The Port Isabel, Texas, Rotary Club, in conjunction with Rotary District 5930, is once again sponsoring work crews to Trujillo, Honduras. Our International partners are the Trujillo Rotary Club and District 4250.
Hands to Honduras began after Hurricane Mitch struck Honduras in 1998. Our first projects focused on the construction of low-cost shelters in five Honduran communities and has since expanded to school construction and the development of power supplies and water systems. In the beginning, it was sponsored by the Middlebury, Vermont Rotary Club.
From 1999-until mid-2011, we have spent $503,464.83 on projects. Among the hi-lites--43 classrooms, five major power projects, 3 major water projects, 72 low-cost shelters and infrastructure for another 28 low-cost shelters, 327 slow sand home water filters, 2 ambulances, a road, a multi-purpose playground, a community 36 latrine project and 763 computers. We had 301 volunteers (many of these were repeaters) participate in 7 annual work trips.
In May, 1999, Tom Plumb, founder of Hands to Honduras, went to Honduras with Rotary District Governor Richard Bielefield and fellow Rotarian Rudy Loyola, to determine what Rotary Distrct 7850, could do to assist the victims of Hurricane Mitch. We visited five communities (Danli, Choluteca, Tegucigalpita, Marcala, and San Pedro Sula) and chose all but one (the project in San Pedro Sula was too big for our small district to tackle). The rest of 1999, 2000 and 2001 were spent rasing money for and constructing low-cost shelters in these communities.
In 2001, 23 low cost shelters in Danli were completed at a cost of $30,475.00, 16 newly constructed low cost shelters in Tegucigalpita were provided with electricity and septic at a cost of $10,000.00, 25 low-cost shelters were constructed in Marcala at a cost of $50,000.00, and a 24 unit project was built in Choluteca at a cost of $48,750.00.
In 2002 and 2003, $3,500.00 was provided to help construct 12 low-cost shelters in San Lorenzo, $500.00 was given to connect a village near Siguatepeque with an existing water system (a cistern was also built), $400.00 was provided to a program known as Maestro en la Casa in La Esperanza to buy audi--visual equipment so the teachers could provide video education programs in private homes, $1,500.00 worth of donated school and medical supplies were provided to schools and clinics in Danli, Nacaome, and Marcala, $500.00 was provided to help pay for the creation of a medical clinic near Danli (a sonogram and medical supplies were also delivered to them), 22 soccer balls and several soccer balls were provided to a school in Jutiapa near Danli (where we built the low-cost shelters), and $330.00 was provided to the Marcala Rotary Club to build a roadside sign and an exterior office sign. Each year, Tom was a "go-fer" for District 7870's construction projects in Danli and San Pedro Sula.
In 2002, 112 used computers were provided to communities in Honduras, and in 2003, 72 used computers were provided. These computers cost $9,870.00. Additionally, 3 new computers were provided to schools or programs in Danli, Nacaome, and Santa Barbara at a cost of $1,960.16. Upgrades and repairs for the computers cost $465.75 and trucking to port cost $2,222.63. They were distributed to schools and programs in Nacaome, Danli, San Lorenzo, Choluteca, Marcala, Comayagua, Santa Barbara, Cofradia, San Pedro Sula, Tela, La Ceiba, La Mossquitia, and El Progresso as well as Guatemala City.
In 2004, 54 computers were provided to 3 schools in San Ignacio, Belize, and 82 went to schools and NGOs in Tela, La Ceiba, Progreso, San Pedro Sula, Cofradia, Santa Barbara, La Esperanza, Nacaome and Danli at a cost of $5,806.14). $500.00 was provided to provide finishing touches to the San Lorenzo housing project. $8,100.00 was provided to the Danli Rotary Club to build 327 personal water filters for homes in villages near Danli--Las Cortinas, Casa Viejas, Los Huertos, Santa Cruz, Esquillal, La Leona, Jutiapa, and La Vega. Additionally, Tom wrote a grant for $132,000.00 (not included in total spent since 1999) that was approved to build more water filters to communities near Danli. $4,000.00 was given to the Tela Rotary Club to build 36 latrines in the communities of Hicaque and Puerto Arturo near Tela.
2004 also saw Hands to Honduras develop more focus....and concentrated on Tela, Honduras. The volunteer work crews were begun...and Tom met Lincoln Oviedo, his co-leader, and son of the John F. Kennedy School principal...he is a legal resident of the United States and has traveled to Honduras to assist uswith logistics ever since. 30 volunteers--including 12 Interact students from Hopkinton, New Hampshire--traveled to Tela to work on the following (the projects cost $17,200.87):
At the John F. Kennedy School in Tela ($10,369.36):
Security wall and gate, desk painting, basketball court (paid for by Lincoln), rewiring of classrooms, creation of a computer lab, construction of a kitchen, taught art, repaired ceilings, provided a TV with VCR, constructed two book shelves, provided library books as well as a dozen computers, and we provided materials for a puppet show.
