Dear Friends and Supporters,
It's been a little over 6 months since PAG began it's relief and reconstruction efforts to aid the most vulnerable families affected by the natural disasters Eta & Iota. We want to thank you, our faithful and generous supporters for partnering with us in this difficult, yet rewarding task, of helping families rebuild their lives after the challenging events of 2020.
PAG, as part of its emergency relief efforts, prioritized the rehabilitation of 110 community water systems, which have now been completed so that families can have access to water once again.
A special thanks to all of you for making these reconstruction efforts possible.
Following is a six-month overview of our housing construction and repair efforts.
The first 4 emergency housing construction were completed thanks to a generous donor to support four displaced families in western Honduras whose houses were destroyed by landslide and flooding.
Beneficiary families were: Francisco Monroy, Bertaly Aquino, Israel Cruz, and German Monroy from the communities of Palos Blancos and Mazacan from Belen Gualcho municipality.
PAG also responded to God's call to look after orphans in their distress by supporting two orphan children (Mateo and Wendy) from the community of Rio Negro in western Honduras with a new house, who lost their mother and two siblings when a mountain slide destroyed their house in November of 2020.
Francisco Campos (far right) is a blood relative of the two children and has become their legal guardian. He is now the breadwinner for a family of nine.
These two single mothers from the community of Cipres in western Honduras, recently moved in to their new houses after theirs was totally destroyed in December 2020 due to a mountain landslide.
The new houses are equipped with a kitchen sink, flush toilet, shower, and a clothes washing/water tank.
PAG's executive director (Chet Thomas) and the mayor of Belen Gualcho (Cristian Tenorio) during a recent visit to inaugurate the two new houses.
Santa Bárbara county was among the most affected regions in Honduras, especially the municipalities of La Arada and San José de Colinas, where entire communities were washed out by the nearby rivers or buried under landslides from the mountains. PAG began the construction of 30 new houses (15 in La Arada and 15 in San José de Colinas) in February of 2021.
In San José de Colinas, the new houses were constructed on a hill; the land which was provided by the municipality. A sewage system was also installed and beneficiary families have access to water.
Beneficiary families contributed to the construction of their houses by moving rocks, sand, and other materials to the construction site.
The construction of the 15 new houses in San José de Colinas was completed in July of 2021 and families are in the process of moving in to their new home.
Beneficiary families in front of their new house in San Jose de Colinas.
An inauguration event was held in San José de Colinas where each of the 15 families was assigned a house that they helped build with donated days of labor. They were also provided with bags of food donated by Gleanings for the Hungry.
In La Arada Municipality, new houses were constructed on land donated by a neighbor or a relative, as there was no municipal land available to install new houses.
In July 2021, 15 new houses in La Arada were completed, while 10 additional houses are underway.
The mayor of La Arada Municipality and PAG's executive director during an inauguration event where beneficiary families signed and received the title of their new house.
Fifteen families in La Arada municipality are in the process of moving into their new house.
In addition, 91 new houses are in the process of construction in 5 municipalities in Santa Barbara county (30 in San Nicolas, 15 in Concepcion Sur, 15 in Ceguaca, 10 in Santa Barbara, and 10 in Arada), 10 new houses in Ocotepeque county (Belen Gualcho municipality) and 1 new house in Lempira county.
Houses in the municipality of San Nicolas will be completed by the end of August 2021.
In total, in Santa Bárbara county 125 families are benefiting with a new house and more will be built.
PAG has also repaired/improved 39 damaged houses (and an additional 65 houses in process of renovations) for families whose houses were hit by the storms of last year, but who do not own any land for the construction of a new house. PAG is supporting families with limited economic resources who live in extremely poor conditions with these repairs to help them live in a more dignified manner.
Housing improvements include one or more of the following according to needs: replacing a dirt floor with concrete floor, replacing adobe or galvanized metal house walls with a strong plastic covering, replacing roofs with galvanized metal roofs, construction of basic sanitation (toilet, shower, and clothes washing tank), among others.
Beneficiary Gertrudis Montoya from the community of Jardines in Comayagua county, before and after photos of housing improvement which included replacing oxidized galvanized sheets (used as house walls) with wood columns and a strong plastic which can last for about 20 years.
Beneficiary Juan Sanchez from the community of Huerto de Edén in Comayagua county. Housing improvements included wood columns, a strong plastic sheet as walls, and galvanized sheets for the roof.
Beneficiary Leonardo Garay from the community of Huerto de Eden in Comayagua county. The kitchen with dirt floors were replaced with a concrete floor to improve overall living and health conditions for him and his family.
Beneficiary Reyna Isabel Hernandez from Comayagua county. She used to cook outside the house (left photo) and now, with wood posts and a strong plastic covering as walls, she has a more hygienic place to prepare food.
Beneficiary Jose Israel Bonilla. House walls of oxidized galvanized sheets replaced with wood posts and strong plastic.
Beneficiary Sandra Bardales from Siguatepeque municipality. Her kitchen, which used to be outside the house, now has concrete walls, concrete floor, and a new roof in order to improve the overall health of her family.
Beneficiary Darwin Misael Miranda from the community of Laguna Seca, Comayagua county in front or his remodeled house.
In total, 104 houses are being repaired in the Comayagua and Santa Bárbara project areas.
These new and repaired housing projects are improving the lives of 229 families (over 1,145 individuals) in 13 municipalities in western and central Honduras. PAG continues to seek new funding for other projects to aid more families living in provisional shelters and/or in at-risk areas.
On behalf of our Honduran brothers and sisters, THANK YOU for your generous support and for partnering with us in these efforts to bring relief and hope to thousands of rural families who live in distress. "The generous man will be prosperous, and he who waters will himself be watered" (Proverbs 11:25).
Sincerely,
