CENTRO DE SALUD HEALTH CENTRE,
BARRIO SAN LUIS, HONDURAS

FUNDED MAY 3, 2023

THE PROJECT

Centro de Salud Health Care Facility in Barrio San Luis, Honduras

The health center provides medical attention to the population of 16 neighborhoods located in its area of influence in Choluteca, Honduras.  The clinic provides surgeries and routine care.  They want to add a dental clinic, if they can find access to water.

SPECIFIC COSTS AND FUNDING INFORMATION

Funding requested: $3,500 for Materials and Labor.

Well Materials: Hand pump, cement, drilling fluid, piping, gravel, sand, fuel

Labor: Labor for putting the well into place.
Our staff are paid appropriate salary rates, which include the country’s requirement of a 13th month salary, and health INS benefits.

Administative Costs will be paid for by other donations.

Other Costs: Health and sanitation education/training, ongoing sustainability efforts, evangelistic and discipleship program, administration / oversight.

Other Funding: Where most needed gifts, grants towards gospel proclamation will be applied to complete this work for the community.

LIVING WATERS INTERNATIONAL’S PROGRAM

Our implementation through WASH Program Areas is unique, in that it aims to bring lasting physical and spiritual development in communities, through a multi-year program focused on specific regions thoughtfully integrating and contextualizing principles of water access, sanitation, hygiene, church mobilization, gospel proclamation, and sustainability.

WELL MAINTENANCE AND REPAIR

We will provide training and backstopping support during the first 6 years, until the local water committees and community have gathered enough fees to build a reserve for funding future maintenance.  Water users will pay small monthly water user fees by household and these funds will be collected and managed by the water user  committee, including a staff member from the clinic, for future repairs and maintenance of the system.  The well caregiver will be assigned and equipped to do the ongoing general care of the
project at the clinic.

DISCIPLESHIP

Living Water employs a pastor within each country’s staff. Their purpose is to engage with the local churches/pastors/church members speaking into unity, spiritual growth and how to be health advocates within their communities. Bible storying training is coordinated within the WPA at several locations and outreach evangelism events such as the Jesus film, family activities with spiritual influence or rallies to name a few.

Bibles are given out to new believers or believers who do not have access to a bible in their own language. [There are] other pastoral trainings or pastoral fellowship activities, to unite Christians throughout the WPA in sharing the gospel and uplifting believers.

FUTURE IMPACT

Life will be incredibly different for this clinic and community.  Access to daily safe water at the clinic and for community members, close to their homes, will stop the time poverty cycle of walking distances to gather water.  Waterborne illnesses should dramatically decrease. The clinic will be able to have a consistent schedule to care for their patients.  Community members will have time to care for their children, grow a garden, or possibly start a micro-business.  Once they learn how diseases are spread, they will have the knowledge to stop the transmission of illnesses and parasites.  The children’s bellies will no longer be bloated due to parasites, requiring medication from the clinic.

School attendance and focus will be much better.  Women will no longer have kidney issues, because they will feel they can drink enough water each day.  The clinic will see fewer sick people from waterborne illnesses.  There is a feeling of pride in a community when they have their own water well, and they take great care of this resource.

COMPLETED AUGUST 2, 2023

The San Luis Community Health Clinic was struggling to operate in the midst of an acute water crisis. Like the surrounding community, the clinic had to depend on the tap stands provided by the municipal government. But the tap stands were unreliable, so the clinic staff
stored water in large containers, hoping it would last until the taps were running again. Oftentimes, they had to buy water, sometimes even using their own money. The clinic couldn’t properly treat patients without safe water, and if the supply had run out, the
medical staff had to turn patients away.

Dr. Alejandra Marcela Garcia, a microbiologist, is the head of the clinic’s lab. She described how difficult it was for the clinic to provide proper care to patients:

“We only had water once or twice a month, so we kept water in containers, rationing what was going to be used in the health center. This made it difficult to provide proper care to patients. The worst situations were the days when we did not have enough water in the clinic and hygiene conditions in the center could not be properly maintained. There was not enough water for the patients to use the toilets or wash their hands, nor was there enough to keep the clinic clean or for the staff to provide the necessary medical attention. There were days when the clinic’s laboratory could not operate because of the lack of water, and people had to leave without being able to take the tests they needed.”

The clinic team knew that safe water was the answer to many of the issues they faced, that it was a key element in helping the community achieve better health. But they also knew that they didn’t have the resources to end the water crisis on their own, so they began looking for help.

The San Luis Community Health Clinic’s water committee is comprised of clinic employees, doctors, and nurses.

When the clinic staff heard of Living Water International’s work in the region, they decided to request a borehole. During their initial visit, the Living Water team recognized the urgent need for water in San Luis and determined that a safe water project was feasible. Ingomar Living Waters, your gift made it possible for Living Water to drill a new borehole at the clinic – one that could be used by the entire San Luis community! 

The Living Water staff also helped the clinic staff establish sustainability practices to help ensure a future of safe water access, guiding them in the formation of a water committee to oversee the care and maintenance of the well. Living Water will stay in contact with
the community to support sustainability efforts and monitor the well’s functionality.

As part of Living Water’s goal to help the community understand how to use the safe water you gave them as a means of improving their health, the Living Water staff facilitated a hygiene and sanitation promotion activity. This series of interactive lessons included sessions on proper handwashing technique, how to care for the new hand pump, and how to safely transport and store water from the well.

Living Water staff leads the community
in a Bible storytelling workshop.

The Living Water team also shared the good news of God’s love with community members at a well dedication service attended by 80 residents. The staff distributed gospel literature and explained how the safe water in the new well symbolizes the living water of Jesus Christ, which he spoke of in John 4:13-14 (NIV):

“Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

Dr. Garcia is grateful to have a working borehole at the clinic. She, like the rest of the San Luis community, knows that safe water changes everything.

 “We hope that everything will change for the better,” she said. “Now we will have water every day, improving our ability to assist the patients who come looking for medical attention. Now we will be able to provide quality care to the people who visit us because the lack of water will not be a problem.”

Thank you Ingomar Living Waters!