Baby Moises – Good News!

About 3 + years ago, Ed Norton generously supported a child who had a problem with his palate. He could only eat soft foods, not solid foods. He has fondly been known as “Baby Moises.” The Foundation picked up the responsibility and has been providing him with a special formula and medicines as needed. During this time, several operations were scheduled, but for many reasons were cancelled.
A team of doctors from Chicago, specializing in palate and plastic surgery, were in town about 2 weeks ago. They stayed at Martha’s ranch and performed surgery at the Quimistan hospital. Moises was one of the patients they treated.

We had the opportunity to visit with him this morning. He is doing very well and can now enjoy all foods. We praise God for bringing Baby Moises these doctors and the chance for a normal life in the future.

Ken and June

Teo Part 2

Testing for Reading Glasses
We had the opportunity to offer eye exams for adults who had difficulty reading. Maynor, Vilma and Ken set up their office in one of the classrooms. We had the opportunity to examine 37 people, and 30 walked away with a pair of glasses. One 70 year old woman could barely read the second line on the eye chart. We were able to give her a pair of glasses, and she read the bottom line perfectly. With tears in her eyes, she thanked us and said she was going home to bring out her sewing.

Community Background Questionnaire
Karen Livingston developed a questionnaire for use in the villages to help us all better understand the environment.  While eye testing was underway, Juan Jose, the village leader, was keeping the children occupied.  June interviewed him and they had a lot of laughs  learning about the background of the village.

P.S. For those of you who have been to Teo the ride up and down is as thrilling as ever!  Ken and June

A Day In Teo

Meeting with Village Leaders
The day started out with a meeting with 12 of the village leaders to get an update on their current priorities.  Water, which was their #1 priority in January is now a critical need.  Allen is the water expert and will have lots more news.

Women’s Roundtable
June met with the women of the village to understand their concerns.  Sometimes we see things differently.  Water was on the top of their list of preoccupations too.  Next was the need for a molino, a machine that grinds wet corn into masa, the stuff that becomes tortillas.  Currently the grinding is done by hand and is very labor intensive.  The ladies want one the community could share. What a blessing they are thinking of ways to benefit the whole village. 

The photo below is of Iris, the midwife, and Vilma, the wife of the village leader.

Story of the nebulizer and the inverter
Thanks to the creativity of Bruce Eberhard we were able to run a nebulizer in TEO. Using an inverter, which can operate from a car battery, we powered up the nebulizer. On the next visit of our doctor, people in the village with asthma and respiratory problem will be able to be treated more effectively.

Visiting the Agape Promises Youth

Several of our AP sponsors asked us to bring letters and small gift packages to their children. We had the opportunity to meet with the children individually. This was another “watch for God” moment. The love, joy and happiness was so obvious that it brought tears to your eyes. We gave them all a special hug from their sponsor. Several pictures below show the children.

Medical Brigade Update

We had the blog done last night and then we had a power failure and lost everything. We will try again this morning.
We met with Dr. Consentino early yesterday morning. He is the doctor who is pinch-hitting for Dr. Elsa during her pregnancy (no baby yet). We focused on the Community Health Care Workers being trained in La Montanita and Teo. He was very impressed with their spirit of cooperation and willingness to work together.  As you may know, the CHCW will become our first line of defense in treating medical problems in these villages. He is very enthusiastic about this effort and optimistic that it will be very successful. He will help us develop a process for identifying the specific procedures the CHCW will have to be trained in. As they progress, the doctors will  then evaluate each procedure and will certify they are now full fledged CHCW

Back On The Busito

Back on the busito
After a few delays with luggage our 3 amigos were waiting for us outside of customs with the busito.  What a joy to see Maynor, Obed and Marco. 

All the 5 bags were loaded and off we went to pick up some meds at the pharmacy in San Pedro Sula.  After unloading our bags at Martha and Gary´s we headed off to the hospital to deliver the supplies donated by Aiken Regional and Cedar Creek Church.  Drs Turcios and Constantino gave us a warm welcome  and were delighted with the supplies.

