The Kid’s Ark is a non-profit organization that provides homes to orphans in Honduras.

McSweeney, president of McSweeney Associates Environmental Engineers, got involved with the mission project through one of the contractors his company does work with. The Margetts & Co., from Hingham, got involved with The Kid’s Ark through the First Baptist Church in Hingham. They sponsored McSweeney and Taylor Loftgren, who were also joined by Brian McSweeney, to go to Honduras to help design septic tanks for an orphanage. The team arrived in Honduras on Dec. 2 and traveled to Potrerillos, Aguas Blancas. They stayed in Potrerillos for three days before heading back to the airport.

For the project, the team was asked to go down and test the soils to determine the capacity to support onsite waste water treatment.

While working on the project, McSweeney said the kids that will be living at the orphanage were trying to figure out what exactly the team was doing. Because there was a language barrier, McSweeney said he isn’t sure if the kids understood, but he said that they have come in contact with other North Americans, who have also helped with the project, and he thinks that they understand everyone is helping them.

One of the first buildings built for the project was the caretaker’s house. The caretaker is married and has a family. Before moving into the modern building, complete with adequate plumbing, the caretaker and his family had been living in a cardboard box, McSweeney said.

“This project does have a direct and immediate impact on the quality of life,” he added.

The next building the mission hopes to break ground on is a mission house to accommodate any volunteers.

“They are hoping to start construction on that soon and it is expected to take six to eight months to complete,” McSweeney said.

After that point, they will begin building the three resident buildings for the kids. Each building will be able to house 35 kids. On the 30-acre site, plans will also include construction of churches, a medical clinic, gym, cafeteria, laundry facility and administrative building.

After some percolation soil testing, the New England engineers met with Dr. Hector Newman to offer their expert analysis, options and recommendations.

“One of the challenges we faced was, there are no standards,” McSweeney said.

The team eventually found using EPA guidelines, combined with water flow guidelines from the state of Massachusetts, would be an acceptable method to use for the project.

McSweeney said the soil testing was the “tip of the iceberg.” The construction of the project will take the next couple of years to complete, he said.

One of the things the team is hoping to do is design a central collection and disposal facility.

“We are hoping to take all wastewater from across the project and construct a central collection and disposal facility, but the soils [which are clay-like] don’t lend themselves to that disposal of waste. We need to install multiple septic systems, one for each of the 20 buildings,” McSweeney said.

McSweeney said that he will not be returning to Honduras to work, because the next step of his job is to put the design for the septic systems on paper. The goal is for the mission to have locals doing the construction. On Sweeney’s team, Loftgren is a construction foreman for Margetts & Co. He was sent to help out on the construction end while McSweeney and his father Brian would work on the engineering.

During his stay, McSweeney said he did have the opportunity to see some of the countryside.

He said he was surprised at the extreme poverty.

“The people appeared clean, healthy and happy, but they don’t have a lot,” McSweeney said. “Most of the houses are one bedrooms with dirt floors. They don’t have screens on the windows, but they do have security bars.”

The homes are made out of adobe clay and they have tin roofs. They estimate incomes are $700 a year and the homes cost close to $40,000, McSweeney said.

“It was an eye-opening experience,” he added.