verde’s water system design was completed in July 2023. The optimal solution to provide this community access to water was to design and construct a water system that contains a water storage tank of 10,000 gallons and install approximately 10 kilometres of adequate piping. This will ensure the correct water distribution and coverage across the community.

Water System : None
Type of System : Gravity
Homes with Access to Water : 71
Water Council : Yes

ENGINEERING VOLUNTEERS IN MONTAÑA VERDE

Chapter Date # Of Volunteers Chapter Date # Of Volunteers
University of Birmingham July 2023 7

Public Health

Program Status

  • Planning
  • Active
  • Complete

Global Brigades is working on the implementation of the Holistic Model in Montaña Verde and in the planning phase the program is surveying houses in the community to gather data. After this planning phase, the financing, delivery, and installation of household health infrastructure products will start as soon as feasible.

12

Volunteers

Homes with Latrines : 75
Homes with Eco-Stoves : 0
Homes with Water Filters : 0
Common House Materials : cement and adobe

PUBLIC HEALTH VOLUNTEERS IN MONTAÑA VERDE

Chapter Date # Of Volunteers Chapter Date # Of Volunteers
Milwaukee School of Engineering Public Health March 2024 12

Legal Empowerment

Program Status

  • Planning
  • Active
  • Complete

MONTAÑA VERDE’S LEGAL EMPOWERMENT CHALLENGE

Legal services are difficult to access in rural Honduras for two primary
reasons: location and cost. Most often, there are no legal services set up
within rural communities and are instead concentrated in urban areas.
Therefore, rural Hondurans must travel multiple hours to access these
services. Not only does travelling to these urban areas cost money, but the
legal services themselves are frequently too expensive.

In addition, there is an attitude of mistrust amongst the rural clients.
Therefore, it is a challenge to gain the community members’ trust when dealing with their personal legal empowerment issues and to prove not all lawyers will take advantage of them.

7

Volunteers

13

Legal Consultations Provided

112

Participants of Educational Workshops

Civic Engagement and Empowerment

By focusing on specific aspects of legal access and inclusion, Global Brigades’ Legal Empowerment Program aims to empower communities like Montaña Verde to overcome the obstacles mentioned above. Starting in 2024, Brigaders have been able to tackle family law cases, execute pro-bono legal clinics, and perform educational workshops.

Family Law: The most common legal issues within the community include issues of alimony and childcare, land issues, domestic violence, and some violent crimes. Without a lawyer in the community, many legal issues go unresolved or unattended for many years, and seemingly simple legal troubles can go unanswered.

Legal Clinics: Global Brigade’s Legal Empowerment Program has been able to offer its pro-bono legal services to community members in Montaña Verde with the help of Honduran lawyers as they are shadowed by volunteers. Both community members and volunteers work together to challenge the stigma of lawyers in the region by offering real, professional services for free.

Educational Workshops: Volunteers have performed workshops in the local school of Montaña Verde. Capitalizing on the use of education as a tool for community empowerment, volunteers lead discussions and workshops with students and families about issues that have direct consequences and effects on their everyday lives, including the right to education, child abuse, drug use, and child labour laws.

LEGAL EMPOWERMENT VOLUNTEERS IN LA MONTAÑA VERDE:

Chapter Date # Of Volunteers Chapter Date # Of Volunteers
Marquette University March 2024 7

Local Reference Points

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

  • Feature