Honduras

Sunrise Rotarians pledged their support for a global service project which took place March 2013 in Honduras. We raised the funds required for purchase of water filters and to support the associated travel to allow our members, family and friends to participate, hands-on, in their installation. During the one-week project we installed 195 filters in homes of rural mountain villagers in the Merendon region outside San Pedro Sula. As part of a Rotary Foundation Global Grant we secured funding to install an additional 340 filters. Those filters are now fully installed, post installation visits have been made and each village is now equipped with educational materials, and a committee which is responsible for overseeing the ongoing service as needed.

The population in Honduras is 6.6 million, and it is one of the poorest countries in the world. Water problems are chronically as severe as anywhere in the Western Hemisphere. The struggle for clean water is constant particularly in rural villages. There is a high infant mortality rate due to unsafe drinking water. In many parts of Honduras the only way to make the water safe is to boil it, but boiling water requires wood which can be hard to find, unsafe and labor intensive.

The Hydraid filter is a scientifically proven way to make water safe to drinking. Rotarians in Honduras and other countries have been involved in the implementation of thousands of these filters. It cost approximately $100 to install each filter in Honduras.