Oregon State students joined other college students to help provide aid in Honduras this summer. from left to right: Karlei Forrester, Ryan Oneil, Michael from UC Riverside, Alex Braun, Brendan Brucker. (contributed photo)

A team of Oregon State students traveled to Honduras in June to help residents with medical aid and water projects. During the first week, 40 OSU students, along with a doctor and two pharmacists from OHSU, worked to provide medical relief to nearly 1,600 Hondurans as part of Oregon State Medical Brigade.

During the second week, 13 OSU students traveled to the small mountain village of Joyas de Carballo, three hours outside the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa, as members of the Water Brigade Team. The village has spent the last 20 years without a working, clean water system. As a result, many villagers were getting sick.

The team worked with the local water council and helped build a new water system, including digging trenches and laying pipe for the system.

“Many blisters and sore muscles later I began to appreciate the clean running water that is so accessible in the states,” said Casey Kernan, a bioresource research major. “I had never thought about the amount of work and labor it takes to get water flowing to people who need it.”

Oregon State student Casey Kernan digs a trench for a water system in Honduras. (contributed photo)

Global Water Brigades is a movement of and professional volunteers from around the world dedicated to improving access to clean water and sanitation. Students collaborate with water experts and community leaders to create and implement new and innovative solutions to water problems. The organization currently focuses its work in 40 rural Honduran communities where it has 5-year commitments to long-term sustainable development.

~ Theresa Hogue