Visiting a missionary project

On Thursday morning Anna and I got up to catch the 7 o'clock bus to meet with Peggy, a woman that Anna had made friend with at NGO conference back in October. It as my first time on the bus heading to San Pedro Sula, the nearest city to Copan. The fist part of the road is really windy. By focusing out the window and drinking water I managed to keep myself from getting really car sick. Others were unfortunately not as lucky as me. At the beginning of the ride the bus attendant starting handing out plastic bags. I jokingly said to Anna "are those for puking?" and she said yes! Turns out it the bags came in handy as a little boy and then an old lady used them to vomit into. When the little boy was done puking the mom opened the window and tossed the bag out the window and right beside a poor man walking along the road!

When we got off the bus to transfer Anna and I stoped at a small stand on the corner to have a quick breakfast of baleadas, a Honduran specialty that I am rather fond of. A baleada is a flour tortilla folded over with re-fried bean paste a sprinkle of sour almost feta like cheese and some cream. It makes for a rather tasty treat. As we were eating our next bus was preparing to leaving so we hoped in, balancing our baleadas trying to not get beans and cheese all over ourselves.

When we arrived at Cristo Saluo, the clinic that Peggy and her fellow missionaries have been running for the past sixteen years we were warmly welcomed. There was about fifteen people, all gringos from the states at the clinic. It was more white people that I have seen together in a while! It was a bit of a shock. In the morning Anna and I got a tour of the clinic and then helped cut open medicine packages for easier access. After an hour or so we all piled into a mini van and drove a short distance to a village where they do outreach. We handed out food bags which contained coffee, a bag of beans and rice and a small book portraying Adam and Eve in cartoons. Peggy is an RN and we visited several patients that she has been taking care of while down here. The first one was a man with high blood pressure.

The next was a man that had dengue fever and then a sixteen year old who was ready to give birth in the next few days. Anna and I went into the small mud hut with Peggy to exam the glowing mom to be. Peggy showed me how to listen to the heartbeat of the baby with the portable heart monitor. I also felt the position of the baby. It was very cool and was the highlight of our trip for me.

After lunch at the farm, a compound on a grassy hill where the missionaries always stay we headed back out to the villages handing out more food bags and visiting people. Malnutrition is rampant in these areas and it was really apparent in a lot of the people. Two sisters in particular showed the affects of lack of proper nutrition very clearly. The eldest girl was 19 but looked about 14. Her body was greatly underdeveloped. She does not menstruate and will never have kids. Her little sister was around two or three with blond hair white skin. Due to her malnutrition her body was not able to produce enough pigment to reach her hair and skin.

The malnourished girl and her 19 year old sister.

In the evening we had dinner at the farm and then everybody went off to church. I stayed behind with two other women as I was feeling really tired and had a soar throat. I was fast asleep by 7:30. In the morning Anna and I helped load up six midwife bags which contain the essential tools for delivery, two boxes of kids chewable vitamins and wheel chair we are going to give to a local man here in Copan that uses pads under his knees and wooden blocks in his hands. He has no legs. Once again we all loaded into the van, a truck following us with our supplies to yet another villages located outside of Chequila where people have made their homes out of scraps from the garbage dump near by. The ground was thick with flies and everything was made out of scraps of garbage. It was easily one of the poorest villages I have been to and reminded me of Riverton City, a place in Kingston Jamaica where people have made their homes out of other peoples trash.

These photos are from the various villages we visited. They are not photos of the garbage dump village and seem rather nice to compared to the other homes!

After visiting the village Anna and I were dropped off in Chequila to catch a bus back to Copan. After lunch at a small restaurant on the side of the road we started walking in the direction of the bus station. We were quiet the spectacle! Anna is four months pregnant so I tried to carry as much stuff as possible. Between the both of us we managed to carry our personal backpacks, the six midwife bags, the two boxes of vitamins all precariously balance on the wheel chair.

Eventually we made it back to Copan safe and sound though dirty and tired but very happy to have such valuable supplies! Tomorrow we are heading to Roatan to visit two more clinics and do more research for the project.