Footprints...in Roatan

The Lord replied, "My son, My precious child,  I love you and I would never leave you.  During your times of trial and suffering, when you see only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you."

As you may or may not know, Footprints in the Sand is one of my favorite poems.  Therefore, it seemed like a good analogy for the holidays around here.  Holidays around home are special times for our family as we always gather together and celebrate with our siblings, parents, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents.  Unfortunately, being in Honduras makes it a little far to travel for a weekend.  In thinking of the Footprints poem, these times would reference those times when there was suffering and struggling; the times when there was only one set of Footprints.  Just as in the poem when the Lord carried you through these trials, I had family come here to spend the holidays with me.  Christmas my parents came, New Years a few schoolmates came, Easter, my older brother Philip came.  While he went through quite the journey to get down here, he finally made it, and we were able to share a week of vacation together.  Two days we spent getting scuba certified (hmm, I wonder if I can put that on my resume under 'certifications'?!), went out east for a BBQ one day, had a potluck for Easter (complete with a spiral ham and turkey!), and spent a day at the clinic.  What a blessing it has been to be able to "unexpectedly" spend the holidays with family.  Upon coming down here, I knew of no plans for visitors.  It has been amazing how God has blessed me over the last several months with visitors.  While live is wonderful here, seeing familiar faces from time to time has been very nice!

Something that I continually find interesting is hearing the differing opinions of volunteers and visitors as they come to visit.  Everybody has different previous experiences with poverty and mission work and with that they approach things differently.  Poverty can be a hard concept to grasp and until you really start to work with people of poverty, live in their world for a time, and see how their every day lives run, you can't really fully understand all its intricacies.  It's easy to read book after book about it, but it still seems different once you get placed in it and it is something that takes time to really grasp.  Watching volunteer residents and students come from working in the states to working here is also something that is quite the concept.  Working at the clinic I have started to learn what the big time meds are, which ones are more expensive, and which ones are more preferred by doctors in the states that have access to any medication they want.  At the clinic, we only have access to a limited number of medications, usually based on what we get by donation.  Therefore, prescribing conservatively is a little more important.  Here you don't just give a medication to please a patient; here it is much more important to make sure the patient completely understands what they have and how medications help it (or don't).  If they don't need a medication that they are seeking, we explain to them why they don't need it and more often than not, they are okay with that.  Why can't people in the states be okay with that?  Why must we have to do every knit-picky, sometimes unnecessary little thing just to avoid a lawsuit?  It's things like this that will take some time to adjust to when I get back to the states.

Last week was Semana Santa here on the island (well technically everywhere I suppose :P ).  For those of you that don't understand Spanish, that would be Holy Week.  While many people may see it as a time of preparation, prayer, fasting, and remembrance of Jesus' death and resurrection, Semana Santa is more or less a holiday around these parts.  Many tourists overtake the island- whether they come from the mainland (which most do) or from other parts of the world.  West End is blocked off to cars and the beaches and resorts in West Bay are packed and out of control.  From the reports that I have heard, things weren't quite as crazy this year as they have been in the past, but I still managed to avoid most of it.  Can't really complain as I don't really relate Holy Week with party week.  Since it is a 'holiday' around here, the clinic was closed all week so that meant a week of vacation to relax and not do a whole lot.  Boy was that wonderful; just in time for me to gear up for the next 3 weeks while Peggy goes back to the states.  What did Peggy leave me with this time (aside from the clinic)?!  A 40ft container filled with donations for the clinic and the hospital.  Luckily it is all sorted and labeled clinic or hospital so hopefully it shouldn't be all that bad- I'll let you know how it goes.

We're still waiting for the license for the upstairs so that has yet to be opened, but it is possible that we will be have a birth take place up there sometime this week.  As time carries on, I continue to work on a training/orientation guide for the clinic so that whoever ends up following in my footsteps will have something more to go off than what I had.  There is just so much information at the clinic that isn't recorded anywhere; it's only in people's heads.  What happens when they leave?  The information of course goes with them and no longer benefits the clinic.  Therefore, hopefully this manual will help a little bit with that.

