Community development for improved housing, health equity, and education in rural Honduras

This paper describes an international, long-term, population health project in rural Honduras among Mayan villagers, focused on collaboration, community building, partnership formation, and improvement of their living situation. Improved housing, health checks, education for their children, and clean water were chosen by the Honduran residents as the projects they thought were most important to improve their health and living conditions. During the short mission trips, the North Americans (NAs) and the villagers worked side-by-side on house building and participated in village life. The Hondurans organized into communities that mutually decided on which families received homes and together worked on each other's homes with the NAs' assistance. Nurse-led health clinics and scholarships for students were provided by the visitors during their time in the villages. Health has improved from better housing and periodic health checks, and most significantly, sustainable community organizing occurred. Public Health Nurses can work towards health equity and population health improvement by basing efforts on what the community partners request and create outcomes through relationships with those who stand to benefit from the improvement.