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Water! People ask us what Amigos of Honduras is all about. The answer is Water! We help villages that have only rainwater to build a water system that allows them to have easy access to clean, pure, plentiful water. Water changes the lives of people in a variety of ways. They no longer have to spend their day hauling buckets of water from far away springs. The women can then help in the fields and the children can attend school. They are happier, healthier and better able to live and have hope for the future.
Amigos of Honduras is a 501c-3 charitable organization. It was founded in 2005 solely because
of our desire to change the lives of families in Honduras. Amigos
is based in Centerville, Utah and is doing humanitarian work in
the Comayagua area of Honduras. Amigos is not affiliated with any church or religious organization. Amigos has no paid staff and virtually no overhead.
Honduras is a beautiful, diverse country with very friendly people.
Many people there are in need of employment, help etc. many of
the economic problems have been compounded by the devastation
caused by hurricane Mitch. The department of Comayagua has 2/3
of its population living below the poverty line. Even more dramatic
is that about half live below the extreme poverty level, about $1 per person per day. In the mountains of Honduras few have access to clean water.
Amigos has as its goal to make a difference and change lives
permanently in Honduras. We believe bringing water to people is the most important thing we can do.
Our model to help permanently change the lives of Hondurans is unique. A village enthusiastically commits to provide all the manual labor for a project before we approve it. We meet with each village and talk with them before the project starts. A Honduran engineer, Francisco, is the only paid individual. Working on a project gives the people "Pride of Ownership". Amigos then pays for materials.
As of June 2011 we have completed 11 water projects and 2 schools. The huge Siquatepeque project benefitting four different villages and 175 families was inagurated in May. We met with two new villages called San Francisco and Santa Cruz. One pipeline will be sufficient to bring water to both villages. This project will start in the fall. The water project benefitting the SOS orphanage in La Ceiba is well under way and should be completed this fall. We will head down to Honduras again in November to check on progress of projects. |
