Global Brigades visits Honduras

Courtesy of Jimmy Camacho

Those wanting to combat poverty and hunger may be turned off by the length of the commitment. Some organizations such as the Peace Corps require months and even years of involvement.

Jimmy Camacho of the Global Brigades is asking for just one week.

The San Diego State chapter of Global Brigades is part of a network of university students who travel to Central America to do projects ranging from environmental awareness to water development.

“Basically, the main goal is to organize a group of students to go to Honduras during Spring Break 2009 for a week in order to do multiple projects,” SDSU Global Brigades student chapter president Camacho said. “The cool thing about the Global Brigade is that it is all student led. I think everyone is under the age of 25 for the major leadership. It’s a young team.”

The Global Brigades break down into specific brigades such as the Medical Brigades which provide medical services or the Water Brigades which teach villagers about drip irrigation. The Business Brigades are a new idea which would form a sustainable organic business that would then be given back to the community. The Environmental Brigades teach environmental sustainability.

In September of last year, Camacho, an urban studies senior, traveled to Honduras with eight other SDSU students and joined with 60 students from Northwestern University. There the brigades focused on different projects such as medical and water, depending on their specialties.

Global Brigades travel annually to one village for five years, professor SDSU chapter faculty advisor Diana Richardson said. The organization is currently working with the rural village of Los Pajarillos.

Los Pajarillos is a three-hour drive from Tegucigalpa, the capital city, but it is impossible to find on a map. Traveling from Tegucigalpa to Los Pajarillos should take only 20 minutes, but the uphill journey was along a small, rocky road which was difficult to navigate. Camacho and Richardson described the village as 200 scattered houses “buried in the vegetation.”

The students operated out of a property run by Sociedad Amigos de los Niños, a separate host community of small buildings, which is structured like a school. Sociedad Amigos de los Niños is a philanthropic organization founded by Sister Maria Rosa Leggol, a very established name in Honduras, Camacho said.

The students are planning their next trip March 28 to April 4, 2009, during Spring Break.

Camacho is encouraged by the buzz surrounding Global Brigades, saying that 31 students are interested so far and that the organization recently brought in $2000 in donations within a week and a half.

The memories from the seven-day experience last forever, Camacho said.
“The particular community that we worked with … they were very thankful and grateful that we were there and that were working with them,” Camacho said. “Up to this day, I am still learning about things, ways that it’s affected me. It’s given me something I want to do after I graduate.”

For more information, contact Camacho at camacho.jimmyt@gmail.com.