Construction - Work Teams in Honduras
Casa de Esperanza work teams have been involved in a number of projects in Honduras. Initially our first trips consisted of repairs on an existing orphanage in Las Lajas. This was a relatively late model building but we had done regular maintenance here and upgraded the water supply to allow the second story residents to have water available without having to shut off water to the first floor. Footlockers, picnic tables, trunks and other storage for the girls have been wood working projects that we’ve completed also.
We completed a church in Jaitique, one of the 26 or so “daughter” churches of Fuente de Vida in the mountains and outlying areas. We also helped with an addition of classrooms, floors and windows in a church in Jardines, another of the “daughter” churches.
Work was recently completed on a new Christian School in Las Lajas to replace the one made of old slab wood and tarp style construction. The new building has a main meeting room, modern bathrooms with flush toilets, offices, a central kitchen with wings attached to hold classrooms. This building will be used for school, grades kindergarten through sixth during the weekday mornings, Compassion International will use it in the afternoons for study groups and it will be used for Sunday school classes on Sunday morning.
CDE works with and coordinates with other groups to get the most beneficial use of the funds we have and projects we undertake. The basic needs of shelter, food, clothing and education can be met by working together thus providing a greater benefit for Honduran people.
Other requests for our help are pending, such as helping with a church in Chaparral, another “daughter” church of Fuente de Vida.
The water sources in Honduras are murky and unreliable, most are bacteria laden since sewer systems are inadequate, which makes domestic water undrinkable, gastrointestinal diseases are rampant. Little, if any, precautionary measures are ever taken to treat the source water before ingestion.
Refitting plumbing fixtures is a constant job seemingly without end; untreated river water clogs new fixtures almost as soon as they are installed. At the orphanage after several years of refitting fixtures and patching the existing pipes, we laid new pipe allowing us to reconnect them to a well that had been drilled. As a back up we fixed the pipes leading to the municipal water. Now they have pure drinking water available right out of the tap. It’s amazing that with the technology available to us today there are still countries that do not have access to clean, uncontaminated drinking water.
Casa de Esperanza assists with laying pipe, refitting fixtures and trying to bring clean drinking water to the villages in Honduras. Construction will always be part of Casa de Esperanza. There are many ways we can help in this area; churches, the school, building furniture for the orphanage and transition home, fixing plumbing and laying pipe for new water sources.