A Research Project in Roatan, Honduras

Roatan is the largest of the Bay Islands, located 35 miles north of mainland Honduras. The island is approximately 3 miles wide and 30 miles long with a resident population of 65,000. The local economy is dominated by tourism- the tropical setting with resorts, beaches, and reef diving are the primary attractions. Visitation has increased substantially- from 15,000 in 1990, to 700,000 in 2010, and 1 million plus expected in 2011. Visitors arrive by airline, ferries from the mainland, or cruise ships that make frequent stops at the two docks recently constructed for them.

Colonia Policarpo is the largest of four colonias clustered in a relatively new settlement that lies on a steep hillside on the northwest side of the island near Sandy Bay. Most of the colonia residents have migrated from mainland Honduras seeking service and construction jobs in the tourism industry. Policarpo has approximately 520 households and 3,000 residents, half under age 16. Prior to 2006, most colonia residents obtained their drinking water from rainwater catchment or shallow hand dugs well subject to pollution. Since that time Living Water 4 Roatan (LW4R), a non-governmental organization, has worked with Policarpo residents to develop a self-sustaining water system that provides treated drinking water to households on a limited basis.

The Global Partnership Project student organization at Northern Arizona University (GPP-NAU) is collaborating with this community, LW4R, and a local health clinic in an effort to improve the quality of life in the colonia. This partnership is considered to be a multi-year endeavor between NAU and Colonia Policarpo. The long term goals for this and future trips include:

- Build relationships in Roatan and within the colonia community.
- Provide for adequate sanitation systems to all residences to reduce the chances of disease outbreaks such as cholera, malaria, and dengue fever.
- Expand and improve the water system, reduce the energy costs for operating it.
- Provide for adequate solid waste collection and erosion control.
- Perform social network mapping and interviewing to gain a better understanding of the community and their needs, particularly for public works improvements.

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Day 13 - Tues 6.14.2011

Dale and the GPP Team met this morning with Ms. Peggy, the director of Clinica Esperanza near the colonia, to discuss possible collaboration between the clinic and the medical professionals that Dale works with on other aid missions.  They can provide additional training to the staff that works at the Clinica and bring medical supplies. Later the team prepared a survey to ask a representative sample of colonia households some questions about composting, trash, electricity usage, number of people living in the household, their ages and occupation. Josh and McWane will use this data for a class project on energy use and solid waste issues in the colonia.

Shannon went along with a LW4R volunteer team, here for the week from Pensacola, FL, that assembled and distributed free water filter units to some households in the Bella Vista colonia that is adjacent to Policarpo. Through an interpreter, each family was given a demonstration on how to use the filter and clean it. Hundreds of these filters have been distributed over the last year by these volunteer teams. Water is stored at most households in open top barrels and usually becomes contaminated between the days they get water to refill their barrels. The filters can purify a few gallons of water at a time for drinking and cooking purposes.
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