Research Paper on Funding Environmental Restoration in Earthquake-Hit Chiapas, Mexico

Introduction

This report is about environmental advocacy related to an earthquake event that took place in the Chiapas, Mexico. This report seeks to find funds to help in renovation of the environment in the Chiapas region following the destructive earthquake. The report further explains several steps needed to conserve the environment

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Description

This proposal seeks to source funds from well-wishers who can join hands to fund and ensure that environmental sanitation and integrity is restored in Mexico following the September 2017 earthquakes that occurred and destroyed the Chiapas region (Ye, Lay, Bai, Cheung, & Kanamori, 2017). The funds will aid in constructing houses for those whose homes were damaged by the earthquakes, renovate, and repair hospitals that were affected by the disasters to help in the provision of healthcare services to the people. The project will also aid in environmental sanitation to prevent diseases among the village members who survived. Additionally, the funds will be used to connect the villager to clean water as most of their water sources were damaged during the catastrophic time. This project also seeks to construct latrines for these people to ensure there is proper waste disposal to avert diseases that are related to poor environmental sanitation.

Objectives

The proposal is designed to achieve several goals to include the following:

• Increase collaboration between the well-wishers and the people of the villages that were affected.
• Source funds to help in the construction of new houses for the victims who suffered the destruction of their homes in the disaster.
• To improve access to health by helping in the construction of health facilities to replace those were damaged.
• To promote collaboration between the villagers and other stakeholders in restoring environmental health.
• To solve the problem of lack of water for the villagers.

Audience

The intended audience of this proposal is the United Nations Environment Program. The organization spearheads environmental issues, especially those that aim at restoring ecological health and sanitation. Ecological sanitation is one of the sure ways of ensuring that the health of the people is promoted (Mara, Lane, Scott, & Trouba, 2010). The reason why we are targeting the United Nations Environment Program due to its policies and guidelines on environmental maintenance for health promotion; therefore, this is an area related to its responsibilities. Additionally, this body has funds that it donates to nations and other organizations that have the agenda of promoting environmental health. This proposal is about restoring ecological sanitation and the well-being of the victim of earthquakes to benefit.

Another intended audience is the World Health Organization. This is an organ of the United Nations that deals with the health needs of the people in the world among member states. Iran is a member state of this organization, and therefore it has a responsibility in ensuring that health is restored among the victims of the mentioned catastrophe. As we are sourcing for partnerships with relevant organizations, I, therefore, find the World Health Organization as a valid partner to work within this project. The World Health Organization has funds that facilitate health-related projects in the world among member states. Since my proposal is about environmental health and health promotion, if find WHO as a viable organization to partner with this project. The World Health Organization, through its health fund, can also partner with use to ensure sanitation among the villages of the mentioned area to ensure they are protected from diseases.

Justification

Over the last two years, the Chiapas region of the republic of Mexico suffered a series of earthquakes. The earthquakes were dominant as they were weighing about six on the Richter scale (Ye, et al. 2017). These earthquakes affected many parts of this region. Luckily, there were tremors before the earthquakes, which served as a warning. They sent an early warning to the authorities and the people. Therefore, the people in these districts had already vacated their homes when the earthquakes came. The government was able to avert large scale human catastrophe. The government statistics indicate that 72 people were reported dead after the earthquake, and around 118 people were left nursing several injuries (Ye, et al. 2017). Approximately 30 villages were ruined. Over 16000 houses were not spared in this destruction. About 32000 units were damaged in the communities that suffered these earthquakes (Ye, et al. 2017). The statistics from the government of Mexico provide that over 12000 animals also perished in this disaster (Moreno, Gonzalez Herrera, Paz Tenorio, Carboney, & Del Carpio Penagos, 2019). These domestic animals are the primary source of income for the people in the region.

The majority of the people in the affected villages engage in farming who do small scale farming, and others are large scale farmers. Some of the residents of this part are of low socioeconomic background with poor sanitation conditions as well as self-hygiene. The earthquakes paralyzed the health system in the affected regions. It is estimated that over 20 health centers were destroyed, which were taking care of about 33000 people (Moreno, et al. 2019). Two major hospitals were damaged. This led to more injuries to the patients who were being treated there. They had to be transferred to other hospitals in the nearby cities and provinces for further management. The destruction of these hospitals significantly affected the health system of these areas.

