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Tierra Colorada Housing Project 

Proposal

HOW TO USE THIS REPORT

The Tierra Colorada Housing Project will help eight poor families in the community of Tierra Colorada, Lepaterique, through the construction of secure housing. These families do not have the means to build or buy a home, especially one that can withstand climate changes, heavy annual rains and hurricanes. The construction of these homes will provide an environment that will improve their access to healthcare, education and economic opportunities.

Food For The Poor (FFTP) will be partnering with CEPUDO and four Honduran donors to help these eight families, for a total of 40 people. 

This project will include the following components: 

Construction of eight houses, each including:A healthy kitchenWater and sanitation componentsEco-stoves Furniture Training on the use and maintenance of every component placed in the house

With this new home, these families will have the security and stability of having something of their own and a valuable space where they can protect themselves from the environment. 

Locally, FFTP will be working with Lumiart, the Eta Relief Fund, Pharmaetica and an anonymous donor in Honduras to help these eight families. 

The completion date of this project may be extended for issues related to weather, natural disaster or civil unrest to the extent that such events exceed normal conditions and impede the project’s progress.

Project Description Project Goal

Provide houses for eight poor families in the community of Tierra Colorada in Lepaterique, Honduras.

Total Project Costs: $40,557.00

Honduras  Lepaterique

Bordering Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua, Honduras is one of the poorest Spanish-speaking countries in the Western Hemisphere. In a country of more than 9 million inhabitants, Honduras has nearly 65% of its population living in poverty, with 48.3% living below the poverty line. Poverty rates are higher among rural and indigenous people as well as in the south, west and along the eastern border than in the north and central areas where most of Honduras's industries and infrastructure are concentrated.

Struggling with high levels of economic inequality, Honduras ranks among the worst 25 nations in the world for income inequality. Its Gini index coefficient, which measures the degree of inequality in the distribution of family income within a country, is 48.2, according to the World Bank. By comparison, Nigeria’s is 35.1, while the United States has a ratio of 41.1. 

The COVID-19 pandemic and the unprecedented impact of two successive hurricanes significantly impacted Honduras’s economy in 2020, and its impacts continue. Expectations are for the country’s gross domestic product to contract by 9% and the poverty line to rise to 55.4%.

         FFTP began serving the poor people of Honduras in 1999, shortly after the country was devastated by Hurricane Mitch.           

In face of the impact of COVID-19 and the Hurricanes Eta and Iota, many inhabitants in several parts of Honduras were affected, losing most of their belongings. One of the departments that reported the most damage from these natural disasters was Francisco Morazán.

Francisco Morazán is  department located in the central area of Honduras. It has a territorial extension of 3,328 square miles and has an approximate population of 2,824,338 inhabitants. The territory is divided into 28 municipalities, 276 villages and 2,962 hamlets.

Lepaterique is one of the municipalities located in the department of Francisco Morazán with an approximate land area of 208 miles, it is made up of a population of 23,436 habitants. It has seven villages and 166 hamlets; within them is the community of Tierra Colorada.

Tierra Colorada is a community of only 250 residents who live in extreme poverty. Residents work by planting beans, beets, fine coriander, broccoli and cauliflower.

Provide Homes for Families in Need

In Tierra Colorada, there are eight families living in inhumane conditions. They suffer from stomach and viral diseases such as diarrhea, flu and cough, and these families do not receive support from leaders in their community. 

The only income they have comes from cutting vegetables, earning a maximum of $8.28 per month. These people do not have the financial resources to build a better home, so they do what they can to have a shelter they build their houses by themselves. They use wooden materials, canvas awnings, old sheets and nylon bags, among others. The floors are made of dirt and lack protection against sliding, which is a danger for children.

When it rains, their belongings are soaked. Floors turn to mud since they do not have a roof of safe material to cover them. These families live with the daily fear that their houses could collapse and seriously injure their children.

These eight families also do not have bathrooms or latrines, so they must relieve themselves in the bush. Most of these families tend to acquire bacterial diseases and do not have access to water to bathe daily. To collect water, they must go to the nearest river or wait for it to rain, and they store it in buckets. This water is used for cooking, bathing and drinking.

The houses these families live in only have one bed for all them to sleep in. The bases of the beds are of plastic baskets covered with several sheets. These beds are cramped, and insects such as mites and cockroaches are often burrowed in the baskets. 

These families have a single fire pit to cook their daily meal. They can only afford to eat one meal a day, which consists only of Maseca tortillas, sometimes with beans and eggs.

Provide Homes for Families in Need Continued

With your generous help, we can create homes for these people to help with their health and security for these families. Their children will have the right environment to be able to rest and have the energy to play and study. 

These houses are built with sturdy materials and concrete slabs, which will protect against winds, earthquakes and inclement weather. Additionally, your gift will provide families with access to water and healthy kitchens. These kitchens, equipped with an eco-stove and water purification pitcher, will ensure these families have a secure place to cook and will spend less time and money collecting and purchasing firewood. 

Through your support in this project, these families will be able to call this new space their home. These homes will give families a sense of safety and pride, since many people will do everything they can to acquire their own house. We invite you to consider joining us in blessing these eight families with the gift of a home.

14°05'12.3"N 87°25'04.4"W

Mariela Valladares is a 34-year-old mother to two beautiful daughters. One of her daughters is eight years old and the other is two. She spoke to us about the condition of her home. “As you can see, my house is made partly of wood and partly of nylon. If I do not cover my house with nylon at night, we get wet because of the rains,” she explained. 

Currently, she is working as a vegetable cutter for “coriander, radish, and parsley. One cut gives us a value of $4.14,” she shared. 

Mariela needs your help: “For me, it would be a dream come true to have a new home that would have access to a better life and will be able to have a stable roof where my daughters can rest without the worry of getting wet at night, being able to feed my daughters.” 

Everything this mother does is for her daughters, and she hopes that you will help them by giving them a home. “We need a house in which my daughters can grow up healthy and have an appropriate physical environment,” she said. 

Testimonials

Josselyn Maribel Hernandez is 29 years old and is also from the Tierra Colorada community. She spoke to us about her family. “I have two daughters: Dayani Gabriela, nine years old, and Ashley Sofia, five years old. I am a single mother, and I work in agriculture. One day per week, they call me to cut vegetables such as coriander and beets, and they pay us $4.14,” she shared. 

She wants to be able to give her daughters home. “What I long for the most is to have a house for my little daughters. I want my daughters to have a home where they can grow up healthy and have a place that protects them from the rain,” she said. 

We hope that you consider helping these two mothers give their daughters a better life through this housing construction project. 

Testimonials

"For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants.."

 Isaiah 44:3

MACUELIZO HOUSING PROJECT FOR IMPOVERISHED FAMILIES

Budget

Food For The Poor, one of the largest international relief and development organizations in the nation, does much more than feed millions of hungry children and families living in poverty primarily in 17 countries of the Caribbean and Latin America. This interdenominational Christian ministry provides emergency relief assistance, clean water, medicine, educational materials, homes, support for vulnerable children, care for the aged, skills training and micro-enterprise development assistance. For more information, please visit www.FoodForThePoor.org. About Food For The Poor