Weather is really starting to warm up around here getting into the upper 80's and 90's.  Many people here complain (term used lightly) about how hot it is and how much they work up a sweat.  However, I don't think it's usually really much worse than it is at home.  I think the humidity at home is worse than it is here.  When I tell people that they have a hard time believing me cause "there isn't humidity in South Dakota"; but oh yes, there is!  I don't know where it comes from, but it's there!

Mayday, Mayday!!

Yesterday a group of us decided to head out to Hole in the Wall, a small little restaurant on the east end of the island.  There was a boat arranged to take us, however, because of the strong east winds, traveling on the south side of the island was not going to be a good idea.  Since the boat was already payed for we had the option of taking the boat anyways, not going, or taking a vehicle.  But then, the suggestion was made that we should just take the boat along the north side of the island as far as we could and then get in a bus to cross over to the south side to get to the restaurant.  That is what we decided to do.  Here we are cruising along on this boat, inside the reef (dumb idea considering the depth finder kept alarming...but who am I to say anything?!), when all of a sudden we stop.  Why?  One of our motors went out- good thing we have 2!  So we continue on down the coast when all of a sudden, in the middle of a bight surrounded by mangroves, the other motor goes out! What are we going to do?!  It just so happened that another boat was passing by about this time.  We flagged him down but of course he was carrying passangers that he needed to drop off.  He assured us that he would be back to help us.  An hour later we are still waiting.  By this time, we are all well past hungry, our beer is gone, and we feel like we are either on Gilligans Island or a reality TV show.  Danielle, another volunteer with me, looks at me and says "well, I have a peanut butter sandwich that we could each have a half of.  Well, maybe we should wait a bit, who knows how long we will be here, we might want it later."  It's about this time as well, that we start to give up hope that this guy is coming back for us, so a couple of the people on the boat try to get in contact with people they know that could come and pick us up.  A few minutes later, the guy finally returns!  We all transfer over into this guys boat, make it to shore where there is a bus waiting for us.  By this time, it is now 3:00 (3hrs after setting out, 2 hrs longer than it was supposed to take!) and we are unsure if we will be able to make it to Hole in the Wall in time because they close at 4.  It's going to take us almost that long to get there by bus, because we are out in the middle of nowhere, only accessible by dirt roads.  We call ahead, he assures us they will stay open for us, so we set out to find food!  While on this winding, bumpy, dirt road (that reminds us of an Indiana Jones ride), we attempt to enjoy a nice cold beer (easier said than done) and we are subjected to some of the prettiest views of the harbor.  At about 4:00 we finally make it to Jonesville where we load a few Dory's and head out to the restaurant.  One of the Dory's that we boarded was all decked out with various trinkets, life vests, life savers, a comfy chair for the driver, and a carpeted boat bottom!  Luckily our patience paid off- awaiting for us were mashed potatoes, beans, coleslaw, fresh rye bread, all you can eat lobster, and rib eye steak (I believe).  What a great meal we had.  On our way home on the bus, I couldn't help but think about how it felt like I was back in high school traveling home from a sporting event or other school function/trip.  By the end of the night, my tan had been successfully worked on, my stomach was full, and I was more than ready for a good night sleep!

After my slow, relaxing week at the clinic last week, with no new volunteers, I am well stocked with volunteers again.  Today we welcomed another 5 volunteers that will be working with us for the next 3-4 weeks.  Orientation for all of them seemed to go pretty well for all of them today, so hopefully we will have a good week.  Tomorrow a Honduran pharmacist will be starting with us at the clinic as well, so that will keep me busy with training her and assisting her in finding her way around our pharmacy.  With the addition of people to our team, it also means that people have left us as well.  Emily, my nursing student went home this past weekend, so I am back to being the only full time nurse in the clinic, doing as many of the nursing responsibilities as physically possible.  The person that used to keep our consult rooms and store room all cleaned and stocked, also decided today that she doesn't want to do it anymore.  Therefore, one more thing for me to either do or find people to do.  Hopefully this will be something that I can get some of the Honduran staff to help me with.  In order for this to be "their" clinic, there are things that they should be responsible for (with the help of others of course).  That being said, they need to be taught/informed of what all needs to be done, as some of the stuff has just always been done by volunteers and they haven't been responsible for. 

