Lessons from Salty Water, Bug Bites, and the Art of Rural Medicine

 This past week, I had the opportunity to spend some time with a wonderful group of people in a little community, Agua Salada (in English known as Salty Water), away from modern distractions.  Through getting to know this group, both Americans and Hondurans, I realized just how much I could learn from the people that I have come into contact with here. Whether it was the third year resident who served in Afghanistan and worked as a flight nurse for twenty years and went back to medical school at the age of 45 or the woman who has nine kids, is pregnant with her tenth, and walked hours to get the clinic, the resilience of the human spirit is truly astounding. We all fight our own battles but who we are, in a sense, is our stories and I was so grateful to get to share and listen to these stories with both community members from Agua Salada and the brigade members of the University of Wyoming.

Kate, Peter, and I on the hike to the Agua Salada waterfall

The week was spent running clinic out of the local Catholic church, doing home visits for those patients who couldn’t make it to the clinic, and educating local elementary students about proper hand washing, teeth brushing, and sun protection. We also hiked to two waterfalls, which was a refreshing activity during the heat of the dry season! Working alongside the community members, I was once again reminded that nothing is quite as easy as it seems and that even though the help we provide seems wonderful at first glance, there are often many unintended consequences. With the construction of the new clinic, this includes local struggles for power, putting the blame on others, and once again, the sense of entitlement that can come from the extension of aid. But I am just reminded that we are all human and when it comes down to it, across all cultures and countries, we are all more alike than different.

A group shot at the waterfall

The local elementary students rocking their new shades after a talk on sun protection

 I have thoroughly enjoyed working with the Agua Salada community though and I am excited for the future clinic. We have had countless meetings talking about what the clinic means for the community and how it can benefit the surrounding communities as well. There is a local committee that will include representatives from all of the outlying communities who will work alongside Shoulder to Shoulder to make the decisions, prepare for the brigades, and promote health in their respective places. While I will not be here to see the finished project, it has truly been a great learning experience to see the progress and all that goes into the construction of a new building. It takes many hands, materials, and minds for something that at face value seems so simple. 

One of the future buildings of the clinic

 I have also become close with Emeldo (the president of the local committee whom we work with) and his brother Leopoldo and I will be sad to goodbye to them in a few short months. I have worked with them to plan the brigade and they were literally there to help us everyday during the brigade, taking out the trash, cleaning up after us, guiding us to home visits, and making sure we had everything we needed. The hospitality of their family toward me was truly something! I already have plans to go back and visit Agua Salada (it’s about an hour and 45 minutes from where I live) before I leave.

Relaxin' in a hammock at Emeldo's house

Emeldo, his wife, and their granddaughter and I on the last night

Now that I'm back, everything here seems a little more quiet as I am not with the brigade at all hours of the day but I am working with the education project again. The first week of April is Semana Santa (which in Honduras is code for finding any body of water to cool off in) but I will be heading to Copan Ruinas, the site of the Mayan ruins in Honduras with a few people from the clinic. Supposedly tourist activity has picked up this year due to it being 2012...dun dun dun! It should be interesante. I hope this finds everyone well in their respective places! Paz.

Life as of Lately.....

 “It’s terrible and wonderful, but it’s true: we’re all in the same boat. That’s the consolation. It’s not just me who’s scared and lonely and worried and isn’t sure how to help myself. We don’t know how to help ourselves’ but there is one thing we do know how to do. We know how to help each other.”

 Colin Beavan, No Impact Man

 I love this quote and just wanted to share it!  Soooo… today I’m not really feeling like writing too much! So I just wanted to update some pictures with a little summary of my life the past few weeks to keep everyone in the loop.

Baking pumpkin muffins (yummmm!)  in the clinic

 Things here have been pretty….slow and simple, but as it should be! Now, with the Peace Corps pulling out, we have a new travel policy and are forbidden to go anywhere out of the area on public transportation. Kind of a bummer, considering there were parts of Central America and Honduras I would have to liked to see but that’s life. The truth is that the majority of people who live here never get to leave due to limited economic resources, so I have absolutely nothing to complain about. And we will be able to travel a little still!