At the Estaban Guardiola school in Triunfo de la Cruz ($4,343.59) :
Painting of the entire school, construction of computer desks, a TV/VCR, an air conditioner, library books, 2 book cases, 10 computers, creation of a computer lab in existing space with wiring, provision of cement blocks to repair walls, provision of roofing materials and materials for new windows, and two doors. We also provided dental assistance for a child with an absessed tooth.
At the Daniel Orellana school in El Jazmin ($1,460.74):
We replaced a thatched school with a new 20x30 classroom and provided them with library books.
At the Heriberto Diaz school in La Ensenada ($1,027.18):
One new book case, 2 computers, materials for 2 latrines, and a pump and plumbing supplies for a community well.
In 2004, we also provided a vocational training facility for drug addicted street kids with 6 of our computers as well as $397.12 for a pump and the necessary electricity for their well and $119.44 for the electrical hookup for the guard's house for for the school. An ambulance was provided by the St. Michael's Fire and Rescue Squad for the Choloma Red Cross. Four volunteers (Tom Plumb, James Mount, Iain Hoefle, and Dennis Maloney) drove it to Miami for shipping (shipping and the drive cost $754.38. Rescue squad members flew to Choloma twice to provide training.
In 2005, 58 volunteers worked in Tela--including 17 Interact students. $46,899.84 was spent on projects. The projects were:
At the John F. Kennedy School in Tela ($12,552.07):
New appliances for kitchen, 3 new classrooms, painting of entire school, chicken wire on windows, sports equipment, some rewiring, and a footbridge across a river for students to get to school (paid for by Lincoln).
At the Estaban Guardiola School in Triunfo de la Cruz ($13,004.83):
3 new classrooms, rewiring of 2/3s of the school, new appliances for kitchen and new fans for the new classrooms, new classroom doors, a sewing classroom in an existing room was completed--it had been begun but the school ran out of money, new roofing and toilets for latrines, and chicken wire for the windows.
At the community center in Triunfo de la Cruz ($6,694.34):
A new rustproof roof (it is on the ocean) and painting of the entire huge building.
At the Heriberto Diaz School in La Ensenada ($2,009.59):
Painting of the exterior, one new door, new appliances for kitchen that was wired by our volunteers, and a water filter for the well that filtered everything including salt.
At the Daniel Orellana School in El Jazmin ($700.00):
Stuccoing and painting of the school built in 2004, a flagpole, fans and books, and electricity was brought to the school.
At the Amilcar Giron School in San Martin ($2,228.85):
New roofing materials installed by community, mosquito wiring for windows, and rewiring of the school.
At the Policarpo Bonilla School in El Paraiso ($2,320.42):
A new kitchen and new applicances.
At the Francisco Benedith School in Nuevo Amanecer ($3,923.87):
A new 20x30 school with latrines to replace an adobe school.
At Francisco Benedith school in Matute ($3,260.25):
A new computer lab built by community.
Also in 2005, 137 computers (and an additional 36 monitors) went to schools in Tela, Triunfo de la Cruz, Nuevo Amanecer, Tornabe, La Ensenada, Matute, El Jazmin, and San Martin. They also went to the water department in Masica, the fire department in Tela, the tourist police in Tela, the national police department in Tela, a group home in La Ceiba, a day care center in San Pedro Sula, a detox, vocational center in Progreso, an elementary school in Progresso, a bilingual school in Cofradia, a high school in Santa Barbara, an elementary school in La Esperanza, the Honduran Girl's project in Nacaome, a health clinic in Danli, a high school and an elemenetary school in Danli. At a cost of $4,428.77. We also provided walkie-talkies to the Tela tourist police at a cost of $156.75 as well as a one way window so victims of child abuse could identify their abusers in safety. Materials for partitions to separate the three branches of the tourist police were provided. . Additionally, the Bristol Vermont Rescue Squad provided an ambulance for the Tela Red Cross. Costs were borne by others. Dennis Maloney provided the rescue squad and fire department with EMS training.
Tom moved to Texas in 2005, and the efforts for Tela were taken over by the Charlotte-Shelburne Rotary Club. Tom moved his efforts to Trujillo.
However, in 2006, Tom worked on two projects on his own in Tela. Hands to Honduras replaced a one room bamboo and thatch school 2 miles up a mountain above Tela. We provided $1,618.00 for the community to purchase materials to build a new 2-classroom school. We also paid $2,650.00 to rent a bulldozer to create a road up to the school and we provided new desks for $740.00. In El Sauce, we provided $1,300.00 to help construct latrines for the school...two 3-stall bathrooms.
