The remote Caribbean fishing village of St. Helene is a small subsistence-living community made up of approximately 1,200 Caribbean style English speakers known as Islanders, most of which are of African descent. The small island (one mile by two miles) is geographically removed from the rest of the Bay Islands of Honduras. Helene has no roads and is without electricity or other government subsidized infrastructure. Access to Helene is by private boat or limited passenger ferry service.
There is no potable water available in St. Helene.
Current community water system consists of 3 wells that do not function adequately, a limited water distribution system and no water filtration. The current water quality is not appropriate for human consumption as it is very high in iron content. There is also no community-based wastewater treatment facility on the island, with a majority of residents using outhouses or with sewage pipes draining directly into the sea.
On the basis of these community challenges, the purpose of this project is to contribute to the creation of a sustainable (socially, culturally and financially) community of St. Helene, Honduras by focusing on:
1. Water & Sanitation - improving the existing, small-scale community-based water system in order to provide a more reliable, safe source of drinking water for the community, including new wells and water pumps (if required), upgrades to the existing water storage and distribution system and the installation of a small-scale, community-based water treatment/filtration system;
2. Water & Sanitation Technical/Vocational Training - provide technical training to group of local technicians (plumbers, maintenance workers) for the operation and maintenance of the Ste Helene Water and Treatment System;
This proposed project focuses on the TRF area of focus: Water and Sanitation.
The funds will be used for Hydrogeological studies, drilling of test wells, drilling and finishing of actual wells and preparation of storage tanks as well as training of the Water Board, staff and the Community members.
This project will start as soon as the Global Grant funds are received. It is expected that drilling could commence as early as March 2016. This first phase of the project could be completed in six months to 1 year. Club members from both the Host and International Clubs will be working with the Community during this time by monitoring the drilling process and overall process, managing the payments as necessary and generally giving support and information to the Village as the project progresses.
The next phase of this Adopt a Village Centennial project will be household distribution and sanitation. A Global Grant process for Phase 2 will be started in Jan. 2016 and we are looking for a major partner to lead this second phase of the water portion.
Completed
This project is "Completed". This means the project has been implemented and the report was accepted by The Rotary Foundation. The project will stay listed on this website as a testimony of the achievements of the project partners.
Project listed for the 2016-17 Rotary Year.
The TRF Grant application number is #1745441.
Proposed Financing
Existing Contributions Towards This Project
Date
Cash
DDF
Total
Edmonton-Glenora (5370)
8-Dec-16
$37,500
$20,000
$57,500
District 4250 DDF
9-Dec-16
-
$1,500
$1,500
Deland (6970)
13-Dec-16
$6,000
$0
$6,000
Jasper (5370)
13-Dec-16
$2,500
$0
$2,500
Arlington (5790)
13-Dec-16
$5,000
$0
$5,000
Edmonton-Urban Spirits (5370)
13-Dec-16
$950
$0
$950
District 5790 DDF
2-Feb-17
-
$2,500
$2,500
San Diego North (5340)
2-Feb-17
$9,000
$9,000
$18,000
Amount Requested from The Rotary Foundation
$30,475
$33,000
$63,475
Total
$157,425
DDF contributions in grey are pending approval of the corresponding district committee.
Note: as of July 1, 2015 there is a 5% additional support fee for cash contributions. This fee does not appear in the financials above because it does not apply if the funds are sent directly to the project account (without going through TRF, and therefore without Paul Harris credit). Clubs sending their cash contribution to TRF must be aware they will have to send an additional 5%.
We are looking for $13,000 to complete this project. All data has been gathered and we are ready for submission.
13-Dec-16
by Wendy Andrews
System Entry: Pledge of $6,000 by Mac Steen of the Rotary Club of Deland, District 6970.
13-Dec-16
by Wendy Andrews
System Entry: Pledge of $2,500 by Greg Fenton of the Rotary Club of Jasper, District 5370.
13-Dec-16
by Wendy Andrews
System Entry: Pledge of $5,000 by Scott Hendricks of the Rotary Club of Arlington, District 5790.
13-Dec-16
by Wendy Andrews
System Entry: Pledge of $950 by Chris Greidanus of the Rotary Club of Edmonton-Urban Spirits, District 5370.
28-Jan-17
by Eric Pahlke
System Entry: Pledge of $9,000 with $3,000 DDF by Eric Pahlke of the Rotary Club of San Diego North, District 5340.
28-Jan-17
by Eric Pahlke
System Entry: Project is now "Fully Pledged".
28-Jan-17
by Wendy Andrews
System Entry: Application Sent to The Rotary Foundation through Member Access.
29-Jan-17
by Janice Kurth
Please note that the $3000 of DDF from D5340 has NOT been approved by the DRFC to date. We are very low on DDF and do not believe that we have DDF to fund this during this Rotary year. Therefore, I cannot authorize this grant at this time.
Sincerely, Janice Kurth, DRFCC D5340
2-Feb-17
by Wendy Andrews
System Entry: Project reverted to "Published".
2-Feb-17
by Wendy Andrews
System Entry: Pledge of $2,500 DDF by Scott Hendricks of the Rotary Club of Arlington, District 5790.
2-Feb-17
by Janice Kurth
System Entry: Pledge of $9,000 with $9,000 DDF by Eric Pahlke of the Rotary Club of San Diego North, District 5340.
2-Feb-17
by Janice Kurth
System Entry: Project is now "Fully Pledged".
14-Feb-17
by Janice Kurth
D5340 approved the DDF for this project, contingent upon San Diego North Rotary Club having 2 people attend the Global Grant Training Seminar on March 18. See www.rotary5340.org for more information and to sign up.
8-May-17
by Wendy Andrews
System Entry: Application Sent to The Rotary Foundation through Member Access.
14-Aug-17
by Wendy Andrews
A new partner: CARE Honduras: has come on board to assist with the WASH portion of the wells we are drilling. This process has taken some time. The final MOU is in signing stage this week.
9-Sep-17
by Wendy Andrews
System Entry: Application approved by The Rotary Foundation.
10-Jan-18
by Wendy Andrews
System Entry: Payment has been issued by The Rotary Foundation.
3-Sep-18
by Wendy Andrews
This phase one water project has completed the drilling of two sweet water wells for the village of St.Helene. Final work is being done on distribution of the water to 5 standing pipes, one in each settlement. The Project is expected to be completed by the end of September.
16-Mar-19
by Wendy Andrews
This water project is almost complete. This week we had a visit on site in St. Helene, Roatan, Honduras by the RI Water Cadre. Our Water Committee will meet with him tomorrow to receive comments and recommendations. Early indications are that the project is acceptable. We are looking at posting Phase 2 water grant within the month to address distribution of water to the households.
16-Oct-19
by Mike Wittry
Materials to begin construction of the foundations for the solar arrays were delivered to the island last week. Construction of the solar arrays will begin next week. The pumps and solar system components have been received by the vendor in Honduras and will be installed in the next 35 days.
16-May-20
by Mike Wittry
This project is nearly complete. The Covid-19 pandemic has caused a slow down where we are not able to visit Saint Helene due to the country of Honduras being under a complete quarantine. We hope to be able to complete the project before this Rotary year is over.
2-Dec-20
by Mike Wittry
Project is nearly complete. Covid-19 has temporarily stopped further progress and we will finish the project as soon as it is safe to return to Saint Helene.
2-Oct-21
by Chris Greidanus
This project has been completed
2-Oct-21
by Janice Kurth
System Entry: Final Report sent to The Rotary Foundation.
2-Oct-21
by Janice Kurth
System Entry: Final Report approved by The Rotary Foundation.
