Carol in Honduras

This week has been a great adventure for me and a little like a dream come true.

I can’t find the words to express the quality of the Amigo’s group. The personalities, enthusiasm, professionalism, organization and caring of these young people were nothing less than remarkable. They came to share their skills, time and resources with those less fortunate here in Honduras. SUCH VISION!

The group arrived on Sunday with bins of equipment, glasses and tons of energy.

Daniel (our driver and guide for the week) waited with me as I paced and worried that they would get through the immigration process without any problems. They did and we were soon on the road for the 3 hour drive to Copan.

Clinics were held for 2 days at Aqua Caliente where we saw over 200 people. The clinic process included distance and near vision:

AND- exams to establish health of the eye

And then our patients were given appropriate medications and fitted with eye glasses if they needed them.

At the end of the second day- two of the town leaders came to express their gratitude for the “help” and “caring”.

The last two days were at La Estanzuela where we experienced quite a different community. There were fewer patients (around 100), and the people seemed more timid.

And- we held an informal clinic in Telma’s kitchen

I want to acknowledge all the people that made this happen. It was truly a team effort.

The AMIGO’s group from Pacific University:

• Dr. Eleanor Becher
• Meg (the team lead)
• Omar
• Brad
• Al
• Steve
• Jamie
• Crystal
• Caroline

The Volunteers and translators:

• Ellen
• Harriet
• Robert
• Anne

The Grade 8 and 9 students of the Mayatan school

A Better World for the support that they offer me

Barry for being such a good sport and support and staying home to mind the fort

Daniel Our driver, translator, organizer and friend

Telma Our hostess, money changer and resource person

WORLD VISION (especially Saul and Elvin) for organizing sites and their help with the clinics)

We had the opportunity to use these venues to do some dental health education with the children and give out toothbrushes to the children (donated by a dental hygienist in Alberta)

I think and hope that we have had an impact on many lives over these last 4 days.

Tags: Eye Clinic

This entry was posted on Friday, March 26th, 2010 at 5:04 am and is filed under Copan Ruinas. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.