Today also marks 6.5 months that I have been here- wow, it seems like forever ago that I got here!  I am still enjoying myself and everyday I am finding ways to keep life intersting.  There is still plenty that I am learning and scenarios that touch my heart regularily.  Last week and this week, I am house/cat sitting for someone that is off island for 2 weeks.  Being the huge pet person that I am (*note sarcasm), there are 5 cats that I must attend to, one of which has diabetes and must get an insulin shot every morning.  Needless to say, I am still no more of a pet person than I was before.  I could definitely make it through life without have anymore pets and wouldn't be the least bit disappointed.  But, they are still all alive and accounted for so I guess I am doing better than I usually do when left alone with Peggy's- haha!  The weather is really heating up around here lately.  Over the past week or so we have had temps in the upper 80's with heat indexes in the 90's.  And to think it's only going to get warmer!  I could use some of that snow that you guys have extra of right about now!

Peace and Love to all my family and friends at home!

Laura

When it rains, it pours!

Literally and figuratively, when something comes to Roatan, it doesn't come lightly.  When it rains, typically it isn't just a light little rain shower for a couple hours.  Rain last at least the day if not into the next day or two.  The aftermath of a rain shower usually involves mud puddles for about a week (unless of course we get a nice warm day afterward).  When donations come to the clinic, we never just get one little shopping bag.  Many times we see donations come by the suitcase-full.  These suitcases don't come from just one volunteer, but several.  So yes, with all these donations there are typically many volunteers in the clinic at the same time.  Just like when we experience a dry spell from rain, we also experience dry spells from volunteers and donations.  Sometimes, these dry spells don't seem to come frequently enough.  Not that we don't appreciate donations and volunteers; it just means that we constantly have work awaiting us, and new people to orient to the clinic.  Keeps us busy!

Over about the past two months, we have had several volunteers in every week and with them came suitcases full of donations.  Could these people have been fleeing the cold?  I think so!  Now that we have just about reached the end of March, we have sent most of our current volunteers home and this weekend we are only getting 1 or 2 more volunteers in.  This week (and hopefully another one or two after it) should be a quite week in the clinic- our "drought".  Therefore, while we had lots of donations to sort through and many people to direct, it was important to remain thankful.  These donations could be stocking us up for the next several months as it seems the people that come down for the summer come for longer stints than the students that come for 4-6 weeks at a time. 

Outside of the clinic, we have spent a lot of time lately just hanging out.  During March, there was a group of about 10 of us; we could sit around all night and just have a great time.  Unfortunately, most of them all had to leave this weekend :(  The weather is slowly getting warmer and warmer; today the temp was in the upper 80's, warm and sunny!  In case any of you are concerned, my tan is coming along quite wonderfully ;)  Since people were going to the airport throughout the day today, we decided to just stick around the house and spend some quality time out on the dock; tomorrow will probably be similar, but we will be down on the beach in West Bay.  Whoa is me, my weekends are so rough!

Yesterday, we went out to the east end of the island where there was a thank-you BBQ for a group of Stanford students that were here on spring break.  Over the course of the week they helped establish some vacation bible schools and they repainted the ER in the hospital.  This BBQ was complete with singers and 2 groups of Garifuna dancers.  What a cultural night we had- it was spectacular!

Last week I went to a meeting about double-dutch jump roping down the road at the Sand Castle Library with some island kids.  What I thought was just going to be an information meeting was actually me deciding on a day of the week that would work to teach these kids how to double-dutch.  That's right, I am now a double-dutch coach.  I didn't know that I was qualified for that but apparently I am.  See you at practice on Wednesdays!

40 Days and 40 Nights

The season of Lent is upon us.  Since I have more time down here than I've ever had in the states, I sometimes tend to question things or think about things more.  So naturally, with the beginning of Lent, I thought, historically, what is all behind the season of Lent.  Was it originally more than just a waiting and preparing time for the death of Jesus or were there other things done during this time?  Therefore, prepare yourself for a little history lesson.