Mexico is a nation that is known for disasters such as these. After the effects of these earthquakes, it was an uphill task in restoring and achieving sustainable health system development. The areas that are most deprived in the country suffer the most substantial blow when dealing with health matters (Moreno, et al. 2019). Apart from the damage to the houses and the health facilities, among other significant impacts of the earthquakes were loss of forest covers as the earthquakes were washing everything. Additionally, landslides were rampant, and soil erosion (Moreno, et al. 2019). Water sources were polluted, which was a significant cause of unhygienic practices as the people who survived would use these water sources for their domestic uses. Other water sources were destroyed, leading to detrimental health risks due to poor environmental sanitation in the regions (Mara et al 2010). Lack of latrines for waste disposal was another challenge that also jeopardized ecological health.

The victims also suffered extra-environmental issues such as psychosocial and economic aspects. Their homes were destroyed; their farms and animals destroyed, which were their primary sources of income. Due to this, their economic and social issues were tampered with (Moreno, et al. 2019). Psychologically, the victims who survived suffered untold traumas due to the loss of relatives and village mates to the earthquakes. The effects of these destructions lead to alteration of the physical and mental well-being of the victims who survived the disaster. Some of these effects may be short term or lifelong. This means that these people may need urgent interventions to ensure that they stabilize. Additionally, environmental upgrading should be taken into considerations to ensure that they do not suffer more from environment-related crises such as diseases due to pollution and inadequate sanitation.

Relationship of Environmental Sanitation to Health

Several studies have been done to provide evidence that there is a connection between health and environmental sanitation (Kloos, & Zein, 2019). A clean and safe environment is a determinant of the overall well-being of the people around a specific are. Fresh air promotes good health as compared to the people who use polluted air. Polluted air is likely to cause respiratory diseases, some of which are fatal. When a person breathes air, which has chemical contaminants, they are likely to develop infections in their respiratory systems (Kloos, & Zein, 2019). Therefore this is one of the connections of a clean environment and general health of the people living in an area. Following the destruction by the earthquakes in Lore Stan Province in Iran, the lands were left without forest. Forests act as air cleaners. When air is contaminated with pollutants such as carbon monoxide, the trees can take up the gases and exchange them with clean oxygen, which is healthy for the people. With the lands in the Chiapas being left with no trees, the villagers of this area are at a higher risk of contracting respiratory diseases (Kloos, & Zein, 2019). Therefore environmental sanitation is critically required in this region to save the people from these diseases. More trees must be planted to help in solving this issue.

The water sources where the people of this region were getting their water were interrupted. Large clods of soil were deposited in these sources where they no more exist. As a result, the residents who survived the disaster were left suffering a lack of enough and clean water. Water is an integral determinant of the health of the people. Clean water promotes a healthy life for people. Contaminated water is detrimental to the health of the people (Kloos, & Zein, 2019). With these residents facing a shortage of water, their lives might be in danger of contracting a disease such as cholera, among other enteric infections. To prevent these measures need to be taken to connect the people to clean piped water to solve the issue of scarcity of water. Providing clean sources of water will promote environmental sanitation, which is necessary for improving health by providing sources of clean and sufficient water.

Due to the destruction of the restrooms by the earthquake, some of the families who are from poor economic backgrounds have not been able to build up new latrines where they can dispose of their waste. Human waste is detrimental to the sanitation of the environment and often leads to severe, life-threatening infections (Kloos, & Zein, 2019). When these people do not get safe places of disposing of their waste, they end up eliminating it where it is not secure. Due to this, there is contamination of foods and water, which when they take, they suffer from critical illnesses where some have died due to such conditions. Therefore, proper disposal of human waste is crucial for ensuring that the environment is safe. Researches have found out that human excreta contain bacteria that can cause severe forms of diseases when they contaminate foodstuffs that are eaten by a human (Kloos, & Zein, 2019). Some of the conditions causing microorganisms that are present in human feces include the Poli virus, cholera bacteria, and typhoid bacteria.

Construction of the toilets will, therefore, go a long way in ensuring that environmental sanitation in this region is promoted as the human excreta will safely and adequately be disposed of into the restrooms where it will not contaminate foodstuffs hence causing the diseases mentioned above. The project is aimed at constructing latrines for the victims who were left unable to construct their toilets after the ones they had were destroyed by the earthquake. Therefore, this proposal seeks to get funding to facilitate this project to promote environmental sanitation hence reducing the risk of the people in the region contracting diseases (Kloos, & Zein, 2019).

Environmental health and sanitation are essential in the life of humankind. The environment is a determinant of the outcome of several aspects of life. Some of the most integral elements of life that are affected by the surrounding include health, socioeconomic as well as the safety from natural calamities. Research has found out th...