Water
resources class helps Hondurans
By Steve
Carr
For a third
year, students in UNMs Water Resources program traveled
to rural Honduras to work with activist Alex del Cid Vásquez
and businessman Rolando López.
Students
Kerry Jones, Cindy Noland, Danielle Shuryn, Treva Pierce, Meaghan
ORourke, Amy Louise, Eric Robinson, Matthew Lane, Kathy
Brown and instructors Michael E. Campana and Michele Minnis
worked with del Cid and the villagers of Nueva Florida to develop
a safe, reliable water supply for 40 families living in the
village. Students Don Duncan and Hani Iwhish provided support
from Albuquerque.
The
students never cease to amaze me with their hard work and high
spirits in spite of primitive conditions, said Campana.
The villagers and the students forged close bonds and
indeed, many tears were shed on both sides when it came time
to depart. Some students are already planning on returning to
conduct work for their masters projects.
Nueva Florida
is located in the Sierra de Omoa, a rugged mountain range northwest
of San Pedro Sula, the industrial capital of Honduras. The village
is typical of others in which del Cid loves to work remote,
rugged and challenging, where government agencies and non-governmental
organizations fear to tread.
Students
and villagers built a concrete dam on a stream, cleared a site
for a 5,000-gallon water tank, and laid a 1.5 inch galvanized
iron (GI) pipe from the dam to the tank. Servicio Autonomo Nacional
de Acueductos y Alcantarillados (SANAA), the Honduran government
agency responsible for water supply, provided the GI pipe. Ingeniero
Denis Gutierrez, the head of rural water for SANAAs northern
division, visited the site to inspect the dam and pipeline and
was impressed with the work.
In addition
to manual labor, students also conducted surveys of a number
of households.
The program
represents a partnership among del Cid, UNMs Water Resources
Program and SANAA to bring safe, clean water to remote rural
villages. Next years project village will be Santa Theresa,
which is near the Guatemalan border.
The Water
Resources Program, anonymous donors and Intel Foundation funded
the trip.