Day three
Hogar Angelitos Felices
Today was an exceptionally busy day. On the way to the hogar this morning we stopped at the Centro de Salud to inquire about the way children are immunized and who might have the records. All the immunizations are done through the Centro de Salud and since it’s public, is a free program in Honduras. We will ask permission to bring the children a hand full at a time to the Centro de Salud starting hopefully tomorrow. We can check on immunization status according to the schedule and fulfill any outstanding immunization requirements.
The woman who helps at our Posada has two children who stay at the hogar during the day. Telma, our landlady told us that Rosa’s youngest son is quite ill (has leukemia we think) and that she can’t afford the treatment or the trips and hospitalization in San Pedro Sula. In addition to the cancer, the child has an obvious skin “infection” on his face, arms, buttocks and other parts of his body. He had seen the Doctor last week but Rosa wasn’t able to afford the medicines. Robert and I accompanied her and the child to the Doctor where the child was examined again and diagnosed with extensive fungal and bacterial infections. After a number of stops at different pharmacies and then at a place where they give injections, we had medicines purchased for him and injections administered.
Brushing our teeth
In the afternoon, we were back at the hogar …… this time to do an educational (and interactive) presentation on dental hygiene. We showed an animated video about dental germs and hygiene. The song I made up to the tune of “Twinkle, Twinkle Little star” was a bit of a flop as Christiane and I did most of the singing. We’re not sure if the kids were too shy or if they hated our song. They LOVED Senor Dientes (the large model of a mouth and teeth with a huge toothbrush that I borrowed from the health unit at home). After singing, the movie and some practice brushing with Senior Dientes, we went on to a real, live brushing session. Each child was given a chart and Hanna and Jay acted as the sticker keepers, giving one sticker out for each time a child brushed their teeth. Looking at the childrens teeth today, I’m more than convinced that considerable dental care is vital. I saw some text book cases of what looks like the baby bottle mouth posters we have at the health unit back in Alberta
Señor Dientes
I just finished having a fascinating talk with Telma’s nephew. He is working with World Vision on a 5 year project encompassing Agriculture, Health and Food provision. He explained the program for pregnant women and children under the age of three, the agricultural projects and the health services they provide through the program. Wow! It was most impressive. And- he knows where to get biosand filters.