Sunrise hike in Santa Lucia

I have started working in the library again! It’s so great to see the kids everyday.

We went to the beach in El Salvador with a group of doctors and dentists from the clinic here. We took two trucks and put a mattress in the back of one of them and stayed at an all-inclusive resort for a night on the beach in a town called Salinitas. We ate too much, danced a lot, and enjoyed the beach and the pool, it was a great getaway in all. El Salvador has paved roads and uses US dollars, so I couldn’t complain!

My roommate and I at the resort in El Salvador

The group from the clínica at the beach

Out for the night with Amy, Flor (my dentist roommate) and Victoria (a doctor at the clinic)

 Tomorrow I leave to go pick up the University of Wyoming brigade in the capital city, Tegucigalpa. I will be with them at a little community called Agua Salada where we stay at a school and run the clinic through the church. They are currently building a clinic that should be completed by this summer. I'm excited to go back and see the people I met in November, it should be a nice change of scenery for me and will be nice to be completely away from technology for a little over a week!

The University of Wyoming clinic in Agua Salada

 I hope this finds you all well and know I am thinking about everyone at home! More to come after the brigade.

Fighting to Survive

        Life here continues to be a mix of pure joy at the slow pace of life and the relationships I am making along with random onset frustration at the injustices I am seeing. The other day, I asked one of our watch guards at the clinic how he was doing and he replied “luchando para sobrevivir” or “fighting to survive”. Wow. I have never thought about it that way, but he is right. The truth is the majority of people here are doing just that, “fighting to survive”. Don Beto (our watch guard) is one of the lucky ones; he has a job. Yet he works every single day from 6pm to 6 am. He has no weekends and maybe a week of vacation for the year. Yet, he barely gets by. I look at the nurses who live at the clinic (we have 2 babies living upstairs in the apartments). They are both single mothers and have hired niñeras to watch their babies during the day. These nannies leave their families to come live at the clinic. One of the nannies, Yendi, is 18 and already has a two year old. She left her daughter with her mom and comes and takes care of another baby. She only completed school to sixth grade and is raising the baby alone. Fighting to survive. I look at the cooks here, Maria and Maria. They are both single mothers whose husbands have left for the States. They work the longest hours of anyone at the clinic, getting here at 6:30 in the morning and leaving at 8 at night (with a little siesta from 2 to 5). They take care of us yet they have to hire people at their homes to take care of their own children making their take home pay minuscule. Fighting to survive. Single motherhood and early motherhood is a huge problem here. Most women have children by the time they are 20 and it is rare that they are married or with a constant partner. One of the best ways to fix this is through education. Typically, the more education a woman has, the less likely she is to have a baby at a young age. However, the majority of women in the rural parts of Honduras do not go to school past sixth grade. This is due to lack of economic resources and the necessity of their help at home.

Preparing the school supplies for the scholarship students

           I am reminded that despite these hardships, there is still so much joy to be found here. These past few weeks have been filled with working for the scholarship program, work here and there, but mostly just relaxing and trying to take in all that I can. My roommate Amy and I attended one of the cook’s daughter’s birthday parties and it was complete with a piñata, tamales, and of course cake in the face for the birthday girl (a Honduran tradition!)  We also celebrated Valentine’s Day (Dia de Amistad or Friendship Day) as it called here on Tuesday and had a special dinner complete with a heart shaped cake, it was a perfect way to celebrate the friendships with those in the clinic! The night was not complete until we played Repollo. This Honduran favorite is like hot potato and you pass around a ball of paper. When the music stops, you have to take the outer piece of paper off and read your “dare”. It can get a little crazy! There were some marriage proposals, kisses on the cheek, dancing with a broom, and massages taking place. Overall, a great way to laugh though!

