El Carrizalito, Honduras
Status: Complete
The Community
The village of El Carrizalito, also known as the “Village in the Sky,” is home to 184 people in 37 homes, located at an elevation of 3,500 feet above Mean Sea Level (MSL). The land area encompassing all the community homes is approximately 30 acres, not including outlying fields and farmland. Most of the people are subsistence farmers who own the fields throughout the mountains surrounding the village, mainly growing corn and beans.
The Project
El Carrizalito’s main water source is located at an elevation much lower than all the houses in the village and is only reachable by a narrow footpath from the village. It is usually the task of the village’s women and children to walk down to the community pila, fill jerry cans with water, and then carry them back uphill. EWB-USA Northeastern’s goal is to bring water closer to the villagers’ homes via an electric pump powered by the electric grid and a gravity fed water distribution system.
The Progress
The group has made two trips to El Carrizalito to gather data and complete assessment of the village, in December 2010 and December 2011. With this information, we were able to begin design of a water distribution system for the village.
The design was approved by EWB-USA for implementation in April 2013. However, due to a travel warning issued by the US Department of State, student travel to Honduras was no longer permitted. EWB-USA NEU is committed to completing the water distribution system in El Carrizalito, though current students can no longer offer support during in-country implementation. While the travel warning is in effect, we will be relying on our extensive and supportive network of alumni to be the feet on the ground in Honduras. It the intent of EWB-USA Northeastern to keep our promise to the community of El Carrizalito by continuing design and bring them more accessible clean water.
In Fall of 2014 student travel was once again permitted to Honduras. In December 2014 a team of students travelled to El Carrizalito to finish the implementation of the project.