We're safe (by Laura)

Just a quick note to let everyone know that we should get some extra wind and rain from Beta but that we should be safely out of harm's way. We'll let you know if not! ;)

Right now we're gearing up for a busy two weeks with All Saint's Day, the Day of the Dead, and then the Fiesta Patronal, the festival for the patron saint of the parish, San Diego. It will last from the 5th to the 12th with processions, Masses, and all sorts of carnival-like fun!

Evil black bugs and other fun details... (by Laura)

There are evil black bugs in the aldea of Los Charcos. They leave welts that hurt and itch like crazy with red dots in the center. We got eaten alive by them and one of the welts tried to take over Lauren’s leg. One welt took over my left ear, it was swollen and red; beautiful but at least not too noticeable. People here tell us how it is and they didn’t say, “ew, your ear is twice the size of Texas!” so I guess it wasn’t too bad.

And the lady that lives in the vegetable house (the house we go to to buy vegetables) around the corner is recovering from dengue. I am wearing bug spray like crazy, that’s for sure. And sleeping under a bednet, which I have found 3 dead spiders on in the last 6 weeks but no mosquitoes so I guess that’s good news if I haven’t seen any of those pesky buggers. We have window screens on our two windows in our house so that helps keep the pest population down as well. And Father Neil lived here six years and never got dengue so I guess that’s good news that as long as we’re preventative we’ll be okay. Though our new friend Shapell, a Peace Corps volunteer, told us that he got dengue once. Yikes! We invited him to help with Earth Day since he’s pretty bored right now. He only has about 5 months left on his tour so he wouldn’t get to see the real Earth Day celebration, but he knows people in the mayor’s office and things like that so he could be a good resource at the least.

We are starting to get more into our work and projects and that’s been a good change from sitting around going to meetings and trying to find out what kind of work we can actually do. It feels good to be starting to act!

It’s getting colder here and I’m excited to go to Tegus tomorrow to buy a blanket so I don’t have to wear layers to bed to sleep under my two thin sheets. I’m also excited not to be sweating all the time or having the sun beating down on me. That means I can wear my shirts three or four times before I wash them now if I want. Just kidding, though I do wear them more than once. That pila is hard work and if they don’t sink or have stains on them, why waste the extra energy, right?

Well, that’s my two cents for now. And two US cents, not Honduran cents, which aren’t worth much! Take care and God bless you all!

Out of Wilma's Fury (by Laura)

Don't worry, everyone, we are inland and far away from the coast, we didn't even get the heavy rains we thought we were going to get. The worst that came from Hurricane Mitch a few years back was flooding in the area, too, so we should be ok in terms of hurricanes this year.

Things are picking up here and we're getting busy (noted by a lessening of blog entries). The girls and I are making plans for Earth Day, hoping to start cleaning up Talanga. If our buddy Roosevelt, who has his round face on three huge billboards in Talanga, wins the mayor election we have grand aspirations of getting our faces up there saying something like, "The gringas say throw your garbage in the trash can!" Only more witty...like Smokey's "Only YOU can prevent forest fires." Something everyone will remember.

I have developed a new appreciation for the sound of running water. The pila and reserve tank only fill on Monday and Friday unless there's an exception and it fills on a day in between or does not fill on those days. The sound of that water trickling and giving us the water supply for the next few days is music to my ears. We feel like everything is right in the world those mornings. Especially now that we have the floods under control! And for the past 3 days I have woken up at 4am to the sound of water running in the pila, which I think may start driving me crazy if it keeps up, but I'm not going to complain about having water. If we run out we have to call a truck and buy water to last us in between.

In other sad news our shower head is not functioning properly and only trickles, but at least the water that comes out is warm. If we let it drip into a paila (basin for carrying water from the pila) for a while, we can dump it over our heads and take what we now call a "paila shower." Either way it gets you clean and the water is warm!

Other than that we have been having a great time showing Father Neil around, who arrived two weeks ago, is living at the Casa Pasionista, and is jumping right into pastoral work at the parish here in Talanga. The people love him and he has also been sharing his Tegucigalpa friends with us, who he knows from when he lived here 15 years ago. It's been good to have him here because he knows the ropes, culture, and language very well and has a lot of expertise to share with us.

Well, that's my two cents for now, I promise to try to be more up-to-date on my entries in the future!

Clinicas (by Todd)

Being very interested in the matter of medical care here in Honduras, I've been busy the past two weeks familiarizing myself. The nearest hospital is in Tegucigalpa, so much of the primary health care is administered through "clinicas" - health care clinics. They can't provide specialists or surgery, but they can give consultations and provide medicines.

There are about half a dozen private clinics in Talanga, but, since many people can't afford those, I've visited three clinics that try to minister to the general population.

THE CENTRO DE SALUD (in Talanga)
The Honduran government, via the ministry of health, sponsors "Centros de Salud" (Health Centers) in most major towns. As it turns out, the Centro in Talanga is in charge of all the Centros in the area. We took a tour with the director, who's also the director for the other Centros in the area, two Wednesdays ago.

Centros have varying personnel, depending on the size of the town where they are located. Some of the smaller ones have only nurses. The one in Talanga has some 4 or 5 doctors and a dentist, in addition to nurses and support staff. Many of the doctors are just out of medical school; Honduran medical students are required to do one year of public service upon graduation.

