The day started early, with a breakfast of scrambled eggs, beans, tortillas, mango and cantaloupe, then we left for the hospital and the mission medical clinic at 7am. There was a bit of trepidation amongst the medical team as we were headed to care for the people in a neighborhood church built three years ago in a poor area of San Pedro Sula, a city known around the world for violence. We were assured by our hosts that the church would be safe. Driving first to the hospital to provide a medical consultation, it was impossible not to feel awe in beholding the cascading green mountains, lush in green palm trees, the streams and the rivers we passed, with children fishing from the side of the river. It was equally impossible not to notice the poverty - the emaciated man walking on the side of the road with a plastic bag in hand, the mud streets coming off the side of the main road lined with small wooden shacks with tin roofs, the rusted gutted cars on the side of the road, the signs for Coca-Cola and Pepsi on so many buildings and stores tempting people to spend money that they did not possess on soda that they do not need; the military men carrying machine guns who must be on the street corners for a reason.
The whole team arrived at the hospital, the medical team consulted with the surgical team on a difficult case, and the surgeons were told that the power to the hospital might be cut off at 8am, as part of routine rotating power outages. It turned out by 8:30 that the power was not shut off to the hospital so the surgeons were able to operate in three operating rooms.
The medical team then continued to the church clinic. The bus turned into the narrow two-lane dirt street that was barely wider than the bus itself. Abject poverty stared at us from a foot-and-a-half on each side of the bus. We looked in amazement at the small huts lining the dirt street, the children looking out the doorways as the bus it passed, a pig crossing the street in the distance, an old man with leathery skin and a straw hat leaning against a metal pole. We parked in front of the church, got off the bus and there were about a hundred people, young and old, sitting patiently in the chairs in the church waiting for us. The team saw about 400 people - injected knees and shoulders, treated pneumonia in a young infant, gave prednisone for asthma, counseled an elderly woman with depression, gave antibiotics for wounds, saw a young child with club-foot, and many many others who were tired, poor, had headaches and joint pain, and who clearly all shared one thing in common with each other and all of us - a concern about their children and themselves and an ability to tolerate the troubles of their environment and strive for a better tomorrow - as was manifest today by their ability to wait a long time to be seen to receive the medical care we could give - vitamins, anti-parasite medications, anti-biotics, skin cream and others - medical care that would not fix their lives but would make their lives in some way a little bit better by virtue of medicines and knowing that someone cares enough to be there. Their smiles and their “gracias” connected them to us and told us a part of their story that could be told no other way.
Then the medical team visited an orphanage where we witnessed selfless devotion to the good of others. As the incredibly selfless couple who have moved from their home in Brooklyn, NY to run an orphanage, and thier mission was, “To raise the future leaders of Honduras.”
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| Clinic |
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| San Pedro Sula |
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| handing a lolipop to a little girl
Our second day in El Progresso proved challenging from the start as we faced a possible power outage, a common occurrence here, even before our first case. The threat passed and, having our equipment organized the day before, we got right to work (even though we did lose power momentarily later in the day :).
A wide variety of cases were performed on patients of all ages, from 8 months to 94 years old. Some procedures, such as a congenital trigger release on an 8-month old boy, considered a fairly routine operation in the states, become life-changing interventions here.
Our intrepid OB/GYN team, braving the twisting corridors of Hospital El Progresso on the way to the obstetrics unit, were also on point. From hysterectomies to cystectomies to c-sections, if there was something inside of you that needed to come out, they had you covered.
And of course, the success of this day would not have been possible without our unsung heroes, our translators, who seem right at home in a very foreign place.
Another amazing day. We look forward to, and are ready for, whatever tomorrow brings.
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