From NY/HELP August Mission

Late last night "Dr Gordon" posted to Facebook:

"Greetings to all from Honduras. We are back in the city of San Pedro Sula after a great trip to the mountain village of La Laguna in the mountains near Yoro. Muchas gracias for all your prayers and support."

Mission Trip Arrives in Honduras

    The six people on the August mission trip to Honduras left yesterday morning from two airports, half from Buffalo and half from Syracuse.  They met in Atlanta and continued together to Honduras.

   The group was met at the airport by Yovany Munguía, our in-country coordinator, & Cristhian Amaya, who grew up in La Laguna & now works in San Pedro Sula. Cristhian had his boss's pickup which took the group's bags to Yoro, where they spent the night. There they met Bill Briggs, who began the NY/HELP program more than 25 years ago and now heads Honduras Hope. They visited the student boarding house & Cever (vocational school). Then they had dinner with Bill.

   The group goes up the mountain to La Laguna Friday, Aug 8.
   Thank you all for your interest and support.

August NY/HELP Mission Trip to Honduras Begins

The 3 NY/HELPers leaving from Buffalo Airport left early this morning. They will meet the other 3 at the Atlanta Airport and all will arrive in Honduras before noon, Honduras time.

 

As we hear from the group during their time in Honduras, more information will be posted.

One Report from May 2014 Trip

Submitted by Phil Schedlbauer

After some ten years of encouragement, I finally made the trip to Honduras. I went with few expectations, this being my very first use of a brand new passport.  Once on the mountain, I was very impressed with the friendliness of everyone that we met.  The second day at Lalagua, we inspected the water system and shown the planting practices for beans, corn, coffee, and other crops. My lack of Spanish skills did not hamper my understanding of what was being explained, only my inability to ask questions.  The next day we hiked to Mescales, where most of our work was done.  The mountain views were beautiful and the small glimpses of family life were in sharp contrast to life in the U.S.

I found the tribe to be a hard working group that was willing to work together on the projects completed in the lower villages.  There was always a group of men and teenagers willing to help at each site.  The teenagers carried the forty pound boards two at a time to the work sites, a distance of 1/4 mile to two miles, without a complaint or hesitation.  I enjoyed each project.  I have learned how to frame a small house, install the roof, and to construct latrines while working with the locals.  I was not prepared for the gratitude expressed by individual families, students, and teachers for the simple gift of a latrine.  The ceremony (student skits, songs, speeches, music) at Sunday's soccer matches was very unexpected and never to be forgotten.

I have made donations to charitable causes, but this was the first time I have directly involved with the benefit of those donations.  The joy of students receiving school supplies and soccer balls, students and families posing with their new latrines, sharing a 3 liter bottle of coke with a group of children, working together on projects was very fulfilling and humbling. We were welcomed into many homes and treated like honored guests where ever we went. 

I look forward to returning to the mountain to work with the locals on other projects that we can assist with.  I would like to thank NYHelp for providing me this opportunity and I encourage others to make the trip.

Expanding Health Services

Amigos of NY/HELP,

During our May 2014 mission trip to La Laguna, David Makepeace and our coordinator Yovany Munguía had discussions with Seydy Roseli Aquilar, the head nurse at the Health Center in La Habana, about ways to improve the health care available to the communities around La Laguna and La Habana.   
The Health Center in La Habana sits along the main road to the "county seat" of Yoro (about 25 miles away), and provides the next level of assistance to the people of these mountains.   This is where our nurse Mirtila refers patients who require more medical care than she can provide at the clinic in La Laguna.
This project would definitely augment and improve the level of care available to the people of the coummunities around La Laguna with whom we have been working for the past 25 years.   I recommend we consider assisting in this infrastructure improvement.

Gordon F Comstock, MD
Health Advisor, NY/HELP Honduras

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

YORO, DEPARTMENT  OF YORO                     27/May/2014

Mr. David Makepeace
Coordinating Group New York Help

Dear Sir.

It is pleasing to say hello and wish you success in all your endeavors.

Through this I am writing to you in the first instance in order to recognize the charitable work done on behalf of low-income families, and encourage you to continue projecting yourself socially in our country.

After welcoming you to the following step, the main objective of this note is to request financial support according to your means, in improving the infrastructure of the health center “Leonidas Padilla” in La Habana, Yoro, and the donation of medical equipment to establish a clinical laboratory.

This application is supported by the care needs of the population of 5,543 people in a total of 32 villages, including the people attending the Clinic of La Laguna de Mataderos, because it is difficult to carry out medical lab examinations, as these laboratories are only found in the departmental capital of Yoro, Yoro, located a long distance from their communities.

Attached to this note are the respective budgets [for a small building for a clinical lab, and for the needed lab equipment.].

Sincerely,

Seydy Roseli Aguilar Padilla
Bachelor of Nursing (R.N.)
Health Center "Leonidas Padilla"
La Habana, Yoro

 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

MATERIALES DE CONSTRUCCION

No.	DESCRIPCION	UNIDAD	CANTIDAD	TOTAL
1	Cemento	25 bolsas	Lps. 165.00 c/u	Lps. 4,125.00
2	Cal para pulido	30 bolsas	95.00 c/u	5,850.00
3	Cerámica	60 metros	150.00 c/mt	9,000.00
4	Pegatec	12 bolsas	80.00 c/u	960.00
5	Fraguado	2 bolsas	95.00 c/u	190.00
6	Mano de Obra			13,500.00
TOTAL				Lps.33,625.00 (US $1680.00)

EQUIPO PARA LABORATORIO

No.	DESCRIPCION
1	1 Microscopio Olimpos o Nikon
2	1 Centrifuga
3	1 Micro centrífuga
4	1 Espectrofometro
5	1 Rotador
6	1 Encubadora
7	1 Gradilla
8	1 Autoclave
9	1 Horno para secador de material
10	1 doppler para escuchar los latidos del corazón  del bebe

May Group Had Successful Mission

We just received a phone call from the May Group.  They have completed their work and are now taking a day or so to visit the Mayan ruins at Copan.

They built a house, and made eight latrines, among their other projects. 

More information will come shortly.

May Group Arrives in Honduras

The five-member NY/HELP group left for Honduras early this morning for their 10 day stay.  They called  around 5pm to say they had safely arrived in San Pedro Sula, Honduras and had made the trip to Yoro where they were staying the night in a hotel there.  Tomorrow they will head up the mountain to La Laguna to begin their work.