More than 23 million lives transformed since 1975

Having a global impact on poverty starts with the courage of families struggling to overcome poverty and the compassion of donors who believe every person should have the opportunity to be free from poverty and live with dignity.

The support of donors, along with an integrated approach driven by the ingenuity of our long-term partners in the Americas, South Asia, South East Asia, and Africa, enables families to develop and implement local solutions to poverty that are effective, replicable, and sustainable.

This ensures that the life-transforming outcomes of every dollar given to HOPE International Development Agency are multiplied as families access clean water, grow more food, increase their income, restore their environment and health, and learn new skills that ensure their well-being.

The journey out of poverty often begins with access to clean water

The Tejeda family is a wonderful example of the transformation that happens when clean water becomes available in a community.

Prior to the completion of a community water and irrigation project, the Tejeda family struggled to make ends meet; there was never enough food on the table and no prospects for a better life.

After participating in an irrigation project in their community of Cazuela, a remote village located in the mountains of the Dominican Republic’s San José de Ocoa province, the Tejeda family irrigated their farm land for the first time and are now planting and harvesting 3 crops per year.

Today there is ample food on the table each day, and the income earned by selling a portion of each harvest of cucumbers and other vegetables has enabled the family to purchase necessities, including medicine when needed. In addition, their children are now in school and the family is improving their modest home.

Lucinola's community pharmacy treats more than 70% of health ailments faced by families in Los Naranjos, Honduras

In the final post of a three-part series on community pharmacies in Honduras we meet Lucinola Bustamante, a volunteer community pharmacist helping families in her rural community of Los Naranjos.

Lucinola plays a vital role in providing basic health care to families in remote areas of Honduras like Los Naranjos. She meets community members in their homes or at her home-based pharmacy, building a relationship with each family she serves. This relationship is crucial to improving health outcomes among families struggling with poverty and serves to strengthen bonds within the community while providing a sense of security and well-being.

Lucinola begins her week by visiting the local supply warehouse and picking up medicines and other health care products to stock the community pharmacy located in her modest home. After returning home, Lucinola begins visiting her patients for the week. Depending on the time of year, Lucinola will treat three to four patients per day. In the rainy season, when weather-related illnesses are more prevalent, the number of visits increases. Each consultation is free to the patient, and any subsequent treatment is provided for a pharmacy dispensing fee.

The majority of Lucinola’s patients are mothers and children. The most common health concerns are colds and flus, head and body aches, diarrhea, minor infections, and respiratory problems. Lucinola is trained to take blood pressure readings, temperatures, check ears, eyes, and throats, and enable patients to use a nebulizer which helps all types of respiratory problems.

Drawing on the training and health manuals provided to her by local staff, Lucinola administers basic over-the-counter medicines including pain killers like acetaminophen, allergy medicines such as diphenhydramine, vitamins, including Omega-3 which helps prevent and manage heart disease, and prenatal vitamins for women who are pregnant. While Lucinola cannot prescribe advanced medications, she is still able to treat more than seventy percent of the ailments families in Los Naranjos experience. Complicated health concerns are rare, but if they do occur Lucinola refers patients to clinics that have advanced health practitioners.

“I am so happy to be a volunteer pharmacist and help my community,” says Lucinola, who has seen a substantial improvement in the health of families in Los Naranjos since the introduction of the community pharmacy she so proudly manages.

Lucinola takes great pride in her volunteer work and recognizes the immense value her little pharmacy brings to the community of Los Naranjos. To ensure Lucinola serves her community well, she makes her pharmacy available to patients all week, day or night.

By providing medicines and medical supplies that support a variety of health facilities in Honduras, including more than 500 community-based pharmacies in remote areas of the country, HOPE International Development Agency is helping address a chronic lack of health care in the country.

Join us for dinner in April and May and help transform lives in the Philippines.

View dates and locations today and make sure you reserve your seats soon. Join us for a wonderful meal, the company of friends, silent and live auctions, great music, a short feature film, and an important opportunity to transform lives in the Philippines through your giving.

View a brief update about how giving at last year's film premiere and dinner transformed lives.

HOPE International Development Agency has been helping families worldwide since 1975, enabling them to transform their lives as they gain access to clean water, learn new ways to earn a sustainable income and provide support to each other, grow more food, and restore the environment upon which they depend.

How a community-based pharmacy is established in rural Honduras is as important as the services it provides

By providing medicines and medical supplies that support a variety of health facilities in Honduras, including more than 500 community-based pharmacies in remote areas of the country, HOPE International Development Agency is helping address a chronic lack of health care in the country.

Establishing a community-based pharmacy in a remote area provides a unique opportunity for people to work together to create a sustainable solution to one of the most persistent challenges they face – a lack of basic health care.

Before a community-based pharmacy is established in a community, HOPE’s local partner visits the community and speaks with residents regarding their health care needs.

If health care services in the area where the community is located are lacking – a far too common occurrence – the community is asked to collectively decide if the establishment of a pharmacy in the area would be beneficial.

The process of deciding is important because it enables community members to voice their health needs and help establish which medicines will best meet the needs of the community. Equally importantly, it gives community members ownership of the pharmacy and the health outcomes associated with the pharmacy.

As part of the process, one community member volunteers to run the pharmacy out of his or her home. Once a volunteer is agreed upon, staff from HOPE’s local partner provide the volunteer with training, equipment, manuals, and ongoing support through medical professionals.

The volunteer pharmacist stocks the community-based pharmacy with medicines and medical supplies provided by HOPE, offers free consultations and diagnoses, and provides basic treatments for a pharmacy dispensing fee.

Community-based pharmacies bring many positive changes to the communities where they are established. People are no longer forced to journey many hours to reach the nearest health clinic, nearly eliminating the cost of transportation and time spent traveling. They are also able to receive immediate help, reducing the potential for health complications which can have negative consequences. Medications, when needed, are provided at a minimal cost, enabling people to save their hard-earned income for other necessities. Being healthy, as a result of having a volunteer-run pharmacy in their community enables people to pursue opportunities to increase their income generating activities, bringing them closer to self-reliance.