JustHope
Creating global partnerships that combat extreme poverty and nurture sustainable community.
JustHope’s programs utilize public health approaches to promote health, safety and well-being in our partner communities. What does that mean, exactly? The CDC defines public health as aiming to provide the maximum benefit to the largest number of people.
This means, we prioritize overall health of the community and focus on preventing disease and injury through community action and social change. JustHope increases interaction between community members and medical professionals by facilitating medical brigades and strengthens local health systems by ensuring access to medications and care facilities.
Because healthy and safe living environments are critical to community-wide health, JustHope and partners build houses, latrines, and green stoves in our partner communities. JustHope also prioritizes appropriate water, sanitation, and hygiene conditions in local schools by providing latrines and handwashing stations along with education on proper sanitation techniques.
Cardboard. Plastic. Dirt floors. Sheets of metal haphazardly erected into a makeshift home. This is how poor families live in Nicaragua. It is not only uncomfortable and inconvenient, but unsanitary living conditions also have a major effect on health and well-being. They contribute to concerns such as insect and parasite infestations, respiratory infections, asthma, lead poisoning, and a higher likelihood of burns and other injuries.
Baby Lizbeth was just 8 days old when a scorpion stung her. Normally, a scorpion sting hurts and can cause some dizziness, but Lizbeth was so small that the sting site immediately swelled and her heart started racing. Her little body was covered in sweat, and she started having difficulty breathing. Fortunately, the Chacraseca Clinic was open.
Even though totally preventable, tooth decay is one of the most common chronic diseases in Nicaragua. Understandably, rural areas have especially limited access to dental hygiene education and timely, thorough treatment of dental concerns. JustHope supports Chacraseca’s dentist, Dr. Sampson, on an on-going basis by providing dental supplies for use in the Chacraseca Clinic.
Green Stoves are a small investment that makes a big difference! That’s why JustHope has built eleven green stoves in our partner communities since January 2018.
Open defecation and improper sanitation are systemic problems in Nicaragua, which lead to around 300 childhood deaths each year (WaterAid, 2014). As the World Health Organization explains, “open defecation perpetuates a vicious cycle of disease and poverty.”
We are trying to break that cycle, one latrine at a time! JustHope and partners construct pit latrines for families and schools in our partner communities to ensure improved sanitation and a private place to “go.”
Handwashing stations, also called Tippy-Taps, are a low-cost solution for schools that do not otherwise have a place for children to clean their hands during the school day. Fashioned from low-cost and readily found materials, they are easy to install and maintain.
From 2008-2010, the entire community of Santa Emilia worked together with their project's founding partner and JustHope to complete a clean water system that serves all its residents.
JustHope's first project in 2007 was to partner with community leaders in the town of Chacraseca to complete a potable water project for its 8,000 residents.