The day started early with our 4:30 wake up call & we loaded the bus at 5 for our 7 hour bus ride to the mission site at Santa Rosa de Copan. We actually left closer to 5:30 & I slept until about 7:30 when we stopped for breakfast at what is normally a roadside fired chicken restaurant. They served us beans, eggs, fried plantains & tortillas...not the road trip breakfast I had imagined & my first reminder that this is a mission not a vacation :) Also the guard with guns outside the restaurant that was only serving our group was another reminder.
The drive was nice, the countryside is very green & lush but the poverty is very evident everywhere. There are little huts along the side of the road with people selling fruits just to survive & these little stands are all selling plantains, watermelon, pinapple & are all right next to each other - I dont know how you decide who to buy from? Small "shacks" that people live in varied from pieces of metal to wood or brick or cement. Laundry hung on lines & I am certain there was no electricity in most places. I did see 2 missionaries on the side of a small village we drove thru & that made me smile.
We also drove by some Mayan ruins, a lake & a national park. At those times I wish I had just a few of my sisters geography expert genes to know more about the area.
Our 2nd pit stop was at a gas station with a convenience store think Circle K by my house with the exception of a guard with a gun who opened the door to allow you in. That was at San Pedro where w had a fork in the road & we went to Copan & not to Sula (the murder capital) The guard was actually a nice young man& I took a photo op with him & my Coca Cola Light!
We had box lunches on the bus and arrived at the "hospital" about 1:30. Patients had been there since 7 am & all their photos were taken & paperwork completed. I thought it would be less chaotic but it want there were children & parents everywhere. 80 were screened and this time I did something I havent done before (typically because someone else does it) but the 3 of us from PACU drew all the labs on all the patients. Lori could get all the hard sticks & we got them all done. Basically we were the place that made every child cry - not the best for photo ops!
There were so so many precious children about 30 palates & we will only do maybe 20? Several lips & some revisions to be done. The people were so gracious & sweet. I didn't really get to interact or get "their stories" because we were bringing them in our tiny closet room 2 at a time & poking them - not the best for pleasant conversation. I am sure I will learn more as we go thru the week. There were 2 nuns there with 2 babies & I did go out towards the end of the screening & talk to them. Sister Paula is my new BFF - she is from Spain, has been in Italy, Haiti, Bridgeport Conn. USA & now Honduras. She with 4 other nuns have a home where they care for 28 babies from age 3 weeks to 4 years. Many are babies who have clefts or for other reasons are extremely malnourished. They also "pay" for 5 assistants to help them some very poor women who need to support their own families. She took us over to the "hospital" to see one of her babies who was sick & getting an IV that they cant do at their home. Th baby was a year old & weighed 8 lbs - it was heartbreaking. I was so touched by her happy spirit & love. I asked her how I could help her help the children. She said that the hospital has no medicine & they ask the sisters to get it for them when they need it & right now there was a baby with a temperature over 104 who was convulsing & they needed tylenol...REALLY...TYLENOL??? I asked to see the baby, taught them some cooling measures & immediately gave Sis Paula $$ to go get tylenol. She had to wait for her driver (so I guess it is dangerous here - I was hoping she could walk to a store real quick) Once we had that done I asked her what she needed & she said right now they were low on milk & powder (formula). I told her about my friends the Smiths & Coles Compassionate Community & that yesterday was his ANGELversary & since I wasnt there for the candles at the beach I promised I would do something else & I knew this was what I was supposed to do - help Sis Paula & the children she was caring for. So I gave her money from me for Cole & from a sweet friend who gave me money before I left. It was not hundreds of dollars but would take care of their needs for a month she said... a month of milk and formula to help these children get fed. She said the goal is to get them to thrive and maybe give them back to their parents but she said in addition to not having food "some people have poverty of the mind & cannot care for these children so God needs us to help"
Needless to say my hour or so with Sister Paula was the highlight of my day...if I do nothing else I will have made a small difference here; but hopefully there will be more to do - for certain the surgeries that start tomorrow....as in my wake up call is in 5 hours so I need to get to bed.
