APP and AguaClara on TV!

A couple months ago a Honduran news program did a feature on Agua para el Pueblo (APP), the NGO I work for. They visited a few of APPs projects, including the AguaClara treatment plants in Ojojona and Tamara. I got on TV for about 30 seconds speaking Spanish with a solidly thick Gringo accent. Tamar, my more technically savy co-worker, put the video up on you-tube at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RavlJf-ZRFk

Below is a translation in case you don´t speak Spanish and would like to know what is going on:

Thousands of Hondurans live in the periphery of the principle cities
of this country without potable water service. They invest their money
buying water from tanker trucks or transporting water to their homes
from the nearest source.

But if this occurs in cities like Tegucigalpa, which is the capital of
the country, you could imagine what can be occurring in more rural
areas where people die from lack of hygiene. Lets see the report from
Rodolfo Velasquez.

Located in the Valle of Amareteca 25 minutes from the capital we find
the Community “Quebrada Honda” of 240 inhabitants dedicated to
business, agriculture or livestock.

“The crops that we cultivate are corn, beans, sorghum, and
livestock–different types right–like cattle and horses.”

This community does not have the basic necessary services. Even though
the electric grid passes through this sector, it does not service the
community.

“Well, here the problem here with the light is that the ENEE (electric
company) has said it is going to charge a fee, and the truth is that
the people here we are poor, we do not have the economic resources to
pay, because the cost is about 50,000 Lempiras.”

After the passing of Hurricane Mitch they are nearly disconnected
because of the poor state of the main road and the lack of a bridge.

The road, you can see, is a disadvantage, because there is no access.
Here, we work, and all that we haul has to on horseback because there
is no other mode of transportation.

Quebrada Honda has a coeducational school with 28 students thanks to
the “Cooperacion Espanola”, which has also built latrines here. But
they face a serious problem.

“Now the community has a big problem that is potable water. They do
not have this very important service. Often children need to collect
water in the afternoons after school, and there is also no electric
energy.”

For generations the population used the water from this small stream.
But now it is contaminated.

“Because the water we have here in the stream is contaminated. We
can’t drink it because there are neighborhoods above it. And we need a
water project because we don’t have one”

Despite everything, they use this water for domestic purposes and bathing.

“Due to the contaminated water we have a lot of problems because the
children have diarrhea problems and skin problems and other type of
contamination.”

This is confirmed with Kaylee Cobrado, her son with a skin disease.

“For 3 months I have been looking for a remedy, but I imagine its from
the water, because when I bathe him it produces a skin rash. He begins
to scratch, bumps appear and they get infected”

When it rains, these people rejoice because they can get the water
that falls from the sky.

“When it rains we rest from hauling water. Here the water is a very
sad issue because we have to sacrifice. Yesterday it rained so we have
plenty of water. And when we have to go haul water at times we have to
go in the rain or in the sun. Sometimes we have to go without coffee
because it’s a 2-hour trip. And when we have housework to do we have
to leave it undone to go.”

But there is hope for this community, thanks to the organization Agua
para el Pueblo (APP) that hopes to install a potable water system that
will have a cost of 2-million Lempiras, but only has one million to
develop this project.

“We are going to benefit 40 families with this project. There are 230
people that live here in this community. The first part of the project
is financed by Cooperación Espanola through two NGOs, CESAL from Spain
and APP of Honduras. SANAA is also making a contribution but we are
also soliciting from the Technical Cooperation Secretary (SETCO) the
complementary funds to be able to do this project, which is vital for
the development of this undeveloped community”

Communities like Tamara have been benefitted thanks to projects
developed by Agua para el Pueblo.

“Before we had problems with water because it came infrequently and
when it came out it came out dirty. There were times when we didn’t
have water and had to haul it from other places. And now thanks to the
project the water comes every two days and is clean water, chlorinated
and purified”

Over 500 families receive the benefit.

“The distribution network was reconstructed in 8 km of 15 in total
with larger diameters than existed before. Because they had a system
with 38-40 years, the reconstruction that they solicited was
necessary.”

In Ojojona a water treatment plant has also been installed.

“The plant is a technology that reduces, more than anything, the
dirtiness (turbidity) of the water–the dirtiness, the bacterial
contamination, the contamination from dirt and sediment that exists
because of erosion near the sources, which is normal in our
communities.”

In this manner they are improving the quality of life of the people in Ojojona.

“For example, in the past winters, the people here were drinking
purely muddy water and now the change that we have, we have improved
the water quality, through the use of the water treatment plant, and
we have seen good results in the health of the children and of the
population of Ojojona”

Students from Cornell University in the United States support these projects.

“What we are doing is giving technical support to the engineers and
the technicians at Agua para el Pueblo, who are building the plants
because the designs are done in the University of Cornell in NY where
we were students, and we are serving as intermediaries between the
university who is making the designs and Agua para el Pueblo who is
executing the project.”

In the same way, with the support of the government, the community of
Quebrada Honda is hoping to have a potable water system very soon.

