In 2015, every case of Gaia coffee sold and every customer report card returned to us generated £12,000 for the Healthy Families Project in Honduras. The project has now been completed and has successfully achieved its goals. Thanks to your support, we are pleased to report significant health and lifestyle improvements for the poorest families in the coffee farming communities of Cruz Alta and Mataras.
Led by the Fundacion Amigos del Café, the project aimed to utilise the donation to eradicate poverty and build favourable conditions for a healthy and dignified life for the poorest coffee-growing families in two remote, hard-to-reach communities.
61 families (322 beneficiaries) in Western Honduras received training on issues relating to health and hygiene in the home and as a result, families have incorporated practices into their daily lives to improve and protect the health of people living in their home and reduce existing health risks.
The households most in need also received new fuel efficient stoves, new water filters and new floors to make homes more comfortable, safe and harmonious places to live. The stoves reduce the amount of wood required and produce less smoke in the household, concrete floors are easier to keep clean and water filters help remove pathogens and pollutants from the water supplies.
- 100% of families visited responded favourably to the intervention and believe that their quality of life has improved as a result
- 100% of households completed housing improvements
- 100% of households maintain and care for their new floors, wood burning stoves and filters.
- 70% of families will put into practice the teachings of the training programme, especially those relating to hygiene and solid waste management. Children of the households will also take the learnings forward, allowing the project’s impact to be passed-on and multiplied.
Jose Rosa Santos, 59, said “With what we saw in the trainings, the home is transformed. We know where the dump is, we do not throw garbage outside. Before it was not easy to sweep the floor. The great change is that we all seek cleanliness.
Amaya, 23, said “Now I can keep the house clean. The stove saves wood. The filter provides clean water and the new floor is easier to clean.
Maria Mabel Mejia, 38 said “The project was completed successfully. I think the filter has helped us a lot. Nobody wants to drink water from the tap if it is not filtered. The stove has gotten smoke out of the house and the floor is easier to sweep. There is more hygiene in my house.
Once again, thank you to everybody who contributed and helped to change people lives for generations to come.