My roommate Amy and I with Maria's daughters

Carrying a piñata through town for the birthday fiesta

With Rafeal and Cindy after the piñata festivities

 

 

 

For most of the locals here, everyday is a gift. They are thankful for everything they have and are not clouded by the complications of life that come when we have all that we need. Their job is simply this: to get by.  And while their main concern may be survival, they still take the time to stop and live and be thankful for the things we can overlook when we aren’t faced with losing them everyday. This is a lesson I continuously learn from during my time here. Happy Valentine’s Day week! I am thankful for all my friendships here and at home! Miss you all!

At the clinic's Valentine's Day celebration

La Paz

One of my favorite quotes and perfect for how I am feeling tonight after going to the weekly Tuesday night Bible study in the community.  More to come soon!

"Peace.  It does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble or hard work.  It means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart."

~ Unknown

Transitions

 There have been a lot of transitions for me this past month. First, was the transition from Honduras to home and then again back to the Central American life. The change from the cleanliness of Denver, the comfort of my bed, and any type of food I could imagine to the rocky roads of the frontera, the dust in my face, and the mountains that seem to go on forever proved to me how much Honduras has become like my home. It is hard to adjust but also beautiful at the same time. It is beautiful to be aware of all I have to be thankful for both in the United States and here in Honduras. It is beautiful to be aware that despite the two different worlds I am part of this year, there are similarities that stress across cultures. And the one thing I have noticed in everything I have experienced here is the beauty of relationships and family. I am so lucky for the family I have at home (it was so hard to say goodbye) and for the family I have found here in the other volunteers, the cooks at the clinic, and the Honduran doctors with whom I live with. They have all made my experience so much better!

Some observations and musings from my two weeks back so far:

One thing that constantly amazes me about the Hondurans who live here in the frontera is their resilience. Whether it’s walking 4 hours up a mountain with a baby in their arms in flip-flops or taking a four-hour bus ride on bumpy roads simply to run an errand, what they do on a daily basis to get by astounds me.

As many of you may have heard, the Peace Corps decided to pull out all volunteers from Honduras due to some safety issues. While life where I am is very safe, it is public transportation in the cities that is a little iffy. We are now restricted from riding on the buses north of here. The thing about safety here is that it is usually targeted to gang members and drug traffickers and rarely to foreigners. However, there have been a couple instances on the public buses that have caused quite a stir in the U.S. media. Everything where I am is completely safe though!

View of the mountains (much browner than when I left in December!)

 Things here are very quiet! The students are still on summer vacation and will be until mid-February (the school schedule here is February until November). This means there are no programs in the library, I miss the kids!

Last week, I had a meeting for Yo Puedo (a girls’ empowerment program we run here for 5^th and 6^th graders) in the back of a pick-up truck while driving. I was sitting on the side trying to take notes. How’s that for a productive meeting? 

A street in Camasca, a community about 45 minutes away, it's my favorite town in the frontera!

 Right now it is the Honduran summer. What this means is dust. And lots of it. Walking and riding on the roads is the worst as the dust is kicked up when any car passes. Now, if you add sweat to the equation, then it sticks to your face, your skin, and your hair. Attractive, I know!

January also means mango season! Hondurans like to eat the unripe mangos with vinegar, cumin, and salt. It is an interesting combination!

           

Flexibility. Here that is the key word for everything as I have mentioned many times. Currently, we are working on the start of building a bilingual school. Construction was supposed to start in January but we are having a hard time finding materials and getting the show on the road. That is ok. It will happen little by little.

The future site of the bilingual school that Shoulder to Shoulder is building

 I have forgotten how much I love the breakfasts here! My favorite is “plato tipico” which consists of scrambled eggs with some type of veggies mixed in, black beans, fried plantains, and fresh squeezed orange juice. We typically get this three times a week…yum!

P.S. My address is Clínica Hombro a Hombro, Santa Lucia, Intibucá, Honduras if anyone wants to send a letter to me! It will probably take a few weeks to get here and it should not be anything valuable but it has worked for the other volunteers! 

That’s all for now! Hope everyone is staying warm at home and please keep in touch! Miss you all!

Happy New Year!

Just wanted to wish a Happy New Year to everyone! I am currently at home and heading back to Honduras in a week. 2011 brought about about many changes and it's crazy to think about how much can happen in a year but also how fast it passes! Just wanted to put up a few pictures from my time in Honduras (since I have unlimited bandwidth in the US!) It's the little things!

