More Celebrations and A Visit to the Hospital

Today we celebrated again!  The regular school in La Ceibita was dedicating a classroom to two missioners from the Illinois team that had passed away.  There was a large ceremony and the team was invited to it.  So many people came to celebrate the dedication of the new classroom.  So manny thank you’s shared and people recognized.  This is truly a community that gives back and loves each other.  After the festivities we spent some time walking around the grounds and visiting with the children, parents and teachers.  We then gathered everyone and loaded up the vans to head to the church.  Some cool off time was needed so we sat and ate lunch and enjoyed the shade of a building! It’s been so hot here, hotter than I like and hotter than I can often cope with. All week long though the heat has not been an issue and I think God has been giving me the strength I need to function and do his work.  We are blessed to be able to go to an air conditioned hotel room every night and recuperate.  The majority of Hondurans do not have this luxury.  They live in small, often one room buildings that do not have windows or doors, sometimes with curtains hung over the windows.  I am so blessed to be able to sleep in comfort, with no mosquitoes and other bugs, in a real bed.  It’s been hovering around 100 all week long, and does not cool down that much at night. 

After lunch, a van full of us had the chance to go tour the hospital in Tocoa.  The Sullivan Illinois team does a medical mission here in February and so they have a good relationship with the hospital. Our team leader, Mike set up the tour for those of us that had not seen the hospital.  

When we arrived we pulled up outside of the gates and our translator had a conversation with the guards. We were allowed onto the property.  That was the first striking difference between the hospital here in Tocoa and the hospitals in the USA. There are no armed guards outside of a tall fence  that has chicken wire at the top to keep people out. IF you need to go to the hospital you need to arrange an appointment.  I’m not sure what happens if you sure up unannounced. 

The Sullivan Illinois team has been working on getting medical equipment donated from the USA to this particular hospital.  It is a large donation that will be coming and will surely make a huge difference for the hospital. The team was also able to secure a defibrillator for the hospital because they did not have one.  

Once inside the gates we squeezed through tight areas to find a place to park.  It wasn’t much of a parking lot. We met with our tour guide who was a bilingual nursing student.  She walked us through the entire hospital. We got to see the whole thing.  It is strikingly different from any hospital I have ever been to in the states.  First, I am not sure a large group of missioners can just go taking turns of hospitals at very short notice.  There would be so much paperwork to fill out and sign, background checks possibly and health clearances.  In this hospital we were able to walk into the baby unit simply wearing a gown.  No questions asked. There was a very tiny preemie awaiting transportation to a bigger hospital.  He was born at less than 7 months gestation.  He was wrapped in plastic to keep him warm.  He had a feeding tube but nothing else.  Not heart, or breathing monitors. Nothing. We are so blessed in the US.  I hope he makes it.  More babies in another room, some with jaundice some with infection.  Two babies with their mothers.  This area of the hospital could not have been much bigger than a 20 x 20 block and it had 4 rooms, a nurses desk and a hallway.  It was very small.  

We left the baby area and continued with our tour visiting emergency waiting rooms and pre and postoperative areas. We got a glimpse into the surgical area, again something that would never happen at home.  Diabetes patients rooms were in the same hallway as the post op and post labor rooms.  There were two rooms that were pediatric rooms.  Each room being about 30 x30 or so feet with about 8 cribs or pediatric beds in them.  Not really anywhere for parents to be comfortable while they stay with their children.  Children post op. sick with disease and other things.  We asked each group of parents if we could pray for them and so we all stood in prayer for these children and their families.  There is a new wing of the hospital that is supposed to be used as a women’s center but it is currently housing Denge fever patients.  The reality of mosquito born illness here is sad.  

We ended our tour and thanked our guide for her hospitality. 

Back in the USA I volunteer at the Ronald McDonald House by Childrens hospital of Wisconsin and also spend time in Children’s Hospital Volunteering through a Ronald McDonald House Partnership.  The stark contrast between the hospital I spend time in and the facilities available to parents who have sick children is striking!  We are such a blessed country to have access to the medical care that we have access too and clean, bright and spacious hospitals.  At the Ronald McDonald House we have a beautiful 70 room house for families who have children being treated at Childrens Hospital.  It is a blessing and is very close to my heart to be able to volunteer here and be part of this mission.  It is hard to even compare the facilities in the Tocoa Hospital to what we have at home.  But, while the hospital lacks equipment, cleanliness, space and the financial means, it has one thing in common.  There is love there and caring people who want to make a difference.  You do not need financial means to love someone.  

We returned to the hotel to clean up and get ready for the evening church service in Tocoa.  Before leaving we were updated on a murder that had happened near the church and that there was some concern for retaliation. The person who was murdered was a family member of church.  We were told that we did not believe that we were at risk to attend the church but were told that it would be okay if we did not feel comfortable going and decided to stay back at the hotel instead.  No one stayed, everyone went to church.  It was a time support the church and let them know we care.  The church service was done and we safely headed back to our hotel, stopping to eat along the way. 

We take so much for granted in the USA. Food, clothing, health, safety, air conditioning. I am blessed indeed. 


“The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it” Psalm 24:1



































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