Day 1
Tegucigalpa to Las Mercedes
Some thoughts and observations from the hospital tour:
- the hospital was packed, lined with patients waiting to be seen
- the physical therapy clinic was well stocked with equipment and we were all surprised by the level of care the physical therapist was able to provide
- the hospital primarily cares for traumas, obstetrics, and pediatric, and various neurological deficits
- paper files lined the hallways, open to walking traffic, dating back 20+ years
- meals and basic care needs are met by family
- the hospital sees about 7000 inpatients and 13000 external consults
- the greatest barrier to care is travel expense and accessibility, meanwhile Xrays cost 50 cents to 1 dollar apiece
- the greatest reasons for neonatal admissions is poor prenatal care and mother malnutrition
Some observations and thoughts from the market and town of La Esperanza:
-There were so many dogs around town and all in such poor health. Horribly skinny, tumors, clear evidence of just having puppies
-lots of trash on the road
-no traffic lights, drivers driving very fast, no clear order to traffic
-huge availability of fresh produce
-lots of handmade good for sale
-people of all ages out and about in the street. Community supervision of children.
Beyond the information we were able to gather from our brief encounters in specific communities, we also took the time to observe and contemplate the trends seen from the windows of our bus. Even from the plane ride in, you could see that the landscape was quite barren from deforestation and the harvesting of other resources, making the populations who live in them very vunerable to the elements. There is a thick layer of smog covering most areas, which is a huge indicator for health as most people are exposed to some variety of outdoor labor, be it for their job or for sustaining their families at home. Roadside we saw a large amount of trash, even as we moved into the rural areas. There were many differences in the way of living in the different settings, with urban life revolving more around merchandise and rural life consisting of much more labor-intensive duties. 
These were important learning opportunities for our group to have before our first encounters with the patients of the clinic. If we can aim to understand where people are coming from and what resources are available to them, we have the opportunity to be more aware of how their health beliefs and experiences have been shaped. It is evident that the communities we have seen thus far make do with what resources they have, meaning that some of the things we saw that seemed to be “missing” to us simply did not make the cut on the list of priorities. In comparison to life in the United States where the environment is a product of the people that live in it, the Hondurans are a product of the environment that they live in.
-written by: team absn honduras (josh, katherine, cory, steph)
Shout Outs!!
Zhang family, Nichols Family, CBR Lab, and Olive: I miss you all and hope everything is going well. I barely survived an encounter from a BIG spider. – Wendy
Christianne family: Hola! I hope you guys are enjoying yourselves and just wanted to let you know I was thinking about you. - Christianne
Hello Leslie! Hope you are having fun without me. I miss you, I love you. – Brett
Donna is missing Fortune, Family and Friends. Love and miss you all!
Hello to Amitoz! Love and Miss you!
From Jen: To all my friends and Family: love and miss you!
From the whole Honduras team—Hello and a shout out to all our families. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers.
Penny says hello to Touche and the puppy.
Ray says hello to Claudia.
Hola Lakony! I miss you dearly. Hello to my friends and family. Hope you all are doing well. Love Steph
Hey fam!! I miss you guys and can’t wait to see all the little babies when I get home. Can the boys say Honduras yet?? – Bear
Ethan and Jethro: I hope you both are eating whatever food your hearts desire while I’m away. Missing you both greatly and feeling very appreciative of our little family! Smiths, Wilkinsons, and Geyers: Things are going great and I can’t wait to tell you all about the trip. Love to you all – Katherine
Josh says hello to family and friends. Love and miss y’all.
Hola a las clases de espanol de Rosa. Espero que estan disfrutando su descanso de Rosa. Estudia mucho.