From the end of January to the beginning of February, I was in Honduras providing medical care to the unserved people of their country. This was my fourth year traveling with the medical mission group called Amigos de San Carlos, which means "Friends of St. Charles." St. Charles is a church located in Tacoma, Washington. Our mission group has grown to about 55-60 people in total. The group is mixed with people of many different professions such as physicians,registered nurses, pharmacists, dentists, spanish translators, etc. We visited five villages northeast of the capital Tegucigalpa. We saw a total of 2,400 patients. Over the years we have developed a fluid system that keeps the patients organized and proper care can be administered. When arriving to a village, we are greeted by hundreds of people waiting in line.
Here is how the system works:
1. The patient is checked in (gives their name, birthday, age, weight is taken)
Here is how the system works:
1. The patient is checked in (gives their name, birthday, age, weight is taken)
2. Seen by nurses in triage (if needed, RNs send patient to the
laboratory to get tests done such as urinary analysis,Hemoglobin/hematocrit, or a pregnancy test. Patients also get referred
to our dental team if needed).
3. Seen by physician
4. Sent to pharmacy to pick up medications
5. Next is our sunglasses/reading glasses station
6. For kids there is a crafts station
7. Then to clothing (we bring down shirts, pants, shoes, undergarments, etc.) Any woman who is pregnant or has a new born receives pre-packed maternity bags with the necessities. All families receive a
bag of toiletries.
There is an article in the Journal of the American Medical Association called "Duffle Bag Medicine." I encourage you to read to this. I feel our group does NOT fall under this category. We try and see the same villages every year and keep paperwork organized and filed so we can refer to previous notes. Even though a year goes by, I can tell people enjoy seeing our familiar faces and we give them hope. We prepare all year to see them, making
sure we have all the medications and supplies needed. Over the years,we have built a relationship with these people and they have grown to trust us.
The children are growing so fast! I LOVE when they come running towards me calling my name. I try to bring them small gifts each year such as stickers, costume jewelry, and coloring books. Some of our
group members give out pictures to people from the previous year. I'm planning on bringing some next year for the kids. Always fun to have a hard copy of yourself and your family that can last years and years.
This year I tried to start an "education station". I brought some posters I made in Spanish, so the people could learn about the common diseases/diagnoses we see such as scabies, lice, high blood pressure, diabetes, anemia, dehydration, and dental care. Here in Belize, I've learned first hand that prevention is number one. We need the Honduran people to understand what they are being treated for, why, and how to avoid this in the future. My Spanish is very limited and having a booth with posters next to the sunglasses station made me less popular. No one seemed interested. I tried teaching people while they were waiting in line, but I needed a translator to really help me get my point across. We are very limited on translators so I gave up
after an hour or two. I then hung some posters up by the doctors and nurses so patients could read them while waiting (if they are able to read). I kept the lice, scabies, and high blood pressure posters with me while
working with my dad, who is a gastroenterologist. People seemed surprised when reading some of the information. They were learning and hopefully can spread the word to friends and family.
I'm hoping to join our mission group next year and I'm looking forward to seeing some familiar faces. It was a great experience working beside my dad. I saw a lot of the same diseases/ diagnoses in Honduras that I
see here in Belize. I was surprised at how much I have learned medically over this year! Maybe one year I'll be able to work independently as a nurse practitioner there!
Displaying my posters I made. This poster was about "piojos" which translates to "lice."
Teaching our patients about high blood pressure with my poster!
After taking Spanish classes for 5 years my dad is able to communicate with the patients by himself. He is still continuing Spanish class.
Lorraine is one of our spanish translators! This was our 4th year together in Honduras!
My favorite kids at the village Lomas Limpias.
Made a new friend this year!
