Honduras
| Honduras November 2007 |
 |
 |
 |
| Mission Projects - Honduras | |
|
We have been to Honduras twice...November 2007 & April 2008.
In November of 2007, Carol Denny went to visit visit Kymm and Eric Schultz at Rancho Ebenezer, in the mountains outside the capital city of Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Rancho Ebenezer is a ministry of World Gospel Outreach (www.wgoreach.org) that serves orphans of Honduras. On the Ranch there are currently about 8-10 houses that each house 5-7 children. Each house has house parents (a married couple that serves as mom and dad to the kids). There is a bilingual school on the property that all the kids go to and are educated through high school. This is a great opportunity for the kids because most kids in Honduras only go to school through sixth grade. When they graduate from high school they automatically can go to college for free. Only 3-5% of the people of Honduras have a college degree and even less are bilingual. The kids come from the government agency that has custody of them because they are orphaned, abandoned, or abused. The conditions for children in Honduras are difficult, and these children have endured more than most. By the time they come to the Ranch they have suffered immensely. Some of the children still have a little contact with their biological parents through the government, but the government of Honduras has given custody of them to World Gospel Outreach. World Gospel Outreach raises these children in a safe loving environment, educates them, and teaches them to serve their people. Not only are their own lives transformed, but they hopefully then in turn will give back to their people.
School at Rancho Ebenezer
Kymm and Eric serve full time at the Ranch. They also do outreach to the community that is near the Ranch called Rincon de Delores. Kymm arranged for Carol to teach a class to the women of the community about midwifery and health care. She made preparations before Carol got there, passing out flyers in the community, and arranged to use a classroom at the local two room school.
basic principles about what germs are, how they get into the body, preventing infection, sterilization, nutrition, basic care during pregnancy, supplies for birth, caring for the mother in labor, stages of labor, signs of complications during pregnancy and birth and how to treat them. She gave a simple message at the end of the teaching in which she talked about how birth has a spiritual dimension as well as the physical and emotional aspects. She talked about ministering to women who are pregnant and birthing in all three dimensions. She shared the gospel and explained how to receive Jesus as their Saviour, and led them in a prayer for salvation.
There were about 15 women who came to the first class. There are two communities (or villages) that are near to each other and women came from both communities. The further community is San Matias. A midwife from that community named Maria came, but because she had to walk a long way to come to the class, she had to leave early so she could get home before dark.
Maria, Carol, Augustina, Maria
The community that is next to Rancho Ebenezer is called Rincon de Delores. The main midwife in that community is named Agustina and she has delivered hundreds of babies there without any training other than what she received from her grandmother. Agustina was always the spokesperson to me for all of the women present. The other women who came to the class were women who served as helpers in the community. Another woman, Maria, does a lot of healthcare in the community.
Augustina
Maria
The community is very poor. The average wage is $3-5 per day. The cost of food there is as much or more than it is here, so just to have enough to eat is a challenge, even if you have a job. Most people don't have running water or electricity. They have dirt floors in little shacks. They often birth in these conditions.
In many primitive cultures people put dirt or dung on the umbilical cord of the baby after it is born. It is hard to imagine that this could still happen in this day and age. While teaching about preventing infection, Carol talked about caring for the umbilical cord and explained to the women that they should never put dirt or dung on the cord. They all started laughing. Karen said that they were laughing because this was something that they did. Carol was able to teach them why this is not good. At the end of the first class the women asked if she would come back and teach them again. She was more than happy to do this, so second class was planned.
She had brought medical supplies for them that were given to them during the second class with explanation about what they were and how to use them. One simple need that they had that was surprising was for towels to dry the baby with after birth. Carol had brought a few, but wished she had brought more.
One of the most amazing things was that in their culture when they say they have given birth the words use are "to bring to light." They say that animals birth, but people bring their babies to light. This was a great key to explain how when we are born the first time we go from darkness to light physically and that we when we are born spiritually we also go from darkness to light. Carol explained how to be brought to light spiritually, and the message was very well received. The women thought Carol was coming to live there so they were disappointed when she showed them pictures of her family and told them she had to go home. They asked if she would come back and she told them that if God provided a way she would return. So they all gathered around her and cried, and prayed that God would bring her back to them.
They said many missionaries had come to them, but none had ever come to teach them before. They promised that they were going to do all the things that had been taught them and wanted her to know that they were going to remember and use everything they had learned. Certificates of attendance were given to them at the end of both classes, which made them very proud. They were extremely happy that we would care about them enough to teach them. They love to learn!
April 7-15, 2008
This was our schedule:
Monday April 7: We Left Phoenix at 5:00 am, changed planes in Houston, arrived in Tegucigalpa Honduras at 2:51 pm. Kymm's parents were on our flight from Houston to Tegucigalpa, so we got to see Kymm & Eric for a few minutes at the airport. Ana Maria and Roberto picked us up from the airport and we went to their home. They have a lovely stone house on the side of a mountain that overlooks the city. We spent a lot of time getting to know Ana Maria & Roberto and their children, Cleonique and Roberto. Ana Maria is a civil engineer, and is the General Secretary for the Honduras Civil Engineer Association. Roberto is an attorney. We spent a lot of time talking about world issues. Roberto is very educated and had a vast knowledge of many different issues. Amy connected well with Cleo and Roberto. They are both very good students. Cleo will be coming to the United States next year for college. I believe our friendships with their family will be long lasting. They took good care of us and made us feel welcome in their home.
