Friday, Jan 4: Landing in Honduras

On Friday (1/4) I arrived at the Tegucigalpa Toncontin Airport in Honduras. What a ride! Because of the mountains and short runway, the plane has to descend rapidly and bank very hard. I honestly thought the wing of the plane was going to touch the rooftops. It was such a scary landing that everyone cheers and claps when you land. Check out the video link of the airplane to the right.

Saturday, Jan 5: Riding up the Mountain

After driving 4-hours from Tegucigalpa, we settled into our host family homes in the village of El Cropus. On Saturday (1/5) the entire group headed up the mountain to Madrugales.

We loaded onto a flat-bed truck and traveled an hour up a rocky, dirt road. We passed fantastic views of the canyon and hills. The colors were very vibrant and the air smelled clean -- except for the occasional dust cloud that enveloped the truck every time a school bus passed by.

We confronted many things along the road, including smiling people waving at the gringos. My favorite were the heard of cows. Check out the video below:

Sunday, Jan 6: Dental Clinic in Los Terreros

A group of us traveled to the small village of Los Terreros on Sunday (1/6) to set up clinic. We had to travel 2 hours on a dirt road, standing up in a flat-bed truck. Los Terreros was very rural, small village - no electricity, no running water. The people were extremely humble, affectionate, and appreciative of the work.

We set up the clinic on the front porch of the school (the MDs and RNs set up their clinics inside). The sheets were to add some privacy, but many local kids couldn't resist peeking through the corners to see what was going on!

We saw 54 patient in 3 days and extracted a total of 74 teeth while we were in Los Terreros. My assistant and new best friend Gene was invaluable and a great asset.

Monday, Jan 7: Life in Los Terreros

Los Terreros was beautiful, especially at night. With no electricity, flashlights and lanterns were a necessity. Our host family in Los Terreros was an elderly woman named Reina. What a firecracker! She kept her house maticulate and yard well-groomed. We slept in hammocks during our stay in Los Terreros -- not quite the most relaxing sleep. And at 4 am EVERY morning I was awaken to crowing roosters and barking dogs.

On the first night Gene and I were there, we asked to see the shower (since we were smelly and sweaty from a day's work). Guided by flashlights, Reina showed us where the shower was -- about 50 feet in front of the front porch. There was no shower curtains either. After agreeing with Gene that this was indeed the shower, that night we proceeded to bathe as Reina's family congregated on the front porch. Since it was pitch black, I had to manuever my flashlight so that if someone was looking toward my direction, they would be looking into the light.

It was 8:00 pm and trying to bathe with a bucket in complete darkness while hiding yourself from onlookers was difficult. I told Gene that I gave the people on the front porch a good show. Well, during the next day of clinic a young woman entered our operatory, smiling ear to ear. It didn't dawn on me, but Gene recognized the girl and asked if she was staying at the same house we were at. She smiled even larger. In English, Gene said, "Looks like she saw the 8:00 show!"

And funny enough, that same girl was on the front porch the next night!

Wednesday, Jan 9: Dental Clinic in Madrugales

On Wednesday (1/9) I joined the group going to Madrugales, where I would spend the next 3 days in the dental clinic. When we arrived at the clinic (located at an established school house and local meeting facilities) there were TONS of people lined up, waiting for their daily appointments. Since Madrugales was a central location for people, there were no shortage of patients.

As in Los Terreros, Gene organized setting up the dental clinic. The dental clinic was located outside, nestled in between two other buildings. We had to place sheets up on both sides as well as over our heads to block the sun -- it was HOTTER in Madrugales.

We always had a lunch break, where we would have packed lunches that our host families made for us each day. Angle, a volunteer translator from the group, often organized a game of futbol for the kids during the lunch hour.

In Madrugales I was fortunate to have two other volunteers in the dental clinic: one was Dave, a 19-year old who never worked in a dental clinic. After I thoroughly prepared the tooth, I passed the forceps over to Dave to give the final pull. Can you say 'future dentist'? Below is a short video of my work:




For the 3 days that the dental clinic saw patients in Madrugales, we treated 87 patients and extracted 130 teeth.

Thursday, Jan 10: Life in El Corpus

El Corpus is just an hour outside Choluteca, nestled along the mountain. The streets are cobblestones and is probably centuries old. I snapped this cute picture of boys walking to school one morning as Gene and I were heading out for the day.

I lived with a fantastic family: Gernara and Alfredo. Their house has beautiful views of the foothills and steller sunsets. I took this picture one evening as we were eating dinner on their patio.

The people were amazing. Some traveled 2-4 hours in the morning to be seen by us. The dental clinic took the first 28 people for each day, and then told the rest they may not be seen. Each day we saw more and more people. One day we treated 38 people... thank goodness for Advil! I snapped the picture below of a father and son during our lunch break.

And the bugs: there were plenty of critters. Especially super large grasshoppers. This picture was taken outside the clinic in Madrugales. It quickly jumped and flew away; it was so large that it looked like a bird flying!

Saturday, Jan 12: Day in Teguz

On Saturday (1/12) we left our host families in El Corpus and traveled via a yellow school bus over dirt and paved roads to the capitol, Tegucigalpa. The trip took 4 hours and plenty of Ibuprofen.

Known locally as "Teguz", the capitol was sprawling with a distinct class separation of "the haves" and "the have-nots". Shanty towns lined the highway as we occasionally passed massive, landscaped homes. As all the roads were paved, there wasn't a constant dust cloud.

The central market with the cathedral was crowded with people on the warm sunny afternoon. I bought gifts and took many pictures, some of which are shown above.

We setteled into our hotel (the luxurious Hotel MacArthur with hot water and a pool) and explored the city. What a treat to end the trip with your own queen bed, tv and warm bath!

Sunday, Jan 13: Last Day in Honduras

We left Tegucigalpa on Sunday (1/13) and before going to the airport, I stopped by a local park and snapped a few pictures with Gene. The park had many replicas of Mayan ruins, which were closed off to the public. But after asking permission by a park employee, Gene and I scaled the fences and took some great shots of us on top of the ruins.

The flight home was long, especially going through customs in Miami. But, I made it home by 11 pm that night safe and sound. Due to some luck, I was upgraded to First Class on my flight from Miami - an excellent way to end a very physically and emotionally charged trip.

I appreciate the opportunity to participate with this mission trip. It was richly rewarding both for the people who came to the clinic and for the providers. I hope to do it again in the future.

Random Pictures

Here are a few pictures from others in the group. The was our truck that we boarded daily to travel an hour up the mountain to Madrugales.




We encountered frequent traffic jams like this in Honduras.

A snapshot of my dental instrument set-up... it looks scary than it really is.

And finally, two cute reasons why this trip was so fun! The girl in yellow is named Samantha and she was a riot. Both girls knew how to dance up a storm and were always giggling.