A Walk for Water
Video by Nelson Martinez, Operations Director, Honduras
Story by Bill Fisher, Brigade Volunteer, Water Project Lead
Editing by Larry Mann, Brigade Volunteer
Armed with machetes, five Hondureños make their way up the face of El Montañon – The Big Mountain. It’s the dry season in Honduras, and it’s hot; the men keep to the edge of a stream, sometimes singing, sometimes talking, but never resting. Two hours into their hike, they find their destination blocked by tropical vines and dense jungle growth. They get out their machetes.
Two of the men, Cornelio and Oswaldo, from the village of Veracruz, represent the Junta de Agua – Water Board – there. Wilfredo and Jesus, from El Tablón, an even smaller place, are here from their water Junta. The fifth man, Brian, whom the fellows see as their leader, represents the builder and designer of a project they’ve been envisioning for a long, long time.
After finally hacking their way to their destination – the confluence of three streams high up on the mountain – these determined Hondureños look things over and smile. Here is where they will build a represa – a dam for holding water that will eventually reach nearly 250 households in three remote villages: Veracruz, El Tablón, and El Tule. Purified and chlorinated, this clean, safe, water will vastly improve the health, well-being, and prosperity of all who live there.
That dream, however, is still a long way off. But even getting to this point has required months and months of coordination and planning. With the help of Bill Fisher, a former Peace Corps Volunteer and now Water Project Lead for the VHC Medical Brigade, leaders from the three villages were successful in obtaining something essential to the success of this project from the Honduran National Government: legally protected status of the watershed lands above the dam. This status protects these lands from deforestation or other environmentally harmful activity that would threaten this project.
Funding for the project – including seven kilometers of piping – is thanks to funding from Rotary International. From the dam, water will be piped downhill to a chlorinator mounted atop a 20,000-gallon concrete tank. From there, the water will travel to homes in each of the three villages.
This description, however, makes the project sound simpler than it actually is. If water is simply released into downhill pipes, accumulating pressure from its rapid descent can cause pipes to explode. To solve this problem, rompecargas – pressure relief stations – must be installed along the way. Besides that, numerous air-release valves are also required. Without them, trapped air can block the flow of water. Both types of water-flow management technologies must be installed along the way, as determined by the topography of the land. Understanding how to do this requires expertise. Thankfully, this project has it.
The cement, rebar, and concrete block for the dam are thanks to a cooperative agreement among the Rotary Club of La Paz, the Brigade, and the Office of the Mayor of Comayagua. The work of getting these materials up El Montañon to the site of the dam – there is no road – is a huge project by itself. Local villagers from all three communities will play a pivotal role by excavating and hauling gravel and sand to the worksite. Backbreaking work, this task will take a good while. Once sufficient materials have been carried up the mountain, construction of the dam can commence.
Labor for this project will be supervised by Brian (mentioned above) and a construction manager engaged by the La Paz Rotary Club, who will provide ongoing progress reports. We have every hope that before the end of the year, this water project – the 12th such project initiated by the Brigade – will be a blessing and saving the lives of more of our Central American friends in Honduras.