Honduras 2/3/15

Today the team was split up.  

James and Ben spent the day in the clinic and Marie went up to the mountain clinic.  

Here are some pics....

Sonrisas Siempre

Sonrisas Siempre is the dental team that we come down with every year.   This was founded my Dr Steve Ellinwood and Dr Tom Blake.  They both have a servants heart and are amazing leaders of this group.  

It is rare to get to see people in their best form...however, when you come on these types of trips that shines through brightly. 

If you don't know the story already...James traveled with Sonrisas four years ago because he wanted an "experience."  Well....you can see where that took us! 

His first year here sparked an idea that lead to the development of The Read a Book program.  Steve and Tom (we're non-dental people so first name basis is acceptable!) have been nothing but supportive in helping us achieve the goals we had set and have never thought anything too difficult.  

Thank you is not enough....

A special thanks...

This year so many people helped get us down here.

  We wanted to say thank you to all the students at Blackhawk Middle School and their teacher Mrs. Olson,  Jefferson students and Ms. Goodman, Ms. Birch and Ms. Auchenbach, L. C. Ward students and their principal Grady Pruitt, Tracy Huckleberry, Amy Wheeler , Rita Whitman,  Cheryl Terhune, Susan Holleran, Lisa York, and Toni Printos. 

 We also have to thank Rita Tippmann and the Charlie Tippmann Foundation for their long time and unwavering support.  You not only help with funding but your thorough understanding of our programs and personal involvement has allowed this program, in particular, has allowed this program to grow and reach even more people.  

The Daughters of Penelope for their support and well wishes.  

We also need to thank our family and friends who constantly put up with us fundraising for this and that and adjusting their schedules to accommodate ours.  

Honduras 2/2/15

Today we finally got to work! 

We were able to join the dentists outside of the clinic.  We drove about 20 min away in the back of a truck.   The ride was fun, at first, then it got bumpy....

We worked out of a very small one room school.  The set up was a squeeze but doable. 

Here are some school pics:

Today the dentists (and us) were surprised to see that a lot of kids did not need any work at all...or if they did it was a tooth they would lose soon.  This is amazing.  I pray God continues to watch over their mouths.  We were pretty remote so this came as a shock.  Most of the time the teeth are pretty bad.  For me being in Public Health I love to see this improvement.   Dental health is crucial to keeping the body healthy.  The docs pulled about 100 teeth in all.   I've worked on some days where that number is tripled.  

So....since there was not a ton of work to do we put florid treatment on everyone and sent them home with books.  

After working in the mountains it was time to go back to the grocery store.   When we adopted La Paz orphanage this year we had planned on purchasing items (which we did) for their kitchen and give the Sister the cash to go buy groceries.  Well...upon arrival we found out that going to the grocery store was a ton of work for her.  So with the help of Sonrisas (dental team) we were able to double the money MRC had for groceries and find a ride to the store. 

So I went and bought eggs, pasta, rice, beans, corn meal, flour, sugar, salt, powered milk, cereal, cooking oil, pasta sauce, laundry soap, and some other items that I wasn't sure what to do with but are necessary to make tortillas.  

All of the groceries will be delivered with the books later in the week. 

I don't have any pictures of the store...sorry....was too busy trying to calculate the conversions in my head! 

More later today! 

-Marie

Honduras 2/01/15

Today we were really on Honduran time! 

This means our plans were "delayed".   We were able to see a few patients and get out to La Paz but we all had the very important lesson of being flexible.  

At La Paz we were able to see the new building for the orphanage.  This is a brand new facility complete with actual furniture and a garden.   If you scroll all the way back through this blog you will see what it used to look like.   The old structure was heart breaking, this new structure is encouraging.  

The only downside was the kids were not there.  We had a small miscommunication on time and did not see them.   That's ok though because we will go back later in the week.  

Here in Honduras all the students are preparing to go back to school in a few days.   The above picture is all the kids' uniforms pressed and ready to go.  

In the afternoon we headed downtown to have our "culture day." 

Being down town reminds me of the beauty that this country has, despite the struggle and hard time of the people here.  I'm ready to get to work tomorrow and start doing what we came here to do. 

PS: yes we watched the Super Bowl! 

Honduras 1/31/15

Today we started the daunting task of getting everything organized and off the crates we shipped back in December. 

We also had the day to spend setting up the dental clinic.  This is always a process but the team worked together and everything is getting pulled together.  

We had some time today to go out shopping for an orphanage in La Paz that we our walking along side of this trip.  Went to the local grocery store to purchase them some basic hygiene needs and kitchen untinsels.  Next we found a "local" shop and was able to buy a counter skillet, large pot, waffle iron, and a grittle for about $75!  We were told those are the Honduran prices. (Not the Gringo price).  

After our shopping in the morning we organized all our stuff in the afternoon.  

Here's what we have! 

190 full backpacks with some extra supplies. 

A bag full of books, arts and crafts, and games for each of the travel clinics and the main clinic. 

Supplies and books for La Paz orphanage. 

Chapter books and a football table for Horizontas.  

Gonna be a great week! 

The dental team also got to screen some of our patients this week so we got to hang with them. Most of these kids we met 2 years ago and it's crazy to see how big they are getting! 

A special shout out to our two friends joining us on this trip! Ben And Mandy are integral in the work we are doing and are just fun to be around! 

Honduras 1/30/2015

And we're back! 

Can't believe that MRC has been working on Honduras for 3 years now.  Been a crazy journey but we are so happy to be back.   Travel was a little too easy, crossing fingers and toes the rest of the trip goes as well.