Amigos De Honduras Program 2015 Summary

Posted by Chris Parkinson 
 
Over the last fifteen years, Rotary District 7870 (60 Rotary Clubs in Southern NH and Southern VT) have had 26 mission trips and provided aid to Honduras which is the second poorest country in the western hemisphere.  Twenty(20) trips to Danli and Six(6) to San Pedro Sula.

Amigos De Honduras is a program of the Rotary District 7870 Foundation, which is a non-profit corporation, and two of the trustees of the foundation are Dr. Rich Berryman and Chris Parkinson.  

Since 2001, Amigos De Honduras has concentrated its efforts in four areas:
  • Medical Care -   We have seen approximately 23,000 medical and dental patients.   
  • Medical Equipment and Supplies
    • Over 11 Tons of Medical Supplies Transported by Team Members
    • 7 – 40’ Containers of Medical Equip. & Supplies
    • 3 Ambulances shipped
  • School Construction & Education – We have constructed 6 schools, expanded 2 schools, and converted 2 other buildings into schools.  We have repaired and painted 18 schools, and have also worked on a youth center and a drug rehabilitation facility.   We have also provided school uniforms to over 600 students – which are required for children to attend school.  
  • Pure Water  -  Working with another 501c3 Rotary partner, Pure Water for the World, we have installed or funded over 10,000 water filters, which provide clean water to more than 50,000 people. We have also provided wells and latrines to several villages.
This year saw two Mission teams travel to Danli, Honduras.  The first did so on February 7-15, 2015, and the team of 30 people was led by five people; Dave Lawrence led the construction of another school in San Marcos Abajo; Jim Magennis led a Pure Water and Sanitation team to Trojes; Dr. Dan Caloras and Anne Stelmash led the Medical and Dental team; and Doug Lawrence assisted with logistics.  While not traveling with the team this year, Chris Parkinson coordinated all activity of the team travel, Project scope, and coordinated with the Foundation Treasurer with respect to all financial activity.
 
The second team was a Rotaract team from Castleton State College in Vermont.  The Rotaract Leader was Maria Burt and the team leaders/advisors were Caren Helm and Doug Bohlman.   They traveled to Danli on February 15 – 23, 2015. 
 
San Marcos Abajo School
 
A great deal was accomplished during the 8 days of the trip.  Working with a local Hondurans from the village of San Marcos Abajo which was about 8 kilometers outside of Danli.    In 2014 we built a school for the village’s kindergarten which was to become   “The Mary Crooker Escuela”.  In 2015, we returned to San Marcos Abajo to build a second school for first and second grade.  As noted above, the project leader for the school was Dave Lawrence. 
 
A report from Dave Lawrence – Construct Team Leader:
 
The entire group seemed to mesh very well.  My son, niece and nephew also had a great experience. I was amazed on how far we got with the school.  When I arrived on Wednesday, not a blade of grass had been disturbed on the building sight, I was worried that we might spend the entire week digging holes.   Apparently, the Danli Rotarians laid down the law and told the locals that we would not build the school if they didn't get started on the project.  By Friday when I returned to see how they had progressed, they had all the footings dug out and filled with rebar.  About 1/2 of them were already poured with concrete and stone.  It was a phenomenal amount of work in that very hard clay soil. I was also very impressed by the turnout of local children (ages 7-13) who also came every day and supplied a tremendous amount of work.  They moved dirt, carried concrete blocks, sand and mortar. In fact, if we were not quick enough on the shovel at the sand pile, these kids would get on their hands and knees and hand paddle the sand into their own bucket!   I'll bet they saved us an extra day worth of work with all their help.  Our construction crew was the smallest with 4 or 5 members until Wednesday when the water team returned. We then had up to 10 folks.  That got a bit crowded and it was hard keeping everyone busy.  The three Hondurans that worked the project were good and tackled most of the technical aspects of the construction.  They were appreciative of the shovels, gloves, and trowels we left them with. Of course Mike and Nick got sucked into a soccer game at the end of each day and some of these kids are future stars.
The Mary Crooker School is in the foreground and the new school is behind it and there was a dedication celebration of the new school with Danli Rotary Club President, Raul Sevilla, at the head table. 
 
 
San Marcos Abajo - School Uniforms
 
Once again Tosh Stickney of the team and her elementary school class were able to raise money for uniforms.  The Danli Rotary Club identified a number of children that were not attending school due to not having a uniform and we were able to fund 15 children’s uniforms at $35 each (this also included shoes).  These uniforms were presented to the students at a special ceremony at the new school being built at San Marcos Abajo. 
 
The Medical and Dental Team
 
Over 7 days, the team held clinics in El Paraiso,  in El Pozo Bendito, in San Marcos Abajo, in Camelias, in El Llano and El Tablon, in Hogar de Ancianos Presidio, and also visited the Danli Prison, and the Danli Nursing Home.  Over the 7 days, the medical team saw nearly 1800 patients and teh dental team 200 patients.
 
A Report by Medical Team Leader Anne Stelmash, APRN:
 
We had 2 MD's  3 NP/PA's, 2 Residents, 2 dentists, 1 dental assist, 1 RN, and many remarkable alternate team members.  Local Danli Rotarians also were present every day to assist with the translations.   Filled approx 1200 prescriptions (not including handouts of vitamins, Tylenol, and other OTC medications).  Providers saw 1800 patients.    4 providers were actively seeing patients each day while 2 providers were in pharmacy.  2 dentists had 1 assistant and 2 alternate assistants each day.   We also went to the prison, nursing home and toured the Danli hospital.   Our team as a whole graciously donated funds to repair an ambulance at the Cesamo El Pariaso Govt Clinic that was in need of a "water pump".   Luis and Ricardo also helped with the logistics.   We received word that the repair was completed and the ambulance was back running and transporting patients, usually maternity deliveries with complications to either the Danli hospital or TGU.    Another great year!!
               Dr. Dan Caloras               Concord’s Family Health Dr. Doug Dreffer    Ambulance which we had repaired
              Amigos Medical Director            & Charlestown NH Dr. Dan Caloras                                                                
 
This year’s team also included two dentists, Jim Wright from Fairhaven, VT, and  Carl Feirrara from Bristol, Rhode Island, and they traveled to the same locations as the medical team.  We also had one trained dental assistant, Julie Disorda, from Benson, VT. In addition,  members of the medical team, and several of the non-medical team members, filled this role.  Over the 7 days, approximately 200 patients were seen and 220 teeth were extracted.
 
The team also provided several dental education sessions and gave out over 200 tooth brushes and toothpaste that NE Delta Dental and others had provided.
Dentist Jim Wright From Fairhaven VT    Dentist Carl Feirrara and  Assistant Julie Disorda