Tuesday April 8: We meet with Dr. Ivo Flores, head of Attention to Women at the Honduras Ministry of Health, assistant to discuss opening a birth center in Honduras, and continued teaching in remote communities. We had proposed to build a birth center in Rincon de Delores, which is in the San Matias area. What we learned is that the mortality rate in this area is not as bad as in other areas of Honduras. The Ministry of Health encouraged us to consider other locations to start a project that have higher mortality rates where we could have a greater impact. They were very open to us opening a birth center. One concern they had was that we would abandon it, and this would cause compromise the community. A concern we had is the ablity to make a facility safe. We left this meeting with the understanding that we would meet with WGO to discuss partnering with them to build a birth center. If that was agreeable, we would then write another proposal to the Ministry of Health with more specific information.
Wednesday April 9: We went to Valle de Angeles. This is a little touristic village where we bought souveniers for our family. Ana had a very important meeting with government officials in the afternoon. In the evening we met Ana's childhood friend and her North American friend, Tony. This was interesting because he knows Kymm & Eric and the people at WGO. He gave us some very helpful information about other projects in Central America.
Thursday April 10: We went to Rancho Ebenezer where Kymm & Eric Schultz live. Kymm, her mom Linda, and I sorted out all the supplies we had brought for the community and made packages for the women who would attend the healthcare class. We brought aprons, towels, washcloths, soap, cloth diapers, diaper pins, baby clothes, socks, & baby blankets. (Thank you to everyone who donated these items.) We made special packages for the midwives which also included some medical supplies.
Friday April 11: In the morning we went to chapel with the kids at the Ranch. They had recieved instuments recently, and the kids started a worship band. They did great leading worship. In the afternoon we taught a midwifery/ healthcare class in the community of Rincon de Delores. The class went great! There were over 20 women there. There were some people there that were there at class we taught in November, and there were a lot of new women too. We taught about what germs are, how they get into the body, how to safely dispose of wastes, sterilization, nutrition, discomforts in pregnancy, how to determine if the baby is head down or breech, safe ways to encourage labor and when that is necessary, normal childbirth, and newborn care. Many of the women stood up after the class and told us why this information was important to them personally, and how grateful they were. They were very grateful for the supplies too!
There were a lot of young children who came with their mothers to the class. Amy and Kymm's daughter Abigail took the children to the soccer field and played with them during the class.
Saturday April 12: We spent the day sewing 20 curtains for the new building that will house the teachers at Rancho Ebenezer. We also made 2 quilts!
Sunday April 13: We went to an American Church in Tegucigalpa. Afterwards we met with WGO CEO Terry Mallasch, his wife Carol, and Dr. Pamela Hanson to discuss the birth center project we had proposed. The meeting was very good. WGO has provided medical and dental services to over 50,000 people and seen 2600 decisions for Christ. They have been in Honduras for 25 years. They are committed to being successful at what they do. Because of this, they must stay focused on the projects they are already committed to. To add another project, such as a birth center, may compromise and divide what they are already doing. There is so much that could be done in Honduras that to be successful it is necessary to select a project to focus on and stay with it. They encouraged me to continue to teach in remote communites. They felt our outreach of teaching in remote communities would have a much greater impact and be more effective in improving maternal and neonatal outcomes through out the country as the teaching would spread through out the communities. They said they would do whatever they could to help us to be successful in our mission. They were extremely supportive and excited about our vision.
Monday April 14: We worked on a WGO medical brigade in Tegucigalpa. In the morning Amy did lice treatments on kids and in the afternoon worked in the pharmacy giving out the medications prescribedby the doctors. I worked in the pharmacy too, and did prenatal care. Every one who received medical or dental care received a gospel presentation. The poverty in the part of the city where we were was overwhelming. The houses (shacks) are literally stacked on top of each other on the sides of the mountains. There is trash and sewage running down the side of the narrow dirt roads. The houses are smaller than one of our bedrooms. The poverty and needs are so large, it is hard to comprehend.
We went back to Ana Maria's house for the night, and had a very nice time with their family.
Tuesday April 15: Left Tegucigalpa at 12:25pm, changed planes in Houston, arrived home at 6:38pm
Many people have asked how they can help. Please PRAY for Helping Mothers and Babies Inc.
If you would like to give, donations to Helping Mothers & Babies Incorporated are tax deductible. Your donations are greatly appreciated and will enable us to do this work. We will be raising money to make special kits for midwives and birth kits for expectant mothers, and to continue teaching in remote communities around the world. We are looking for people who would like to volunteer their time. Look under "How You Can Help" on the main page.
|
|
