Location
Los Cipreces, Marcala, La Paz, Honduras
Community Description
The project will take place in the small community of Los Cipreces, in the sector of Nahuaterique, in the department of La Paz. 18 years ago Nahuaterique was a part of El Salvador, taken during a brief but bloody war between Honduras and El Salvador in 1969.
The land was given back to Honduras in 1992, after a ruling from the International Court of Justice in The Hague, with no input from the local community. The result of this decision has led to what many call an “abandoned zone,” in which neither El Salvador nor Honduras helps the over 7,500 inhabitants in any meaningful way.
The long-term objective for the sector is to become its own municipality of Nahuaterique. This objective is unfortunately mired with many political obstacles. Many of the inhabitants are indigenous Lenca and live in areas of extreme poverty.
Project Description
This project is to construct a spring box to capture water at the source for the community of Los Cipreces.
The project is a part of an ongoing community project to bring water into the community, store it for use when needed, and distribute it to the households.
The community sits at the top of a mountain. Therefore, water will be pumped by a ¾ horsepower submersible electric pump, with a capacity of 12 gallons per minute, to a 5,000-gallon storage tank. From there, it will flow by gravity to the houses by a network of pipes.
PVC piping of 2-inch diameter will be installed over a distance of 3 km from the spring box to the tank, with ½ inch piping used for the distribution system.
Project funds will be used to pay for the materials for the spring box, including cement, sand, stone, block, iron bars, and sheets of zinc.
The project is being implemented under the direction of Patronato de Los Cipreces “Nuevo Amanecer”. The group has been working with a local engineer to complete the technical aspects of the project, including the topographical survey, testing of the water, and the technical designs of the infrastructure.
The group holds monthly meetings, and each member is slowly making payments towards $147 to cover expenses for the project.
Project Impact
This project will benefit 96 people.
Peace Corps Volunteer Directing Project
Michael Erickson
Comments
Appropriate Projects is providing a necessary component in a well-planned project to bring water to the community. The implementing group ran out of resources, placing the project in jeopardy, or at least causing a delay. We are pleased to be able to provide what is needed to move the project through to completion.
Dollar Amount of Project
$500.00
Donations Collected to Date
$500.00
Dollar Amount Needed
$0.00 – This project has been fully funded, through the generosity of the Elmo Foundation.
This project has been concluded.
We encourage others to continue to donate using the Donate button below, and we will notify the Peace Corps Volunteer of your donation. Additional funds will be used to fund the next project by the PCV and/or those of other PCVs in the country of service.
