New Homes, New Schools, New Health Facilities

Following the emergency response to Hurricane Mitch, the focus of USAID assistance turned toward helping those who had suffered losses in the storm rebuild their lives and their communities. The effort to find permanent solutions went beyond housing to include health and education infrastructure.

In many cases it helped people move out of precarious situations on the sides of steep hills or flood prone waterways and onto safer ground in whole new neighborhoods.

In order to attend to both immediate and medium-term needs, the USAID-supported housing program built both transitional and permanent housing units. Transitional housing initiatives provided temporary shelter to thousands of families displaced by the storm. Long-term housing activities resulted in the construction of 6,100 homes on 55 sites throughout the country, surpassing USAID’s original goal of 5,000 permanent housing solutions. Land titles are being awarded to the beneficiary families.

Independent building inspections were carried out to guarantee the structural integrity of the housing units and community infrastructure built under the reconstruction program.

USAID’s Hurricane Mitch Reconstruction program contained a strong commitment to public health. The program met its target of repairing 123 damaged health centers and re-equipping them with basic medical supplies. NGOs have used USAID funds to re-equip 81 additional rural clinics.

The National Water Authority (SANAA) and various NGOs constructed more than 1,100 rural water systems and 22,415 latrines, surpassing the target of 20,000. Together these projects serve roughly 400,000 people. SANAA is using USAID funding to rebuild 33 urban water systems.

USAID made $80 million available for an urban water and sanitation program managed by the Honduran Social Investment Fund (FHIS). Under this program, three water systems, three sewer systems and one public service project have been completed. To date, 36 projects are underway and roughly $47 million has been contracted. A suspension on new contracting put in place on February 23, 2001, due to contracting difficulties was lifted on May 29, 2001, and contracting for the remaining design and construction projects has been proceeding. As a result of the delays, the target date for completion was extended 14 months to February 28, 2003. When completed, this program will benefit over one million people in 35 municipalities.

Through a $2.9 million contract with a U.S. firm, groundwater monitoring studies were carried out in Utila, the Sula Valley, and Limón de la Cerca in Choluteca.

USAID strengthened the Ministry of Health’s capacity to provide high-quality maternal-child health care to Mitch-affected areas. Two important campaigns related to the health of women and children were designed and carried out.

NGOs such as CARE and Catholic Relief Services trained doctors and nurses in delivery of integrated health care services for women and children, including obstetric and pediatric emergencies and management of childhood illnesses. In addition, environmental health technicians received training in environmental health issues.

A long-term strategy was developed to ensure sustainability and ongoing supervision of these training programs. USAID donated eleven pick-up trucks to the Ministry of Health to use to monitor training programs and increase patient access. In August, USAID donated eleven rural ambulances to assure referrals for emergency pediatric and obstetric care.

The United States Center for Disease Control (CDC) provided assistance and training to Honduras’ Ministry of Health to develop disease surveillance, epidemiology training and information systems. Major infectious disease diagnostic laboratory renovations and equipping were completed, along with training of key laboratory staff. The local NGO Aldea Global trained 63 people in rural areas in prevention of malaria, dengue, and other infectious diseases.

Hurricane Mitch damaged thousands of classrooms in hundreds of schools around the country. Many surviving schools became shelters for displaced families. Originally, USAID committed to repairing 500 classrooms and building 200 new ones through an agreement with the Honduran Social Development Fund (FHIS). With the award of several crosscutting grants to non-governmental organizations, an additional 396 classrooms were repaired and an additional 81 new classrooms built. FHIS exceeded the original target of 700 classrooms repaired of built, repairing 549 and building 256. Thus the combined efforts of FHIS and NGOs, working with USAID funds, made 1,282 classrooms available to more than 38,000 students.

The Education for All (EDUCATODOS) program was expanded to the 7^th – 9^th grade levels and vocational education facilities were built or expanded to prepare thousands of youths to make a contribution to post-Mitch economic reactivation. These programs are providing the higher educational and skills levels needed to find employment. EDUCATODOS, the interactive instruction program delivered via radio, is piloting newly developed 7^th – 9^th grade materials at 100 sites. The construction of nine new vocational education facilities and the expansion of five existing facilities will provide skills, training and certification for youth, thus contributing to economic reactivation.