‘Triple Emergency’: Honduras’ Long Road to Recovery

Thousands of families in Honduras are struggling to recover from Hurricanes Eta and Iota, a pair of Category 4 hurricanes that battered the country just two weeks apart in November 2020. The storms were some of the most powerful November hurricanes to ever strike in the Atlantic, affecting 4.5 million people and leaving hundreds of thousands with limited or no access to vital health services.

Now, almost three months after the storms, rebuilding continues while two key crises persist: limited access to safe water and the spread of COVID-19. The country is currently facing its highest case counts of the coronavirus — with more than 1,000 new infections reported each day — as over 250,000 families remain in temporary shelters and continue to recover from the wrath of the double hurricanes.

Project HOPE is helping Hondurans recover from the storms by delivering clean water to affected communities in the Santa Barbara department and providing training and education to help prevent the accelerating spread of COVID-19.

Read more in this Q&A with Project HOPE’s Emmanuel Escoto, who is on the ground in Honduras.

What are the greatest challenges still facing Honduras? What evidence of destruction remains?

In Santa Barbara, where we are, in San Pedro Sula, there is still a lot of evidence of destruction. They are still cleaning the city streets. There are still families in shelters who lost their homes and trying to figure out where to live. Many farmers lost their crops to the hurricanes, and the effect on the economy overall is going to be huge.

In mid-January, we visited La Reina, which is a community that was totally destroyed, and a priest told us we were the first international organization to get there.

What are the most pressing health needs right now? Are there still many people without access to health services?

Access to safe water is the main concern. Every time we visit communities we see and hear the need for access to clean water. People are drinking unsafe water from rivers, from wells, from damaged water systems. People need water to live, and many of the water systems are still damaged.

Due to lack of water, there have been many stomach issues, respiratory issues, and an increase in dengue. But the worst thing now is that COVID-19 is increasing really, really fast.

How is Project HOPE addressing the issue of clean water?

Through two local partners, ADASBA and CASM, we are improving access to safe water and promoting good hygiene. We’ve distributed buckets with faucets so people can store water, as well as one liter of chlorine per family. We’ve also provided training and printed materials on water purification, explaining how to chlorinate the water, how many drops to put in. We also took this opportunity to provide families with preventive information on how to protect themselves from COVID-19. Through this work, we have reached 3,000 families (around 12,613 individuals) in 65 communities across 16 municipalities and 133 shelters.

There is also another component of our water, sanitation, and hygiene response. We provided water testing kits and logistical support so the department of health could visit and test over 70 communities in Santa Barbara. Thirty-seven percent of these water sources tested positive for E. coli or other bacteria. And with this information the department of health can provide recommendations to water boards, knowing specifically which sources are unsafe, and they can either make an effort to clean the area, or at a minimum at least alert families that their water sources are contaminated so they stop drinking water from them.

How serious does the current COVID-19 spike feel, and how has it been complicating relief efforts?

The increase in COVID-19 is worsening the whole situation. Project HOPE distributed 250,000 KN95 and surgery masks in December and January. That distribution reached five departments of Honduras. Our emergency medical team also provided patient consultations for people in remote communities, in partnership with the Spanish INGO SAMU.

We are also providing education for communities and training for health workers. But it hasn’t been possible to do virtual trainings for communities because many of the affected families are really poor and either don’t have access to technology or don’t know how to use it. So we still had to hold trainings in person, following national and local COVID-19 restrictions, with smaller groups that we kept distanced, while following curfews.

During the distribution of buckets, we also made a radio spot so we could reach more families and communities about the importance of purifying and chlorinating water — even those who didn’t receive buckets. The full population of the department is around 500,000, and we are focusing on reaching the most affected and most remote populations.

We know that climate change will likely only continue to increase the region’s exposure to natural disasters. What do you think are some of the most important steps we can take to help build resilience and better prepare for future storms?

Central America is very vulnerable to climate change. I believe that, for every problem, a local solution is the best one. Even though our emergency response will end, Project HOPE will continue providing COVID-19 trainings and mental health trainings and building awareness. We will continue to be present, and focus on responding to dengue and running communication campaigns to reach communities with information on health risks.

As an international organization, we really want to be supportive of communities. We will continue listening to communities and learning from them and trying to contribute to the solutions that they want, in order to help people build resilience to disaster. As we have done in Indonesia, it will be crucial that Project HOPE continues to train and develop local teams, because these are the people who will be the first to respond in case of another emergency.

What do you think is different or unique about Project HOPE’s contribution to recovery efforts?

Project HOPE was one of the first international organizations to reach remote communities in the Santa Barbara department, like La Reina. You remember we visited La Reina in mid-January and were told we were the first to get there. So we’re not just reaching people in greatest need, but populations not reached by other organizations.

Our response has focused on WASH activities, and we decided to provide a longer-term solution — to not only provide water, but also to provide buckets, trainings, and a radio spot so it can be a long-lasting solution for drinking safe water. We may only be in communities just a few months, but we will see the impact way longer. This is crucial, that we are not just leaving. We’re working with local partners and training them so they can carry the work forward in the communities. We’re not providing training and just leaving — we’re leaving this work in the good hands of our local partners and local health authorities.

How long do you think it will take Honduras to fully rebuild and recover from the hurricanes?

We are facing a triple emergency: the two storms, plus the spread of COVID-19. Before the hurricanes, many activities were stopped because of the focus on the pandemic. Now we have to deal with all the issues at once.

Between COVID-19 and the destruction of these two hurricanes, I believe now we cannot even predict how long it will take us to recover and reconstruct. It’s been one thing on top of the next.