The Ramón Villeda Morales School, located in the highest area of the Isletas community, in municipality of Langue, Valle; receives 25 boys, 19 girls, and 3 teachers every day. Some walk up to 45 minutes daily to reach the educational center
The school has been neglected by the State for a long time, as several government administrations have passed without providing support. Every day, the children faced unfavorable sanitary conditions due to a collapsed communal latrine without water, damaged bathroom doors, poor hygiene, and the lack of adequate water and sanitation facilities, putting the health of children and teachers at risk of infections, illnesses, injuries and contributing to school dropout and absenteeism
In response to this situation, together with the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA), the teachers began to seek help from the local government, but their requests were not attended to. Carlos MejÃa, the School Director, mentioned that after many years of waiting for support to improve the bathrooms and water collection system, he received the news that Vecinos Honduras was willing to collaborate on building bathrooms and a water storage tank to improve the conditions of the school. Thus, efforts to carry out the project began. He spoke with community organizations and gained the community’s support to work on this project; within days, work started, successfully constructing sanitation facilities, the base of a Rotoplast tank for rainwater collection and installing sinks. The community contributed with hand labor and local materials for the construction
The installation of a bathroom door and other improvements planned by the parents’ initiative were not completed because these upgrades coincided with the end of the school year, and many parents were engaged in temporary work at a melon exporting company or migrated temporarily to other regions of the country for seasonal coffee harvesting jobs. However, they committed to completing these improvements in the first weeks of May 2025
The change is positive, improving the health and safety conditions of children and teachers. The children, parents and teachers appreciate the support provided by Vecinos Honduras and WNCS to their educational center, convinced that united efforts create greater possibilities for achieving better conditions
Children deserve the very best!
Check out this short video made by a community volunteer working with Vecinos Honduras. It shows the changes and the effects small improvements can make in the lives of students.