After a few months of preparation, our trip is finally almost here! We're leaving bright and early next Wednesday, March 28th, and will arrive in Tegucigalpa after a hopefully pain-free 8 hours of travel (although a warning to my fellow Honduras travelers-- statistics show that roughly 60% of my travel does not go according to plan. I apologize for cursing the trip in advance. Yay for adventure?). Honduras is in Central time, so for those of you trying to follow us, we'll be just 2 hours behind.
With us we'll be bringing a plethora of medical and hygiene supplies, including medications, toothbrushes, shampoo/conditioners, soap, etc. If you're interested in donating supplies you have until Saturday morning (our packing day)!
Stay tuned...
Just arrived Honduras - awaiting the arrival of the troops on Wednesday. Have one box down here already and a year's worth of seizure medicine for Julio in Copan. Everyone have a safe flight and I will wee you WEd about noon at the Tegucigalpa airport.
ReplyDeleteSenor Cisco Clements
I just spoke with Penny Cooper (7:52am CST). The crew is waiting in Houston for their flight to Tegucigalpa. Everyone made it on the first flight despite some glitches (couple of misspelled names on tickets and a short time between the United counter opening at RDU and the flight departure). Dr. Clements will be at the airport in Tegucigalpa to welcome the team to Honduras.
ReplyDeleteHola los Estados Unidos! First and foremost, we are all safe and accounted for! Family, loved ones, friends, you can all take a deep breath. We arrived in Tegucigalpa around noon (Honduras time) which is 2 hours earlier than Durham time due to Honduras being in the Central Time Zone but not participating in daylight savings. We arrived to a beautiful day outside: sunny, warm, clear skies... We all drove to the Heifer home base, surprised and greeted by a yummy lunch (goat meat with rice, beans, and perfectly-round hand-made tortillas). Then, we walked around the compound, had fun with the very-affectionate and friendly dogs and cats (and 15-day old kittens!!), and then took siestas since the average amount of sleep we all got was ~1.5h...
ReplyDeleteWe wish we could say we had a smooth travel experience. Like Bob said, we almost missed our flight to Houston because of glitches with 3 misspelled names: Rachel Louise was mistaken for "Rachel Lousie", Kaitlin Rawluk was mistaken for "Rawlak", and Sally Ong's middle and last name got transposed. However, the stars aligned somehow and we all got to the gate with 5 minutes left to board. Like a good team though, nobody had boarded until we made sure all the group was together ^.^
Unfortunately, the travel trouble doesn't end there. We arrived in Tegucigalpa to find that 8 checked bags (with medicines and supplies and Senior Rey's personal effects) did not arrive with us. Gloria is currently working on it and hopefully before we leave for Las Mercedes tomorrow, we'll be able to get our bags delivered.
That's all for now...stay tuned!
SHOUT-OUTS:
Kaitlin says love to Josh, dad, and Brandstadters
Wendy says big xoxo's to Mike, Olive, Zhang's, and Nichols's ^.^ (and congestion's doing ok!)
Ariella says "HEY-the mountains are beautiful and surrounded by dry terrain" to mom, dad, will, dan and travis :)
Rachel sends love to her parents and Lance.
Glad to hear the group made it safely and hope your other 8 bags catch up with you. We are so proud of the work this group is doing and send our love to Rachel. Dad and Mom
ReplyDeleteFriday was the last working day - we saw 165 patients in the morning in a Chorti village by the name of Carrizalito. There were 200 people in the village so we saw just about everyone. The students did their skits which were amazing. The subjects for the skits were parasites, dehydration and dental care. Some were hilarious and the villagers were laughing and having a good time. After lunch we then went to Macaw Mountain which is the local bird park owned and run by a man from Tennessee who also went to UNC for a while. The students had Macaws sitting on their heads and arms and lots of pictures were taken. Some also took a dip in the river. Today we go to the Copan Ruins for a 3 hour tour - it is pretty warm in the afternoons - 90 or so (like our summer) so all the outside activities are in the morning before the heat of the day.
ReplyDeleteLast night Bob invited the students over to the house where he is staying for paposas. Bob is in Copan for a month speaking Spanish. Last night the streets in the center of town were covered with colored sawdust to show scenes from the Bible as today there will be a march through town by the holy family to the stations of the cross for good Friday.
The students are heading down to the square at 6am to see the completed artwork as the artwork will be destroyed when the procession marches over it.