The internet was out all day today so I didn't get texts or emails on wifi and didn't think I would be able to blog then 45 min ago my phone made some noise as the internet came back on. A little tender mercy so I could let my family & friends know about my day via my blog & a few other FB posts & instagrams. I am so blessed to be here & know when I serve others I am only being an instrument in Gods hands to do His work for His children. Off to bed - tomorrow is a busy surgery day & we haven't even set up the recovery room yet!
The drive was nice, the countryside is very green & lush but the poverty is very evident everywhere. There are little huts along the side of the road with people selling fruits just to survive & these little stands are all selling plantains, watermelon, pinapple & are all right next to each other - I dont know how you decide who to buy from? Small "shacks" that people live in varied from pieces of metal to wood or brick or cement. Laundry hung on lines & I am certain there was no electricity in most places. I did see 2 missionaries on the side of a small village we drove thru & that made me smile.
We also drove by some Mayan ruins, a lake & a national park. At those times I wish I had just a few of my sisters geography expert genes to know more about the area.
Our 2nd pit stop was at a gas station with a convenience store think Circle K by my house with the exception of a guard with a gun who opened the door to allow you in. That was at San Pedro where w had a fork in the road & we went to Copan & not to Sula (the murder capital) The guard was actually a nice young man& I took a photo op with him & my Coca Cola Light!
We had box lunches on the bus and arrived at the "hospital" about 1:30. Patients had been there since 7 am & all their photos were taken & paperwork completed. I thought it would be less chaotic but it want there were children & parents everywhere. 80 were screened and this time I did something I havent done before (typically because someone else does it) but the 3 of us from PACU drew all the labs on all the patients. Lori could get all the hard sticks & we got them all done. Basically we were the place that made every child cry - not the best for photo ops!
There were so so many precious children about 30 palates & we will only do maybe 20? Several lips & some revisions to be done. The people were so gracious & sweet. I didn't really get to interact or get "their stories" because we were bringing them in our tiny closet room 2 at a time & poking them - not the best for pleasant conversation. I am sure I will learn more as we go thru the week. There were 2 nuns there with 2 babies & I did go out towards the end of the screening & talk to them. Sister Paula is my new BFF - she is from Spain, has been in Italy, Haiti, Bridgeport Conn. USA & now Honduras. She with 4 other nuns have a home where they care for 28 babies from age 3 weeks to 4 years. Many are babies who have clefts or for other reasons are extremely malnourished. They also "pay" for 5 assistants to help them some very poor women who need to support their own families. She took us over to the "hospital" to see one of her babies who was sick & getting an IV that they cant do at their home. Th baby was a year old & weighed 8 lbs - it was heartbreaking. I was so touched by her happy spirit & love. I asked her how I could help her help the children. She said that the hospital has no medicine & they ask the sisters to get it for them when they need it & right now there was a baby with a temperature over 104 who was convulsing & they needed tylenol...REALLY...TYLENOL??? I asked to see the baby, taught them some cooling measures & immediately gave Sis Paula $$ to go get tylenol. She had to wait for her driver (so I guess it is dangerous here - I was hoping she could walk to a store real quick) Once we had that done I asked her what she needed & she said right now they were low on milk & powder (formula). I told her about my friends the Smiths & Coles Compassionate Community & that yesterday was his ANGELversary & since I wasnt there for the candles at the beach I promised I would do something else & I knew this was what I was supposed to do - help Sis Paula & the children she was caring for. So I gave her money from me for Cole & from a sweet friend who gave me money before I left. It was not hundreds of dollars but would take care of their needs for a month she said... a month of milk and formula to help these children get fed. She said the goal is to get them to thrive and maybe give them back to their parents but she said in addition to not having food "some people have poverty of the mind & cannot care for these children so God needs us to help"
Needless to say my hour or so with Sister Paula was the highlight of my day...if I do nothing else I will have made a small difference here; but hopefully there will be more to do - for certain the surgeries that start tomorrow....as in my wake up call is in 5 hours so I need to get to bed.
The internet was out all day today so I didn't get texts or emails on wifi and didn't think I would be able to blog then 45 min ago my phone made some noise as the internet came back on. A little tender mercy so I could let my family & friends know about my day via my blog & a few other FB posts & instagrams. I am so blessed to be here & know when I serve others I am only being an instrument in Gods hands to do His work for His children. Off to bed - tomorrow is a busy surgery day & we haven't even set up the recovery room yet!
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