The word Lent comes from two different Anglo-Saxon words that mean "spring" and "March".  There has always been some form of Lenten preparation before Easter, it has just varied by how many days and/or hours.  It sounds as though there was some confusion as to whether it was supposed to be 40 hours or 40 days....something lost in translation (don't I know the feeling sometime, haha).  So, by the end of the 4th century is has been decided that Lent is a time of prayer and fasting in preparation for the death and rising of Jesus that would last 40 days.  However, 40 days has been translated into many things over the years as well.  Depending on where you lived, determined how much fasting you did.  Some fasted for 40 days but only Monday through Friday; therefore, Lent lasted for 8 weeks.  Others fasted for 40 days but fasted on Saturday as well and therefore Lent only lasted 6 weeks.  So a consensus was reached; fasting would take place Monday-Saturday for 6 weeks and with the addition of Ash Wednesday as the beginning of Lent, there were 40 days of fasting before Easter.  The next big question was what do we fast from?  In some areas they fasting from any meat and animal products while others made exceptions for things like fish.  Over time, it was decided that fish would be allowed and fasting only had to take place on Ash Wednesday and Fridays.  The part about fasting from animal products was also dropped so people could have dairy and what have you.  the interesting thing though is that Easter eggs first started to be blessed because of the fact that dairy/animal products were not allowed during Lent.  Now that everything is sorted out, the way practices stand today is this:  Fasting occurs on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, abstaining from meat happens on Fridays.  People give up something during lent as a sacrifice and often are encouraged to perform a spiritual work.  According to the site I read, technically Sundays and solemnities (Feast of St. Joseph and Annunciation) aren't included and therefore you can have whatever you gave up.  (http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/religion/re0527.html) However, you might as well just tough it out; Jesus wasn't given any days off, so why should we take a day off?

As we begin this time of preparation for the death and rising of our Lord, think about how you are preparing yourself during this time.  What sacrifices can you make?  What spiritual practices have you strayed away from or sloughed off on lately that could be picked back up?  Are you ready for judgment day if it were to come today or tomorrow?  I encourage you to join me in thinking about these things and preparing yourself for judgment day just as Jesus did during his 40 days and 40 nights in the desert.  We never know when our time will come.

Happy Lent!

Only in Roatan

Here I am, six months in; halfway done!  I can count down instead of up now!  Things are still going wonderfully, but the island is starting to wear on me.  There is only so much one can take of living on an island 30 miles long and 4-5 miles wide with no where to go...even if some people would consider it "paradise". 

Time at the clinic is continually passing, yet one day seems to run into the next.  We are now at the point of licensing for the upstairs, so that is exciting.  Last week we had the pre-inspection and we got an 81% (or 25 things missing out of 132)- not bad considering the things that we need to fix are things like putting a light bulb in a lamp, move some reflex hammers and tape measures from downstairs to upstairs, and hang a blood pressure cuff on the wall.  As of last I heard, grand opening is set for March 31st, but that will of course all depend on when we are licensed- could be sooner, could be later, no one really can tell.  We all survived the busy month of February with 10-20 volunteers every week, so now we should all be pros for the roughly 30 people we have this week!  Luckily, 13 of those are in one group and they are going to be doing outreach in the community so we won't have to juggle them through the clinic.  Sometimes, I just have to keep reminding me that what doesn't kill me can only makes me stronger; not gonna lie, running a volunteer staffed clinic is A LOT of work, probably something I won't be doing again in the near future :p  Regardless of how much work it has been, my time so far has been wonderful and I am continually learning something new every day. 

Since I've been here 6 months, I figure I might as well share with you some of the things that I have found strange, peculiar, random, out of place, rare, funny, or just down right ridiculous.

• Only in Roatan, are you able to be driving down the road when the car in front of you completely loses the 2 front tires; and if they had continued further, probably would have lost the back two.
• Only in Roatan, would you find me in my pj's at 7:00 some nights and in bed by 9:30 other nights.
• Only in Roatan, does the hospital ER shut down for a few weeks.
• Only in Roatan, can you work with in a developing, 3rd world nation on the weekdays, yet spend your weekends in "paradise" on the white sandy beaches. 
• Only in Roatan, do you have to wear bug spray in a screened in house to avoid getting bug bites.  
• Only in Roatan, are scooters made for 4 people.
• Only in Roatan, is it normal to see someone walking around with a machete. 
• Only in Roatan, do you have power outages weekly, just because.
• Only in Roatan, would you find the city filling potholes the day of a triathlon, which has a course using that road.
• Only in Roatan, is a blood sugar of 2 or 300 not alarming.
• Only in Roatan, does is cost 70 L ($3.50) to deliver a baby and 300 L ($15.00) for a hysterectomy.
• Only in Roatan, would a clinic focused on treating/managing diabetes and hypertension have someone selling chips, pop, fried pastelitas, and baleadas (flour tortillas with beans) out front on the porch.  
• Only in Roatan, would I "train" for a triathlon the day before the race which happens to be an Olympic qualifying course, and one of the top 6 most difficult courses at that!
• Only in Roatan, an island only 30 miles long, would you find a Wendy's, ACE Hardware, and Applebee's.

