Tuesday, July 05, 2011

 

Medical Mission Work




The Church of the Incarnation in Dallas hosts mission trips to Belize and Honduras every year. There are also many service days that take place, especially in support of the schools in the area. As a school nurse, I have had the opportunity to serve several times in Honduras. I feel the work is especially appreciated because there are limited resources, poverty, and governmental issues that cannot be resolved.

In 2004 and 2005 I served in the village of Santa Cruz Arriba in the mountains outside of Tecugigalpa. The village initially had no water or sewage system and our construction team helped build a water cistern and then a septic system for the village. We had a small medical clinic set up inside the church and a dentist working down the road in a small home. There was a great need for a dentist to extract the teeth of the many who had pain related to their decayed teeth. Since safe water was not always available, soda was a safer and sometimes a cheaper alternative causing tooth decay even in the small children. Many of the medical issues we saw revolved around the family structure. The husbands, including the village mayor, left the village family every week to work in a larger town where they typically had a second family. The women were left with the children with no other options. My concern was communicable disease such as HIV and STDs that went untreated. Condoms and birth control were distributed and lessons were taught. Other lessons were taught concerning women's rights and abusive behavior. The women were taught to embroider and "Honduras Threads" was established. This cottage industry eventually spread to some of the surrounding villages with the help of M'Lou Bancroft. It was also during this time that we gathered around the murdered father of one of the girls in the sewing co-op. He had been shot in the head over a disagreement about a cow that day. This type of violence was also not uncommon.

In 2006 and 2007 I served in the village of Santa Cruz Abajo in a farming community. There was not a church in this village and lack of a spiritual connection was felt. The families seemed more stable, but there was a larger number of very young women who came into the clinic with their babies. This seemed to be the typical lifestyle with minimal education for most of the people. The multi-generational living arrangement, with many living in one small home, was a way of life. The small children played in the dirt and seemed destined to a bleak future. When the children were given soap, tooth brushes, and toothpaste, we got word they were eating the toothpaste. This can be toxic, so we immediately started lessons on how to used the soap and toothpaste in a safe way. There was no governmental regulation for trash, so the flies and trash were everywhere. Eventually the trash would be piled up and burned which then polluted the air. Many suffered from respiratory illnesses. Most of the construction efforts included painting and refurbishing the classrooms of a school. While this work was in progress one of the missioners fell off a ladder and sustained a head injury. He was stabilized and carted down the mountain in the back of a flatbed truck. He stayed in the hospital there even after we retuned home, but continued to have residual effects of this for many years. I never took for granted the risks that such a trip as this could bring.

In 2008 and 2009 I served in the community of San Bartolome on the outskirts of Siguatepeque. This was a strong religious community with a higher level of education and resources. The needs were the same, but not as urgent as they had been in the mountainous villages. The people were more joyful and resourceful. The construction team assisted with building a community center next to the church with cinder blocks and rebar. The women missioners on the construction team were not initially allowed to assist, so there was an ongoing battle of how the women could help. That is the only time that I ever saw any resentment; eventually the women were able to prove their worth. This church group was unique in that the agenda for the week was done according to the desires of the people and that made all the difference. It was during this time that the President of Honduras decided to change the Constitution and serve for an additional term. Choas broke out and he was kidnapped and put on a plane to Costa Rica. There was military in the streets. We were on our way out of the country, but the next day the airport was shut down- we barely made it home.

In 2011 I served in the mountain area of La Laguna at San Matias outside of Siguatepeque. This community was a strong religious farming community. When we first arrived, three boys from a family in a neighboring village had died from drinking bad well-water. The fourth boy died two days later. When the grandfather eventually visited our clinic, all we could offer were words of encouragement and sorrow. We were on alert during this time for other victims with dysentary or dehydration. We saw many families through the clinic, but no additional cases were found. We did see many large families, sometimes with 15 and 16 children, who were struggling to survive. We had no condoms or birth contol to offer this year and I felt very frustrated for the women who were seeking options to this predicament. In previous years there was a Honduran doctor or facility for follow-up for the medical cases. In this case, there was nothing available for the 21 year old gunshot victim with a colostomy and infection or the bedridden 26 year old mother of two who was dying from what was a diagnosis of "arthritis". Our doctors were able to treat the young mother with antibiotics and Vitamin B which resulted in some improvemnent. On the last day there was a torrential downpour. Our bus was on dirt roads typical of the area. The previous government did little to help with road construction and repair. We got down the mountain on a river of mud. In a previous year, the high school students in Tegucigalpa rebelled when they were unable to get to school due to mud slides. They sat in the middle of the highway and would not allow any traffic to pass. After coming on board our bus, they let us pass to do our medical work. One can only hope the new government will do its job and better roads and a better life will be in the future.

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