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Friday 5/24 visit to maternity hospital/market

Today we drove into San Pedro Sula to visit the maternity hospital. They were very gracious to let us visit. We took 60 baby kits to hand out to the mothers and new babies. We first visited the young mothers section where we handed out around 15 kits to mothers 18 years or younger. The babies were beautiful. The mothers were in one large room which they shared, they had no pillows, blankets or privacy. The fathers were not allowed in and the room was not air conditioned. We saw a lot of courage in these young girls faces. The older mothers section was setup exactly the same. They were so grateful to receive the kits for the babies, and as we left the hospital one mother who was also leaving for home had her new baby blanket draped over her shoulder and her baby. The mothers stay in the hospital anywhere from 8 hours and no longer than 24. We also visited the nursery and the NICU. It was an unforgettable experience to see the strength these beautiful people have even when faced with adverse conditions.

We were also able to visit the market today and experience some truly, unique Honduran culture. We had a good time finding treasures of all kinds for "good prices." The determination of the Honduran people is not only displayed in their work ethic in serving and helping others, it also is shown in their selling and any job in which they work.

 

 

 

 

 

Thursday 5/23 San Lucia

Today we went to Santa Lucia, this community had  one of the most beautiful views we had seen so far.  We set up our brigade in the town's school, close to the mountain's edge. The kids were so excited to see us! We spent a lot of time with them coloring, playing games and painting nails after we had finished with our work. The day was a sucess, we completed 2 concrete floors for families in need. This helped 4 adults and 12 children. We were sad to say goodbye to the staff that had helped us so much this week. But many of us made promise to come back next year and  see all of our old friends again!

Wednesday 5/22 visit to Nueve Esperanza taulabe

We had another successful visit to the small village of Nueve Esperanza Taulabe. After a pretty bumpy and steep climb up a dirt road we reached the town. The beautiful views made it worth the ride however. It was another hot day and we were sure to drink plenty of water. This town was one of the smaller ones but we still saw many patients. Again we did all the stations and patients were able to see the dentist or doctor as needed. We were also able to give two families concrete floors. This simple but important job makes a big difference in the family's lives. Everyone enjoyed playing with the children and games such as tag and coloring. We are looking forward to another busy day tomorrow!

 

 

 

Tuesday 5/21 San Juan, Victoria, Yoro

Today we had our longest drive of the week. We went about 2 1/2 hours away from our hacienda to the village of  San Juan. San Juan was a village that MAMA had never visited to before. So we were interested to find out the needs of this community. We drove up windy, rocky, narrow, steep mountainsides and forged through rivers before we reached the top. It was a beautiful drive and we were happy to arrive safely, in one piece and to less humidity. The villagers were happy to greet us and were very organized as well as helpful. Today we were able to watch the MAMA staff teach the community how to properly administer micronutrients to family members. They used a hard boil egg to mix the micronutrients with because eggs are an easy protein source and easily acceptable to all people. Overall this was a pretty healthy community. We did find 3 children with malnourishment that we were able to educate. The dentist pulled teeth from 23 children and adults. It was a successful day!

        Throughout the week, in addition to the medical brigade team, a construction team worked at two different houses on each day to put in cement floors. Without these cement floors, families are more susceptible to parasites and diseases from walking and living on dirt floors.  Families are chosen based upon need in the community in which the medical brigade is working that day. The MAMA Construction Team of Felix, Eddie, Wilson, and Josh, have the process down so well that they could do it in their sleep. Their patience was truly remarkable as they taught us the process of shoveling dirt, carrying water, mixing cement, and pouring the floor. This strenuous work was difficult, yes, but the men make it an enjoyable time with lots of smiles, laughter, and, of course, sweat. The work ethic of this team is inspiring as they work in less than ideal conditions. No complaints have been spoken by them, and it is a blessing to work with all of them.

Hard at work putting in a floor

 

Preparing the concrete

4 of the 9 children in the home receiving a floor

 

Beautiful drive...even though quite bumpy!

Monday 5/20 visit to

Today we drove to the village of San Antonio for the first day of treatments. When we arrived at the village there were school children there waiting for us. We set each up the stations they would be going to. They started with getting weighed, measured and giving us some general information. The vitamin a and deworming station came next where everyone received the deworming pill and children under the age of five received vitamin a. We then check everyone's hemoglobin for anemia. Vitals signs are taken next and then we give each family a bag of micronutrient pills to put in their food each day. This is very important because most families do not have access to a wide variety of foods. The next stop for the villagers is to the doctor, dentist and the pharmacy stations for their meds.

We saw a lot of patients today and they were all very grateful. We enjoyed playing with the children and practicing our spanish. The weather was around 95 degrees with humidity.

 

 

Coloring / Painting Nails with the children

 

 

Hemoglobin Station / Height and Weight

 

Vitamin A / Deworming / BP stations

Sunday 5/19

 

So today we had a great second day in Honduras. We woke up this morning and ate yet again another fabulous breakfast prepared by Isabel. We then headed over to the Nutritional Center that is walking distance away from the Mama House. There, we helped out with various things that needed to be done in preparation for our upcoming medical brigade that starts tomorrow. Several people helped out with sorting out suitcases and organizing supplies. Together with all our supplies we were able to put together 60 baby packs total, 100 school packs and one extra large suitcase of  various dental supplies!! While all this was going on the other half of our group helped out with "remodeling" around the Nutritional Center. We scraped sanded and painted the primed almost the entire porch! All of these activities occurred during took up the entire morning, which went by extremely fast! Our afternoon was also equally enjoyable. We took a trip to a waterfall. It was an excellent picture opportunity and a good way to take in the beautiful scenery of Honduras.

Arriving in Honduras

We arrived safely into San Pedro Sula, Honduras around 1:30...3:30 PA time. The weather was 93 degrees with humidity. Mary and Felix were there to greet us. The internet is very spotty but we will do our best to keep everyone updated! The drive to San Francisco de Yojoa was very bumpy but we arrived safely. We are glad to be here and are looking forward to tomorrow.

A few more thank you's...

A few more very important heartfelt thank you's goes to:

Moravian College Department of Nursing and alunmi:  http://home.moravian.edu/public/Nursing/

Friends of Reeves Library:  http://www.moravian.edu/default.aspx?pageid=2399

Hands in Service:  http://hisinc.org/

NU322 guest speakers:  Tracy Groller, Deb Halliday, Nancy Evans, Cheri Kline, Mary Tornetta, and Obeta Osolu

United Concordia

Upsilon Alpha Chapter of Sigma Theta Tau International:  http://upsilonalpha.nursingsociety.org/UpsilonAlphaChapter/Home/

Wegmans 

THANK YOU!!

Packing Up

It truly "takes a village" to embark on a journey such as this. We could not have done it without the support of so many thoughtful and giving family, friends and neighbors. We want to to give a heartfelt thank you to all those who have donated to our trip and especially to the following:

Blessed Virgin Mary Church CCD Program

LKL Images

Supplee Presbyterian Church

Dr. Blankenhorn & Staff in Kutztown, PA

We met to packup our donation suitcases on Tuesday and will end up with 9-10 large (50lb) suitcases to donate to the people of Honduras. That is roughly 450lbs worth of supplies. Of the many generous supplies donated we collected baby blankets, clothes, diapers, hats, shoes, school kit items, toothbrushes, baby toys,  and medications. 

We couldn't have done it without you! 

THANK YOU!

 Laura, Adrienne, Marianne, Sharon, Beth, Katelyn & Amanda. 

16 days till we leave and counting down.....