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Difficulties of Getting Aid In Honduras
With the difficult terrain it is not easy to bring aid into the small villages in rural Honduras. Most supplies must be brought in by four-wheel drive truck over sometimes very treacherous dirt roads. Buses traveling between the large cities often get stuck, relying or hoping for locals with
large draft animals to pull them out. Nearly every four-wheel drive vehicle that makes the journey has shovels in the back or behind the seat. When non-profit groups need to bring in machines or building supplies it is often nearly impossible to get them into the villages and this makes building a slow process.
Often volunteers ride in the back holding down the equipment and or building materials, keeping their arms inside the truck or they get mudded. Still other times they must get out to prevent the vehicle from bogging down in the mud when it gets stuck. "It is a bumpy ride to say the least" stated one recent volunteer.
The bumpy ride can damage materials or machines and tools being brought in and it is a long way back to civilization to get replacement parts. Thus a simple job can takes weeks and depending on the season, perhaps months to get thru a mountain pass road which is closed due to a landslide. The more remote the village the tougher it becomes. A simple construction project such as building a school, church or miniature sewer treatment plant could take months or sometimes have to wait to be finished season or even next year.
Assistance from North America
Much of the AID that comes into Honduras comes from other countries, although there are many religious groups there that really work hard to help the locals help themselves. As the country's network of churches and organizations grows stronger we see that all the hard work from the volunteers who come from North America is paying off.
Doctors and Medical Missions
Often Hospitals, University Medical Students and practicing doctors will organize groups and come to the rural areas of Honduras to assist people. Many Church groups will also recruit doctors, nurses and medical professionals to come along or have such members already in their groups who will volunteer. The combination of all these medical missions is awesome.
The UB Church is one group that travels to Southern Honduras to the many Mountain Villages, which have little if any medical care. They take with them doctors, medical assistants, physical therapy people, nurses, dentists and EMTs. Like most groups they land at the Capital City of Tegucigalpa and then take buses and sometimes pick-ups into the villages. Volunteers often pay their own way; others are sponsored at $1200 each. They figure that;
"If at least one physician accompanies the team, we can purchase enough medication to assist with 1000 patients for a very small cost."
Their strategy seems to be paying off as during each medical mission they are assisting more and more people who are in desperate need of medical attention.
Another medical group from Austin Texas from "The St. Williams Medical Missionary Team" which is a private group relying solely on personal donations. They told of some pretty bad cases of infections and about the long lines of those in need of medical help. Due to the high volumes of people needing help things must be set up very quickly turning the building into a drop-in health clinic with lines as far as you can see.
"When we set-up our clinics, we often have very sick and dirty dogs running around “from one office to the other”.
For more information now go to: http://www.mymedicalmissions.com or http://www.drnathaliefiset.com
Source: www.a1articles.com