WJC Students Provide Health Care

and Construction in Honduras - 2005

By Jeff Buscher

Campus Minister, Coordinator of College Student Ministries and Community Service

William Jewell College

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The Health Care team partnered with an existing organization called “Brigada de Salud” (Health Brigade) to create a team of doctors, nurses and interpreters. The team of 20 (13 from Jewell) held a total of six clinics in very rural settings. At each setting, the entire community would come to the clinic, because there is no health care in these regions. Team members set the clinics up in school buildings with an intake room, examination rooms and a pharmacy. During the course of the week they saw more than 2,500 men, women and children with a variety of ailments including head-lice, tuberculosis, advanced diabetes, scabies, worms and serious infections. They distributed approximately one ton of medicines including vitamins, antibiotics, soaps, topical creams and specific prescriptions for asthma and other ailments.

“Being in Honduras really opened my eyes to see how blessed we are as Americans,” observed senior nursing student Erin Simonds. “Our health care system is not perfect, but it does not begin to compare to the lack of basic needs we saw in Honduras. There were children who almost had a toe cut off and did not even have a band-aid for it, or mothers at the age of 21 with three children and no income. Some fathers had blood pressure so high that it could lead to an early death, and there was no treatment available. We should truly be grateful for what we do have and thank God for his blessings.”

Senior Spanish/Education Major Lindsey Malone noted: “I was amazed at how happy the people were.  The children especially were joyful and so grateful for us to simply play a game with them each day.  In America, we feel the need to have ‘stuff’ to make us happy, but the Honduran people seemed to be living a genuinely happy existence with no more than a wooden shack and a fire where they could fry tortillas.  I will always remember the smiles on the kids’ faces each day as we pulled up to the house in the bus.  Every child greeted us as we exited the bus each day.  And they would always ask if they could help carry our bags to the worksite.  I definitely saw God working through me each day when I would have three children trying to hold my hand at the same time.  No matter what else these children need to survive, all they wanted from us was a hand to hold and someone to show them love.”

The health care team was recognized at a reception in their honor, where each member was given a governmental certificate of appreciation for their contribution to the area’s communities.

The construction team partnered with an ongoing ministry called Proyecto Alcance (Project Outreach). This project includes an orphanage in La Masica, and a modest housing development and church in the nearby village of San Juan Pueblo. Over the last three years the ministry has significantly upgraded facilities at the orphanage, built three homes and put the walls up for a worship center. David and Dialis Romero coordinate the efforts of Proyecto Alcance from their modest home at the center of the orphanage. This year, Steve Deardurff, a volunteer from Lafayette, Indiana, has joined David to direct building projects and coordinate volunteers.

In 90-degree heat with 90% humidity, the construction team worked five long days to put up the brick walls for a three-bedroom, one-bath home for Rosa Elvia Monges and her five children. This structure will replace a one-room wooden shack that they have lived in for years. Starting from the foundation, the Jewell crew got the walls up; Steve and his crew will finish the house in the next couple of weeks.

Jewell senior, Megan McCoy, has participated in a number of construction mission trips, and she commented: “I was blown away by how all the neighbors would just show up to help. There were two ladies in dresses mixing up mortar for us. Even the children would help, carrying bricks and shoveling sand. They were so helpful, and I think they sincerely appreciated the work we did together.”

In preparation for the trip, during the `04/`05 school year WJC students, faculty, staff and area churches contributed more than $4,000 to pay for the medical supplies and the building materials for this project. Money was sent to Steve about two months prior to the arrival of the Jewell team so that he and some local workers could make the bricks on site. Using a small brick-making machine, it took Steve two weeks to make the bricks used in the building of the home. Mortar was mixed on the ground as bricks were placed in the walls.

“What’s been impressive about this project is that we raised the money, and then we come down here and through our hard work and sweat, we get to see it go directly into a home that this family will enjoy for years,” said sophomore John O’Keefe. “It’s been tough, but it’s been fun, and the people are amazing.”

Each team also took a day off to enjoy the local sites and experiences of Honduras. The health care team enjoyed a day of shopping and bartering with local artisans in San Pedro Sula. The construction team enjoyed a unique Honduran jungle experience. It involved hiking up into the hills and then hooking to a “Zip Line” and flying through the upper canopy of a tropical rain forest in Pico Bonito National Forest. After that adventure they boarded rafts and navigated Class 4 and Class 5 rapids on the “Rio Cangrejal” (Jungle River). That evening they enjoyed parades and a carnival in La Ceiba.

Plans are in place to return to Honduras as early as January of `06. These partnerships are tremendous experiences for our students and they make a significant impact in the local community. Jewell’s emphasis on service to others has found an ideal setting in the rural villages of Honduras. We intend to maintain these partnerships for at least three or four years so that we can observe how our efforts make an impact in the well being of the communities we serve. For information about upcoming trips or how you can support these efforts contact Jeff Buscher via e-mail or call (816) 415-7560.

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Honduras Trivia (Things we learned in Honduras)

• The average working man works for $5 US/day.
• The exchange rate of $1 US equals 18.75 Limperas.
• Honduran time is very general.  No one wears a watch.
• 97% of the population is Roman Catholic.
• A 120-pound Honduran man can carry two 80-pound bags at once.
• Manual Labor is much cheaper than machinery.
• The population is just under 7 million.
• Smiles are always returned on any street in Honduras.
• Exports include bananas, coffee, pineapple, citrus; beef; timber; shrimp.
• There is no waste management system.
• Soda pop is more accessible than clean water.
• You can buy a personal pepperoni pizza at Pizza Hut in Honduras for 27 Lempiras, or $1.40 US.
• 80% of villagers have parasites/worms from drinking water.
• Highway dividing lines are seen as suggestions; car/bus horns are used to tell others “I’m not slowing down.”
• Honduras is roughly the same size as the state of Virginia.
• Women in Honduras love to wear high-heeled shoes.
• People were always willing to lend a hand.
• There are only 11 paved airport runways in the country.
• The government provides free education from kindergarten to university, but children do not have transportation to go to school.
• The average diet consists of refried beans and tortillas, soda pop, and sometimes a banana or coconut for the entire day.
• The average daytime temperature is 95 degrees and very humid on the coast.
• Children get just as excited about a new toothbrush as they do for a lollipop.