Back in July on the sunrise hike

The view from our apartment during rainy season

The Amys and I workin' hard in our matching Shoulder to Shoulder polos

Coffee beans drying out in the sun in San Jose

In Esquipillas, Guatemala, home of the Black Christ

Our Shoulder to Shoulder soccer team, we didn't get creamed too bad (I think the other Honduran team took it easy on us though!)

End of the year Dia de Juegos aka Field Day for the Shoulder to Shoulder employees (in front of the Concepción clinic)

 Wishing you all a happy and healthy 2012! Stay in touch!

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

I love December and Christmastime! While it doesn’t feel like Christmas with the warmth here, there are still little reminders in the various Christmas trees scattered throughout town, the December fairs in two of the local towns, and our staff Christmas party coming up! I can’t believe I will be home in a week; time has absolutely flown by. We had a great trip throughout Guatemala last week (and successfully renewed our visas!)…a double whammy! Guatemala is a beautiful country and there are still so many parts of it I want to see, but thankfully we already have plans to make it back there in the spring.

First, we went to Pulhapanzak Falls in Honduras. This entailed having a guide lead us to the waterfall by means of jumping over cliffs in the river until we went under the waterfall and up through a cave. It was definitely a little scary at times as you couldn’t see or breathe but worth every minute!

Amy, Amy and I about to go into the waterfall

             Thanksgiving Day took us to a small little town in Honduras where my travel buddy Peter and I enjoyed a Central American style Thanksgiving dinner of empanadas and horchata at a little stand right off the highway.

Our next stop was Antigua, the language school capital of Guatemala. Antigua was beautiful, clean, and the most touristy town I have been to in Central America so far.  The cobble stone streets and colonial architecture made me feel like I was in Europe and we met a lot of Europeans and heard more English than Spanish…something I’m not used to! The Mayan culture is also very apparent in Antigua and there were many women with brightly colored garb selling their textiles on the streets and in the markets.

A street of Antigua with the volcano in the background

 From Antigua, Peter and I took a night bus up north to Flores and the Mayan ruins of Tikal. The night bus was first class, complete with leather reclining seats, and a little snack pack of juice and crackers. It was definitely the nicest bus I’ve been on here!

We arrived in Flores, a small little island on Lake Peten Itza, at 6 am. You can walk all around the island in about 10 minutes and I loved the small town feel and the architectural style of the tin roofs and wood houses.

From there, we took a bus to the Mayan ruins of Tikal.  Tikal was a Mayan metropolis and was once home to 10,000 people. We wandered around the temples and the sacrificial altars under a jungle canopy of monkeys swinging through the trees. It was beautiful with all the lush vegetation and the moss growing on the temples and was definitely worth the ten-hour trip!

The view of Tikal pushing through the jungle canopy from the highest temple

One of the many temples in Tikal

 Our last stop was to a little town on the Caribbean coast of Guatemala. Only accessible by small boat or “lancha”, we took the two-hour ride on a river, passing many natives in their wooden canoes, an old castle, wooden houses on stilts, and many yachts. Livingston is a town different from the rest of Guatemala, as it is known for its Garifuna culture. The Garifuna are descendents of African slaves who were deported to the northern coast of Honduras and to the Caribbean coast of Guatemala when the British defeated them. Livingston was a quirky little place and definitely has more African influence than I have seen anywhere else in Central America.

My travel buddy Peter and I

 Overall, our trip to Guatemala was a perfect mix of outdoor adventure, beautiful scenery, relaxing, and experiencing a new culture. I hope we make it back there in the spring!

This week I am wrapping up stuff around the clinic here and preparing for our “Día de Juegos” aka “Field Day” and staff Christmas party!  It should be a good way to wrap up the first half of my time here and while I am a little sad to leave for a few weeks, I am so excited to see family and friends and be home for the most wonderful time of the year! I hope this finds you all well during the holiday season and if anyone is around Colorado in the next few weeks, I would love to see you!