Project # 037 - La Campa - Nueva Esperanza Suspended Bridge

Location: Honduras; District of La Campa, Region of Lempira
Bridge Sponsor: The Rotary Club of Farmville and the Rotary Foundation
Local Honduras Sponsors: District of La Campa
Local Community Sponsor: The village of Nueva Esperanza
NGO partner: Helvetas Honduras
Trainees: Engineer from Helvetas; Masons from the Municipality of La Campa; Engineer from World Vision; Instructors from INFOP; Peace Corps volunteers.
USA Sponsors: Pax and Lucy Goodson of Newport News, Virginia.
Dedication: James A. Probsdorfer, Past District Governor District 7600, in honor of his early vision and support of the Rotary Footbridge Program.
In Memory of: Wallace M. Hottel (brother of Rotarian Virginia Hottel)

Bridge name: La Campa - Nueva Esperanza
River name: Tributary of the Rio Grande del Mejocote
Bridge span: 28 meters / 92 feet
Population served by bridge: 700

Bridge Story: The people of Nueva Esperanza need a bridge so badly they bundled barbed wire together into a cable for use in making their own homemade bridge. The bridge only lasted only a few years, and in that time was extremely dangerous to use. The people can no longer access their fields nor bring their products to markets, especially during the long rainy season. And when they do try to cross the river during the rainy season, too often those attempts end in tragedy.

Soon, the community, in cooperation with the local government and partner organizations Helvetas and Bridges to Prosperity will be providing quality cable, and teaching them to build a safe bridge. The new bridge they build will stand for decades to come. The community will supply all the labor, stone and sand needed. It will be their bridge, built with their own hands.

This bridge has the distinction of being used as a major training site for our program. During its construction in Jan-Feb of 2008, not only will there be those engineers trained from the local municipality and the federal level INFOP, but also engineers from World Vision, Helvetas, Peru and Ecuador, as well as a Peace Corp volunteer from Panama.