El Recreo, Atlantida- Honduras
While installing filters in our first community we were growing a bit jaded as the days passed on. We were nearly finished putting all the filters in the community leaving us only the most far flung homes. We were nearly ready to give up and hold off for when we can construct a stretcher type contraption which would could help us transport to harder locations.
Rob, Jeff and I hiked up to scope out the logistics of the remaining homes. We hiked up some pretty steep inclines, then our trail was nothing more than hoping stones through a stream and then up some more inclines. As we breathlessly arrived at the house I was ready to throw in the towel for the day and just arrange for a date when we can be better prepared. We were understaffed and under equipped. As I was speaking to Maria, 39 years old and mother of 11 children, the first thing I noticed the huge eyes of her youngest daughter. I commented and she immediately began to tell me that little Digna, only 17 months old, has been very ill with diarrhea for the past 8 days. She has so little strength that she can’t stand and the looseness of her skin was visible on her hands and legs.
I began telling the mother about SODIS, putting water in a clear bottle in the sun for 24 hours to kill the bacteria, and instructed her on how to perform this and to do so immediately for her daughter. Unfortunately, she had no plastic bottles at that time. I rushed over to Rob and Jeff with my ears filled with the sounds of Digna howling and told them the situation. Before I turned around to talk more with Maria they were already gone. I rushed to get Enelida so we could get our things to install and in that time the boys had rallied up not just some men to help carry the filter but an entire army of children who all pitched in and carried sand, gravel, and whatever they could.
The trail was not easy to walk on as it was but it was amazing to see how every pitched in to get the filter to this family which could not afford to wait another week. We arrived at the top of the hill at their house to see Maria beaming at us and her new filter. Enelida, Robert and I started installing right away with our little army watching everything. I almost felt like we were in an operating room “water, we need more water”, “bucket, dump this bucket”.
20 Days Later...
Upon returning to El Recreo, I was very pleased to see Digna wobbling on her own when I entered their house. This community in particular is very fortunate, there is a vehicle that passes by about twice a day that makes the hour trip to the main road where there is a health clinic. Luckily, Digna’s mother made the trip and got medicines from the clinic. Digna had parasites, amoebas, and a urinary tract infection.
The filters are not a cure but a preventative solution. Now that Digna’s system has been cleared of parasites and infection, the filter along with the health education her mother received will reduce and potentially eliminate instances of gastro-intestinal illnesses. That means no more weeks of pain, weakness and illness. That means children like Digna have the strength and are getting the proper nutrients to develop properly instead of losing these to parasites. In the long run, this can lead to an increased attendance at school because they are not home sick, not suffering discomfort so they can pay better attention, and hopefully due to their improved education they will then have better opportunities in life.