More news tomorrow.  Ken and June

Dia Diez – Final Thoughts & Reflections

Dia Diez – Final Thoughts & Reflections
It’s really all about the children!  Starting with the 7 first-graders at the White Dove School, the feeding of the children in Tejeras, the Sunday morning worship with Martha’s children on top of the hill, to the school children spitting out the fluoride liquid.  They are why I come and why I cry when I leave.  It really is all about the children!
George
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What a great week!!  Randy, Karen, and I have been truly blessed by the children once again, and also our other Honduran friends who try so hard to make us at home.  We love being of service as Jesus has commanded us, but we also miss home – especially the snow.
Charlie
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At the end of the day, I am totally exhausted, both physically and mentally, but couldn’t feel better.  That pretty much sums it up for me.  God has blessed me beyond measure this week …. but I was disappointed to miss the snow.
Karen
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Reflection on the work done and the folks that were hopefully helped did not lead me to a neat list that I could write home about. When one is counseling without counseling and instructing by asking questions, faith becomes operational. It seems that this is God’s way. Projects were launched and goals were agreed upon. Great expectations have begun.  And we were there. It seems that there is not a better use of our time.
Lee
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What an upgrade from last year!  The dental clinic was air-conditioned. Everyone’s attitude was upbeat and encouraging.  Our goals were accomplished with God’s help.  It is sad to leave knowing so much more is needed, but I take comfort that God’s Plan will always be done.
Randy
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I didn’t fully know what to expect when coming to Honduras this time.  I knew it wasn’t a construction trip, like my last, 5 years ago.  I really enjoyed getting out beyond Q’town and visiting some of the many villages the Foundation works with.  I also enjoyed playing Dental Tech.  Overall it was a fulfilling week and a half for both my physical and spiritual self.
Dane
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“Blessed beyond measure” are the first words that come to my mind.  I am blessed by the privilege of bringing love and a better life to the wonderful people of Honduras, blessed through working with a great, untiring team, blessed by my family and friends at home, and thankful to almighty God whose Plan put this trip together and brought it to a successful conclusion.
Tommy
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…and God’s people said, “Amen!”

Chicken and Toothpaste in Tejeras

George, Lee, and Tommy attended the feeding at Tejeras Friday afternoon during a light rain. Unfortunately, the chairs had not been delivered, so the children sat on the concrete slab and fought off the chickens to eat their meal. Gloria prepared one of her delicious meals, chicken pastalitas, which the children enjoyed as much or more than we do.
 
  
  
After all have been fed, seconds are offered.  The girl below is packing up her second portion to take home for later.
Tommy demonstrated proper tooth brushing technique, and I distributed 60 toothbrush/toothpaste sets.
 
  
George

Dia Nueve – A Busy Morning at the Clinic

This morning’s clinic had its lighter moments, such as 8-year-old Arlinton and 7-year-old Jessy.  Both returned from having extractions yesterday to have their teeth polished.  Jessy giggled throughout the polishing process, and Karen had to laugh at the way Arlinton swaggered out of the room when he was done, as if to say, “There’s nothing to this dentist stuff.”
More often, however, there is much pain and trauma.
We arrived this morning to see 12 patients of all ages from Santa Clara.  I believe some  of them had never seen a dentist, and most did not appear to be familiar with a toothbrush.
  
It was sad to see such a cute little 5-year-old with such a bad set of teeth.  Even her mother could not  bear to watch her teeth being pulled as she comforted the child.
The toughest case of the morning, however, was that of Maria.  This 22-year-old teaches at the White Dove School, where we met her last Friday.  After enduring 3 composite filings, she held up through 2 difficult molar extractions, both of which were broken below the gum line to start with, and decayed down into the roots, requiring extensive oral surgery. 
I didn’t get many pictures of this lovely but tough young lady, as I was holding her hand for at least 2 of the 3 hours she was in the chair.  Some were kidding her about going back to the classroom this afternoon, but I told her she could take the rest of the day off!
The afternoon session was just as busy, mostly with the AP kids, but I was otherwise occupied.
Tommy