“We are very conscious of all the problems in the community Quebrada
Honda, above all because in terms of health and sanitation it is
important for them, for all of the families that will be benefitted.
And we are very conscious; we are in the process of negotiation with
various partners to wait for the response that they might have to
support these types of projects.”

For the next December they hope to start this project.

“Now is the time for us to make a decision. We cannot continue
depending on the work of non governmental organizations like Agua para
el Pueblo who with their credibility receive financing from the
international community.

Maybe there is no national plan regarding the theme of water and
sanitation. Millions in resources are invested in payments to
privileged interest groups. But what exists in the investment of
potable drinking water? This must be a priority of the current
authorities and a theme in the agendas of the presidential candidates.

Honduras is in our hands. Let’s make it grow. Good night.”

Observations (generalizations) of Honduras

At the risk of generalizing, after being in Honduras for over a year I feel at liberty to make a few quick and hopefully mildly informative observations of life here:

• There are plenty of cute kids, but the futures of many of them are threatened by broken homes and lack of education.
• There plenty of beautiful young women, but many of them are already beautiful, young single mothers.
• There are plenty of plastic bags, and is plenty of trash on the streets, but there are very few garbage cans.
• There are a lot of fruits and vegetables grown in Honduras, but many people eat very few fruits and vegetables.
• There is a lot of Coca Cola and Pepsi in Honduras.
• There are a lot of people who suffer from obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure.
• There are people, especially children, who are malnourished.
• There are some very rich people.
• There is not a lot of confidence in the government or the political system.
• There is plenty of water, but not enough safe, drinkable water.
• There is plenty of public transportation, but the air quality is still horrible, particularly because of the public buses.
• There are very few public restrooms and even fewer clean ones.
• There are plenty of cell phones.
• There are quite a few people with fancy cell phones that cost them a month’s salary.
• There is plenty of crime, but even more fear of it.
• There are a lot of people who work very, very hard just to get by.

La Canasta Básica

          Ask any Honduras and you will find that one more reason that “estamos fregados” (we’re screwed) here in Honduras is the rising cost of la canasta básica. La canasta básica (directly translated as the basic basket) is the set of food staples that nearly all Honduran families consume to survive. These items include beans, rice, sugar, lard, oil, milk and a couple dozen other things.

            In an effort to control cost of living, the government employs price controls on la canasta básica. It is technically illegal to sell those goods for more than the official price. I say technically because I have heard that vendors still raise the prices when they want to. The price controls often cause shortages.

            On a road trip a few months ago, I talked with Antonio, my co-worker, and Jacobo, my boss and the director of Agua para el Pueblo, about the food supply problems in Honduras. They said that while the consumer buys at high prices and the producer always sells at low prices, the middleman consistently makes a killing buying low and selling high. The middlemen they refer to are called coyotes. They buy from producers and sell in bulk in the markets all over Honduras.

            According to Antonio and Jacobo, the coyotes have managed to avoid the laws of supply and demand by joining forces in a sort of cartel. When a farmer comes to market to sell his produce, it doesn’t matter what coyote he goes to, they will all give him a low and unfair price. “Why doesn’t one coyote pay a little more, but still a price low enough to make a profit, so that all the farmers will sell to him instead of the other coyotes?” I asked them. They replied that coyotes have been known to kill other coyotes for doing things like that. In any given city, like Tegucigalpa, all of the large traders in the market are united. A coyote who doesn’t cooperate with the others will not last long.

            Jacobo told the story of a harvest of yucca (a starchy, potato-like russet) that they produced on a farm he owns. Having heard that yucca was selling for high prices, Jacobo gave the yucca to a man who works for him to go sell in the market in San Pedro Sula. The man arrived at one distributor and asked how much they would pay for his yucca. Surprised by the low price, he went to other distributors looking for a better deal. They offered him even less, and when he returned to the first place, they now were offering less as well. Instead of letting it go to waste, he was forced to sell the yucca at a price that hardly covered the cost of brining it to the market. The distributor would surely sell the yucca to small vendors at a much higher price. However, these small vendors wouldn’t have the money to be able to buy in bulk from Jacobo’s employee.

            Producers are also at a disadvantage because all of them have to sell their crops at the same time, right after the harvest. They often can’t wait, because they have no way to store their produce without it ruining or because they need the money immediately. If it has been a good harvest, the price will be low, because all of the producers are selling a lot at the same time. If it has been a bad harvest, the price will be better, but some producers might not have anything to sell.

            I asked Jacobo and Antonio why the producers can’t unite, just like the coyotes do, to force the coyotes to buy at higher prices. They said that some farmers do form cooperatives, to plant, work and harvest together. However, they said these cooperatives are usually not successful. Work is often not shared equitably in the cooperatives and some members rob from and take advantage of the rest of the members.

            My question remains: Why is it so easy for the coyotes to unite to take advantage of the little guys but so hard for the little guys to unite to protect themselves from the coyotes?