The doctors provide health care and medications for 1 Lempira (basically for free). The problem is that there is very little money for medications, and they frequently run out. A very common complaint is that the Centro will give a prescription, but the patient doesn't have the money to actually buy the medicine. Another example: the Centro here has a half-constructed maternity ward that has been sitting for several years. The big problem is not actually the money to build the ward, but the money to pay the personnel once its constructed. So it sits unfinished.

To reach to communities where there is no Centro, the Centro de Salud has representatives who can provide very limited medications, and refer people to the Centro in Talanga. In addition, the Centro sponsors public health educators, who work in various communities educating people about healthy behavior.

LA CLINICA SOLIDARIA
I thought this clinic was a really neat idea. It was started less than a year ago by a pharmacist from Spain, who was working at an orphanage and left to help the public health sector.

The clinic is private, but non-profit. The basic idea is to provide self-sustaining, quality health care. Everyone who visits is charge a flat fee of 70 Lempiras ($3.50 in US dollars, although it goes a lot farther here). With that 70 Lempiras, they are given a consultation with a physician and any medicines they need (that the clinic can provide).

What is really neat is that with that 70 Lempiras per patient (actually, there are some types of visits that cost more, but that's the basic), the clinic is self-sustaining; it pays for medicines, doctors, and electricity. And 70 Lempiras is very cheap compared to the private doctors.ç

It was very high-tech - all the medical records and pharmacy orders computerized. New developments (building, technical machines, etc.) are paid for with donations from Spain. But everything else is self-sustaining. A really neat idea, I think.

And here's the neatest part. It is called "Solidaria" (solidarity) NOT because the doctors are in solidarity with the patients, but because the patients are in solidarity with each other. As the director explained it, some patients cost the clinic more than 70 Lempiras. But they make it up because other patients cost less. In essence, some people help pay for the health care of others, even though they don't realize it! I thought that was a fabulous idea.

Of course, there are lots of people that can't afford the 70 Lempiras. But for what it's trying to do, I think it does a very good job.

THE CLINICA IN GUAIMACA
The last clinic we visited was a free clinic run by the Catholic Church in Guaimaca, a neighboring town. It was started by a nun who is also a nurse practicioner about 3 years ago.

Basically, they have a team that is a combination of Hondurans and long-term (1 year or more) volunteers from the States. The one doctor is a Honduran woman. The money and medications are all provided for by Catholic parishes in the States that are connected with the parish in Guaimaca.

The clinic sees fome 40-50 patients a day. They also take medical brigades into the aldeas (mountain towns) every so often - particularly when they get a big short-term volunteer group.

The nun in charge was a wonderful guide. She had lots of pearls of wisdom about health care, two of which I'll share.

First, that one of the big challenges here is making long-term changes towards healthy behavior. She says they see lots of patients who come in every three months with the same problem because they persist in unhealthy behaviors.

Second, "en Honduras no falta doctores, falta la 'con que hacer'" (Honduras doesn't lack doctors, it lacks the 'with what' [ie supplies] to work).

The Centro de Salud has the same shortage of medications, so they help a lot by being able to provide medications for free. It was really neat to see the positive impact an organized faith group can make.

Las Aldeas (by Todd)

Another of our ministries will be working with the "aldeas." The aldeas are little towns, ranging from 100 to several thousand people. Most of the ones we've visited have around 300 residents and 50 houses. They are often out of the way, in the mountains. Some of them are really hard to get to - as in the road is UGLY - first gear 80% of the time driving there.

There are some 34 aldeas that pertain to the Catholic parish at Talanga. Padre Daniel circulates around them, visiting a few each week. Most of them see him about once a month. So far, we have made quick visits to about 12 of them. For the visits, we go with Padre Daniel, and celebrate the mass. Afterwards, some family usually invites us in for coffee or a snack or even a meal.

Some of these aldeas are quite poor. Many do not have electricity, a few don't even have running water. Virtually none has direct access to medical care.

We are now investigating ways we can work in the aldeas. Last Friday, James and I went to visit one called Camalotal to ask about the needs. Today, all five of us went to visit another, called Terero Colorado, way up into the mountains.

It's amazing to me how hospitable the people are! We just walk up to their houses, unannounced, introduce ourselves, and ask if we can chat for a few minutes. And invariably the people (usually women since the men are at work during the day) invite us to their house or front porch to sit and talk. Sometimes they offer us food or drink. And they are happy to talk.

We want to visit a few more to get a clearer picture. But the aldeas look like a very promising area for our ministry.

The Rainy Season (by Todd)

One waterproof poncho: $6 at K-Mart
Keeping dry in a Honduran rainstorm: priceless

During the past week, I've realized that the most useful thing I brought from home was that poncho (thank you Bryan for finding it!). We have apparently now entered the rainy season here in Talanga. It rains about every day here. And not just rains. Pours.

We're talking get yourself soaked in 1 minute pouring. As in, "You are riding in the back of Padre Daniel's truck and you are done for" pouring. It's quite funny, actually. Sometimes it goes from overcast but not a drop at all to completely pouring in 30 seconds. And since all the streets in Talanga are dirt roads, the whole town becomes a quagmire.

It's rained every day this past week, sometimes twice a day. But I guess we're getting accustomed to it. And I love that poncho! The next thing is big rubber boots for us all, so that we don't have to play hopscotch through Talanga in every rainstorm :)