I know there are more things that I am missing, but of course I cannot think of them right now to share with you.  Maybe as I remember them, I will choose to enlighten you with them.  For now, I will be gearing myself up to take on the week ahead.

Buenas Noches!
Laura

Keeping the Faith

Over the past week I got to make my second trip off the island.  This time, I only went as far as La Ceiba (where the ferry takes us) where I worked with a mission group from Texas.  For the past several years, this mission group has been coming down to Honduras to work for a week with an Episcopal Church.  Part of the group works with tutoring the school children, another group works with medical and eye glasses, and the third part of the group works on construction projects.  Myself and 3 other volunteers from Roatan worked with the medical team of course.  Everyday began with breakfast at 6:30, followed by morning prayer before we all headed out our seperate ways.  Tuesday through Thursday, we spent the mornings working in the clinic with the Honduran doctor that is always there.  Dr. Silvio Azure typically sees around 80 patients a week; so anywhere around 20 patients a day.  Upon walking into the clinic the first day, I was rather taken aback.

There was next to nothing in this clinic.  There was an open room that served as their waiting room but there was nothing more than a bench on each side of the room for patients to sit on.  Behind the front desk was not only the files, the bathroom, and the admission area, but the triage area as well.  Triaging consisted of taking a blood pressure, weight, and tempurature.   No chief complaints were gathered, no blood sugar was checked for diabetics, no pulse or pulse oxygenation levels were gathered.  And although the temperature was taken, every temp was either 36 or 37 Celsius- even if they had a fever!  The consult rooms had just about as much- an exam table, a desk, and a couple chairs.  There were a few medical supplies but if there was something you actually needed, chances are it wouldn't be there.  The pharmacy had a smattering of medications, but of course, it lacked many as we waiting all week for the ordered medications to be released from customs.  The "lab" consisted of a chair used as a desk and another chair for the patient to sit in along side the pharmacy out in the hallway. The clinic had a storage room, but the supplies that were in there were mainly eyeglasses.  With very little to work with, I must say, I actually thoroughly enjoyed my time spent in this clinic.  It was very much serving the poor in a location that wasn't all ritzy yet had the essentials to be able to treat these patients adequately and appropriately.  While the clinic lacked in many of the medical/technological advances that are now seen in the health care field in the US, it focused on treating the root causes of the problems (such as nutrition, lifestyle, etc) and left the rest up to God.  These people search out medical treatment but they still keep sight of their faith; for some of these people faith is all they have, but that is enough for them.  This was enhanced even more when we went out to a village, La Linea, on Thursday afternoon to do a health clinic. 

One of the guys that we treated came to us with a problem of not being able to make a fist with one hand because of a machete wound he suffered 5 or 6 years ago.  He was asking us about whether there was a surgery or medications we could give him to correct it.  I had to tell him there were no meds other than some pain pills that we could give him.  I told him they could do an operation to fix his tendons but that was about it.  His response was that he is a poor man and surgery is expensive, is there nothing else he/we can do?  Once again I reiterated that surgery was all that could be done.  Then he wanted to know the likelihood of the surgery actually helping his hand- would he still be able to work out at the plantation?  You see, his first three fingers worked fairly well, they were just a bit weak.  His 4th and 5th fingers however, were straight, unable to be bend due to tendon damage.  Since his accident happened such a long time ago, he would most likely need a tendon graft done as well because the tendons have permanently shortened.  After surgery there would be no guarantee that his hand would be all that much better.  So I told him that surgery was possible but probably not available in Honduras and it would be a complicated surgery.  His reply was that we would just have to pray to God for strength.  I replied, yes, for now all we can do is take meds to control any pain and pray to God for help.  He thanked us and was on his way.  Wow!  Even people with little to nothing, having difficulty working due to injury still have faith in God.  Can we say the same thing?  Would we have this same faith or would we have given up on Him long before?  It's in situations like this that I am reassured that there are people that still have faith and trust in God.  They don't give up easily just because something didn't happen in their favor.  If only more people could see things like this and gain renewed strength and faith in God- even through the hard times.  Then as we were getting ready to leave, he came up to me and asked if I could take a picture of us.  Even though he would never see me again, and never get the picture, I believe he wanted me to have a picture of us so that I could remember our encounter for years to come.  What a great day it was!