In 2007, 36 Rotarians and others built a new three classroom school to replace a small 2 classroom adobe and thatch school and 3 new latrines in the Community of the Tigers for $7,658.71, a new two classroom school to replace a one classroom barnboard school and 3 new latrinesin 18 de Abril (Rodriguez) for $9,635.65, two additional classrooms to replace adobe and thatch classrooms, repairs of their latrines and repainting and rewiring of their 3 existing classrooms in Remolino for a cost of $10,145.65, and repaiinting and rewired the 9 classrooms, replaced their toilets, and replaced roofing over 2 classrooms at the Bonilla Nunez school l in Trujillo for $6,636.23. We also replaced some roofing at a school in Colon for $153.48. Total costs for projects was $34,229.72.
In 2008, 53 volunteers along with villagers, built two new 20x20 classrooms for $6,355.84 and wired them for $225.13 at a school in Silin, two new 20x20 classrooms for $6,316.86, 3 new latrines for $1,534.14, and wired the new classrooms for $269.55 at a school in Buenos Aires, a new 20x20 kindergarten for $3,683.29 with wiring for $245.81, and 3 new latrines for $1,544.94 in the Pech Indian village of Moradel, a new 20x30 school at a cost of $4,517.25 in the Cunda community, and a new 20x20 kindergarten for $4,158.49 with electricity $129.66, and 3 new latrines $1,551.79 in 13 de Junio. We also provided electricity for the Rodriguez school $256.23, painted the guardhouse and classroom at the naval base for $57.38, built a 26,000 gallon river water storage tank for the 3000 residents of Barrio Cristales for $7,020.00 and provided power to the 30 households and school in Rodriguez for $18,197.50. Additionally, we provided 144 desktop and 9 laptops to schools in Tela, Triunfo de la Cruz, San Martin, Ensenada, San Isidro, Jazmin, Matute, Cunda, Rodriguez, Remolino, San Martin, Trujillo (United Nations school), Pech, Tiger, Silin, Buenos Aires, June the 13th, Guadaluoe Carney, Cofradia, Progreso, and Atlantida at a cost of $6,918.49 and science equipment for 9 schools ($5,956.07). Two Brownsville Rotarians provided training for the teachers in Trujillo in the use of computers and science equipment. Total project costs were $68,938.42.
In 2009, 54 volunteers built 2 classrooms to replace a portion of a barnboard school for $6,985.57 and 3 new latrines for $1,844.48 in Guadalupe Carney, 2 20x30 classrooms for $5,752.45, repaired their latrines for $120.94, brought power to the 15 houses and the schools and cultural center community for $9,952.27 in Moradel (Pech), a 20x26 classroom with wiring for $3,323.56 and 3 new latrines for $1,902.20 for the school in Rio Claro, a 20x25 classroom in Monte Cristo for $3,236.09, provided power to the villages of Caribbean Mission for $5,774.18, Cunda $8,599.81 and La Brea for $7,703.45.. We also built 3 latrines in Cunda for $944.53, provided water to the Rodriguez school for $45.67 and wired the school for $77.06 (most materials on hand), built a dam for San Martin for $818.47, a 42,000 gallon river water storage tank for San Martin for $11,594.04, provided screening for four schools for $720.02 and repaired the latrines in Silin for $264.20. We also provided 150 computers and teacher training for area schools at a cost of $6,482.63. Total project expenses for 2009 were $76,141.04.
In 2010, 28 volunteeers built two 20x30 classrooms for $6,510.98 at Guadalupe Carney, one 20x30 classroom for $3,165.40 at Monte Cristo, a 51x75 multi-purpose playground for $2,874.56,at Rodriguez, reforested the Cristales/San Martin watershed with a 1,000 donated trees for $159.83, wired the Pech cultural center, old 2 classroom school and 2 tourist cabanas for $514.63, minor repairs to school door in Cunda for $63.51, re-roof Pech houses for $1,383.04, wired the June 13 elementary school for $148.89. Total 2010 project expenses were $14,820.84.
In 2011, 42 volunteers built three classrooms in Ilanga Viejo and brought electricity to the school ($13,358.25), kindergartens in Cunda ($2,705.85) and Bella Vista ($2,702.14), and a classroom expansion and new roof for the school in Las Crucitas ($2,476.52). We provided sports equipment to Guadalupe Carney and Rodriguez ($692.26). We also provided new waterline for Colonia Buenos Aires in Bonito Oriental ($146.07). Our water projects in Barrio Buenos Aires neared completion ($10,570.54) and the filter tank portion of our water project in Barrio San Martin is also almost complete ($16,715.61)...with the clean water tank ($4,604.37 to date) and a well next in line ($423.39 to date).
In 2012, three 20x25 wired classrooms were built in Las Lemus. The new school will serve 88 students and replaces an open air thatched school. Power lines were extended to the new school and latrines were also built.
The sediment settlement tank in Barrio Buenos Aires was completed and dedicated.
The clean water tank serving Barrio San Martin got underway and the slow sand filter tank serving Barrio Cristales sponsored by Rotary District 5830 is 95% completed. The clean water tank serving Barrio Cristales built by a Spain NGO was completed.
TIME TO START FUNDRAISING FOR 2013!!! We need $35,650 (current budget)!!!