Background information
| Honduras is a small country located directly north of Nicaragua in the southern-most portion of Central America. Honduras is currently the third most-impoverished country in Central America. Santiago is a community of around 6,000 approximately an hour southeast of San Pedro Sula. |  |
Summer 2008 Implementation
In August 2008, a team of sixteen Missouri S&T students, a faculty advisor, and a professional engineer traveled to Santiago, Honduras on the implementation trip tobring potable water to the town. Upon arrival, a town meeting was held in Santiago with community leadersto lay out the plan for the next week of work and answer any questions the community members may have had. Over the course of the ten-day trip, several small teams worked to help bring potable water to Santiago. The water filtration team distributed 21 Bio-Sand filters to some of thepoorer families in the community. The rainwater collection team built two collection systems for the residents on the outskirts of the town. The entire team worked on the 2,000 gallon Ferro cement water storagetank, which was completed before the team departed. The assessment team mapped the community using GPS andgathered other information that will be pertinent for future projects relating to the waste water and water distribution systems. The trip as a whole was very successful and benefited both the community and the EWB –Missouri S&T team.
Spring 2009
A small team of five students and one faculty advisor spent two days in Santiago. The team surveyed a spring as a potential water source for the community on the outskirts of town, surveyed water lines on the main system, collected water samples for water-quality tests, and met with the community to discuss further assessment and implementation.
Summer 2010
Due to an unforeseeable military coup in Honduras, the team was unable to travel during the Summer 2009, as originally planned. They plan to continue the work of their summer 2008 trip as well as continue to assess and implement a water system for the community living just outside of Santiago. As these community members have no access to the town’s water supply, the team hopes to design a system that will pump water to the community from a nearby spring or run a lengthy pipeline from Santiago's system. This involves designing and implementing a system that will pump water over 250ft high, or a system that pumps water from almost a mile away. Plans have also been made to survey the distribution system to supplement the GPS data gathered in 2008. They also plan to complete health surveys in the Santiago community, as well as in a community who lives on the outskirts of Santiago and address many health issues within both communities. A public health education day is planned to teach local educators about the importance of hygiene, clean water, and proper sanitation.