So, while almost everyone on the mission group as well as the 3 I traveled with spent a day or two of their time with Montezuma's revenge, I was able to enjoy my week full force and really soak up the work that god was doing in this community.  Not only did I work with the medical team, but I learned a little more advanced way of fitting people for eyeglasses using foropters and constructing glasses to test for astigmatisms and the whole shpeal.  So I guess, if nursing fails, I can always take up optometry!  Working with this mission group allowed me to see what it's like working with a community that is very accepting of a short term mission team coming in and working with them.  Oh how I cannot wait to do more mission trips in the future.  Therefore, at the rate I'm going, I should probably come to appreciate the letters d-e-b-t as I will be seeing them for quite some time!  Save your change folks, it could get you far someday.

Peace and Love to all those at home!!
Laura

True Meanings

It seems like we are constantly celebrating one holiday or another.  But, are we really celebrating the holiday or are we celebrating the commercialism that comes with the holiday?  Most of the holidays have come and gone without me even knowing that they were coming.  If it weren't for the fact that I know the date in which holidays fall, I probably would be none the wiser as to whether it was a holiday or not.  Being removed from all the commercialism associated with any given holiday has made me realize that there is much more to the holidays.  Today is Valentine's Day.  Do any of us really know the history behind this day?  Why do we send people cards; was St. Valentine known for something associated with love or why do we associate the holiday with that?  Since many of you are probably too busy to really sit down and look into the history behind Valentine's Day, allow me to enlighten you.

Not only is there one person known as St. Valentine, but 3.  One was a priest, one a bishop, and the other is heard of only vaguely.  All three of these men were martyrs of the church, and all are remembered on February 14th, but none of them really have any direct relation to the holiday in which we celebrate.  The holiday in which is celebrated today is because of a reference made by the poet Geoffrey Chaucer in his poem Parliament of Foules.  In one stanza he writes, "For this was sent on Saint Valentine's Day, When every foul cometh there to choose his mate."  Because of this reference, people started to associate St. Valentine's Day with a day for couples to celebrate- to send love letters and tokens of love to one another.  The reason for this reference in Chaucer's poem is because it was a common belief in England and France during the middle ages that toward the middle of the second month of the year, birds would begin to choose their mates.  (referenced from NewAdvent.com)  While North American's celebrate with candy, cards, and roses on February 14th, other countries have varying days and ways of celebrating.  Of course, just like many other holidays, Valentine's Day is considered an American culture.  Some countries refer to the holiday as Friend's Day (when you recognize all of your friends, instead of just lovers), others refer to it as Lover's Day, Day of Love and Friendship, or All Heart's Day.  One tradition that I found to be rather interesting was that of South Korea's.  On February 14th, women give chocolate to men; March 14th, men give non-chocolate gifts to women.  On April 14th, those that received nothing on either of the two previous 14th's go to a Chinese restaurant and eat black noodles.  Also in Korea, the 14th of every month is celebrated in some manor to reflect a lover's holiday: Candle Day, Valentine's Day, White Day, Black Day, Rose Day, Kiss Day, Silver Day, Green Day, Music Day, Wine Day, Movie Day, and Hug Day.  Those could be fun celebrations :)  (info from wikipedia).

And there you have it folks, the source of Valentine's Day and its many traditions.  Now that you know where it comes from, feel free to go out and celebrate in whatever way you see fit.  As for me, I'm going to sit inside and enjoy the rain.  Happy Valentine's Day to all my loved ones- family and friends!

xoxo,
Laura