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El Volcan Community Center

El Volcan, 

Honduras

Construct a community center for the impoverished community of El Volcan, Honduras, to provide residents with a safe place for community and church gatherings, technical training, medical brigades and other activities.

Project Goal Project Description

Food For The Poor’s (FFTP) El Volcan Community Center project aims to construct a community center for the impoverished community of El Volcan in Honduras to provide residents a safe place for community and church gatherings, technical training, medical brigades[1] and other activities. The center, located in the department of Santa Barbara, will be strategically accessible to the neighboring communities of El Guiral, Laguna Verde, El Plan and Barrio San Francisco. Residents will benefit from interactions that promote social and cultural coexistence, ultimately improving their quality of life. This project will directly impact 400 people and 10,646 indirectly.

The project’s components will entail the following:

Preliminary work and excavationConcrete foundationsConcrete block walls, beams and columnsConcrete flooring and sidewalksRoof and roof structureRain gutters and downspoutsWindows and doorsBathroom tilingElectrical system and lightingPlumbing and sewageExterior and interior paintSignSupervision visits

[1] Medical brigades: Provide primary healthcare services to small, under-resourced, rural communities with limited to no access to medical care.  https://medical.globalbrigades.org/medical-brigades-landing/

Total Project Costs:  $40,838.39

Completed project budgets are subject to change if not fully funded within six months. 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.

The community of El Volcan is located in the municipality of Concepcion del Norte in the department of Santa Barbara. Concepcion del Norte is made up of 13 villages and 87 hamlets. The population is 11,046, consisting of approximately 5,500 men and 5,546 women. 

The area participates in agriculture, with basic grains, sugar cane, coffee, fruits and vegetables serving as its main crops. 

Honduras

Bordering Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua, Honduras is one of the poorest Spanish-speaking countries in the Western Hemisphere. In a nation of almost 10 million inhabitants, Honduras has nearly 65% of its population living in poverty, with over 48% 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' industries and infrastructure are concentrated.

Struggling with high levels of economic disparity, Honduras ranks among the worst 25 nations in the world for income inequality. 

The COVID-19 pandemic and the unprecedented impact of two successive hurricanes in recent years significantly affected Honduras’ economy, and its aftermath continues with the country’s GDP declining by 9%. Meanwhile, extreme poverty has increased in rural areas since 2014 and in urban areas since 2017.

FFTP began serving the poor people of Honduras in 1999, and works closely with our in-country partner CEPUDO (Capacitación, Educación, Producción, Unificación, Desarrollo y Organización) to implement international relief and economic development projects throughout all of Honduras.    

El Volcan

 

Addressing Community Needs

El Volcán and its neighboring communities — El Güiral, Laguna Verde, El Plan, and Barrio San Francisco — have a total population of 400 residents and hold meetings because they share common interests. 

Currently, community members gather in houses and gardens of some of the homes and meadows because they do not have a place to hold meetings. Residents sit on stones, wooden logs, or grass because there are no chairs. They also meet in a dilapidated building, which the municipality will tear down with the community’s cooperation. After that, a new community center will be built in its place.  

Multipurpose Use

Meetings are currently held to support initiatives presented by active residents from community boards, rural fund and water boards, farmers, school parents and church groups. Unfortunately, meetings are frequently postponed or canceled due to the lack of suitable places or inclement weather.

A community center would enable residents to gather to discuss important issues such as water, health and safety problems and to host social activities. Health education is of critical importance. Residents will be able to receive information, for example, on how to avoid disease outbreaks and receive immunizations. 

This community center would also serve as a venue for entrepreneurship events and training workshops for future generations. The area’s school, the Manuel Bonilla School, would use the community center since classrooms are used for all activities, such as celebrations and graduations. These functions would take place in the center.  

The centralization of activities will foster greater cohesiveness among neighboring communities. Please consider blessing these enterprising residents with your gracious gifts. 

Testimonials

Community leaders in and around El Volcan greatly appreciate the loving support that FFTP extends to their communities. 

"It would be a great blessing if you could help us with this project," said Julio Amaya Barrera, president of the local board of trustees. "We need this community center to talk about health concerns, hold meetings for schoolchildren, learn how to sew, and house the medical brigades since we have no other place to meet. Many thanks for your visit."

Edin Jerónimo Martinez, president of the water board, echoes such sentiment. 

"I am very appreciative of your visit," said Edin. "We have been trying to build a community center for almost 30 years but never succeeded. Our meetings are held in open fields, meadows or a dilapidated building. Occasionally, neighbors let us use their homes, but this has caused us many problems because it is uncomfortable. 

"We're asking for your help in constructing a community center. We want to congratulate your organization and all donors who help communities like ours. May God bless you all."

“Moses did as the LORD commanded: They went up Mount Hor in the sight of the whole community.”

Numbers 20:27

Please click the map below to see the Google Maps location for El Volcán, where FFTP will serve through this project.

GPS Coordinates: 15°14'56.0"N 88°09'01.0"W

Over the years, community members have improvised ways to conduct meetings. Some gatherings are held outside in the gardens or meadows of residents’ homes.

Meetings are also held in the rundown building seen below. The municipality will tear it down to make way for the new center.

Here are some views from the inside of the building. This structure is unfit for events. 

Community members assemble before this crumbling building (also appearing on the cover). 

Here is the school building, another central meeting place.

Students and teachers cram in their seats at a school event.

The local school is a place to break bread together once the table, desks and chairs are set up for dining. However, El Volcan residents would greatly benefit from a dedicated space for such events.

School and community activities often take place outdoors.  

 Community board presidents (below) have worked closely with residents to advocate for a new center. They are counting on your support to bring about positive change for all.   

Here is the floor plan for the community center.

Please help us answer the prayers of the hardworking El Volcan community. Your gifts will set them on the right path to self-empowerment and sustainability. God bless you!

Please click on the image below for a video of a similar FFTP community center project in Honduras, made possible through loving donors like you.

Budget

To view this proposal online, please visit the following website: https://simplebooklet.com/2308delvolcancommunitycenter

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, 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.

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