GER3 continues its support to hurricane recovery work in Honduras. The team is now completing a community debris removal and cleaning project, funded by the Center for Disaster Philanthropy, providing access to the community of La Canaan in La Lima.
The streets are fully accessible and mud and debris have been cleaned out of more than 40 homes. To understand more about the needs of each family and the ongoing needs of the community at large, GER3 developed a local team to perform in-depth assessments of the community. With strong assessment data, GER3 is also coordinating and communicating with other local NGOs and entities who can complement GER3’s work and provide further support to La Canaan.
Over the past month, Vicenta, Allison, Rosa, Medeleine, Cindy and Cindy (Pink) carried out a series of community assessments for GER3 in La Canaan. The team of women went home-by-home asking questions that focused on understanding the specific situation of each family. This included information about the general formation of the family, their economic income, the infrastructural damage their home suffered due to the hurricanes, the most critical needs of the family and those of the community. The assessments also considered the status of Covid-19 and its impact on the community, especially in the field of education. In La Canaan, there are 151 children between the ages of 6 and 17 that are currently enrolled in school but have extremely limited access to means of communication or connectivity for virtual classes.
The assessment team was stunned by the vulnerability of this community. These women also live in La Lima, which was one of the areas hardest hit by the storms. They too had to clean out their homes and they too were unemployed, but seeing and experiencing the community of La Canaan put their own situations in perspective.
One of our assessment team members described her humbling experience seeing the destruction and understanding the community's basic needs for a functioning septic system, potable water, electricity and accessibility. At the same time, every member of La Canaan welcomed her and offered whatever they could, whether it was a small cup of coffee or a galleta. Knowing the assessment would lead to support to the community was both gratifying and inspiring. She ended by saying that she was very “proud to be part of this wonderful work and if I had to do it again I would do it again with all my heart.”
GER3 has nearly finished creating access to the entire community of La Canaan and has helped clean out the homes of those most severely affected. The in depth community assessments support the ongoing work in the community and also inform the future support from partner and peer NGOs and local entities.
As work in Honduras continues, there is still a lot to be done and GER3 will continue to do its best to ensure communities like La Canaan are supported.