It has been a long but successful trip. Amazing experiences and the most healthy food we have ever eaten.
Dennis
April 1, 2012
ReplyDeleteToday was day 3 of clinic. It was also Palm Sunday. So, we opened up the clinic at 8 as usual, but then took a break at 9 to attend the Church service (the church is right across the path from our clinic). It was wonderful to see the community in a different setting. Although we clearly stuck out as sore thumbs, they welcomed us and made more room on the benches for us so we could sit amongst them. We saw about 130 patients today despite the break, so it was a successful day overall. We also had a pretty great variety of skin conditions and interesting physical exam findings throughout the day. Most of us are getting much more comfortable with the way the clinic is running. Even those of us who didn’t know any Spanish seem to be leading interviews and managing the patients really well (shout out to Sally whose almost fluent on day 3 of her mission to go from 0 to fluent).
The food has been delicious. They cook bananas, plantains and tortillas everyday with a variety of other things. I think everyone eats well with yummy desserts and also tons of snacks that everyone seems to procure from their bags- Caitlin with candy and Sally with random treats.
Also, the other eight bags arrived today. WOOHOO! Rey’s bag also finally arrived…but he has yet to change into fresh clothes. Luckily for us he doesn’t smell too much. We also ran out of toothbrushes yesterday and our big bag of toothbrushes also came. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect.
Hasta luego!
Friday, March 30, 2012: Hello from Las Mercedes, Honduras! Today was our first day of clinic! We woke up at 0600 and started the clinic at 0800 after a little setting up. We were divided into groups, one in the pharmacy and four groups divided into examination rooms. Patients usually don’t come alone and come with friends or family. Today was a slow day at the clinic which proved to be beneficial as we were able to get familiar with our resources and the flow of the clinic. I was in the pharmacy with Trusha and Rosa! We filled prescriptions and educated the families on how to use the medications. By the way, the 8 of our 21 bags of medications and Ray’s bag have not yet made it… still waiting! We ended clinic around 1600 and had a wonderful dinner of beans, sausage, plantains and rice! It began raining during dinner and has not stopped. We took our cold showers in the rain which was a unique experience with the dusky, cloudy sky – the shower has no roof. Tonight the electricity went out and we are now sitting in the room we eat in playing cards, boggle and other games with our headlamps for light! I’m excited about the next few days of clinic as they are expected to be busier! I’d like to say hello and send my love to Kenneth, Dad, Mom, Spence, and the rest of my family!
ReplyDelete-Brenna
Random Thoughts of the Day:
1) The food here is absolutely delicious and we overeat like it is our job. I’m pretty sure they are surprised that a group of all ladies can eat so much
2) Achievement of the day: CR and I finally worked up the courage to shower in the unheated outdoor shower and survived (only with Brenna’s moral support of course).
3) Ray reads American Bee Keeper magazine with a really serious face. It’s quite a site to see.
4) “El Jefe” seems to be pretty at peace with directing everybody from his hall chair.
5) Wendy and Sally are actually ophthalmologists even prior to their training.
6) Caitlin has an endless supply of chocolates and snacks that she’s hoarding. Unfortunately for her, we’ve figured out her secret.
7) Lesson of the day: don’t open the shower curtain if you hear water running. Seriously though.
-Trusha
Penny would like to give a shout out to Touche and Rosa to Igor and her girls.
Wendy says hi and miss you guys to Mike and Olive (she also says she’s been feeding the dogs Olive’s treats which they absolutely love!)
Saturday Morning:
We woke up to a beautiful clear and temperate day outside. It looks like the rain cleared away with the clouds. Breakfast was delicious with fresh eggs, fried tortillas, strawberries, and pound cake (I know, it’s probably hard to believe we’re in a rural community in the highlands of Honduras). Everyone is getting fast with the morning routine. It’s been quite the convenience to sleep, eat, bathe, go to the bathroom and work in the same building.
Funny story from last night was Sally pulling her sleeping bag, air mattress, from the little room she shares with Wendy, Kaitlin R, and Ariella to sleep in an empty room away from the girls’ snoring! It sounded like a “freight train going through the clinic” as she dragged everything out, lol! But great news is that everyone slept well last night ☺ Ok, back to getting ready for the clinic day to begin! We’re anticipating a much busier day. Stay tuned! More to come…