Jefferson College of Health Sciences Faculty, Staff and Students Undertake a Medical Mission to Honduras 

Click here to see daily blog updates of the Mission Trip from team members.

Linda Rickabaugh, M.S.N., Associate Professor in the JCHS Nursing Program, and A. Michelle Hartman, JCHS Nursing Faculty in Pediatric Nurse Practitioner, will lead a team traveling to Honduras on a Medical Mission from Oct. 11-19, 2008. 

In addition to Linda and Michelle, the team is composed of six students from the JCHS B.S.N. program (Grace Yu, Nneka Okoye, Teal Clark, Kaylee McMahan, Sybil Calhoun and Courtney Barger) and JCHS and Carilion Clinic employees Lisa Allison-Jones, Becky Clark, Monty Gross and Theresa Kern, who will act as nurse faculty mentors. A total of 15 will make up the team.

They will spend five days organizing and implementing medical clinics and see 1,500 to 2,000 people in mountain villages for general healthcare, eye care, parasite treatment and health education and referral. In addition, Linda and Michelle will be conducting a research project while in Honduras on cultural competence, funded by an internal grant from JCHS.

The team will leave Roanoke by bus at 3 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 11 and then leave Greensboro at about 7 a.m. Updates on the trip will be posted on this webpage throughout the trip.

More information about this mission trip, as well as the Friends of Barnabas Foundation, which oversees the trips, visit their website at http://www.fobf.org/. On the site, you can learn more about the missions, how the Foundation helps care for the people of Honduras and even sign up to receive online journals updating our team's trip. 

Friday and Saturday, Oct. 17-18, 2008
Dear friends,

We were unable to send a journal for Friday's clinic due to technical difficulties (i.e., it was raining and we could not establish an internet connection). We went to a lovely village, Los Horconcitos. We were impressed by the schools, which included elementary, secondary, and technical studies. The teachers and students were welcoming and interested in us and the services we brought. Of great interest to many of us was the cocina (kitchen) behind the elementary school. It included an open air wood burning stove where the senoras were cooking arroz y leche (a traditional rice and milk dish).

We saw many folks, including several with tonsillitis we also saw a young woman with two small children who had an infected wound on her leg. Several of us had opportunities to play and interact with the children. Grace played her guitar and Bruce printed photos that he shared with the families who came to the clinic.

On Saturday we went to a public hospital in San Pedro Sula. This approximately 800 bed hospital serves people from the west and north part of the country. The chief nursing officer graciously showed us around the facility. As in many places, the need vastly outstripped the capacity. It was both sad and encouraging to see the staff working with limited resources to meet the needs of the patients and families. 

Afterwards, we went to the market and enjoyed seeing the local crafts.

We will all certainly remember what we have and what we have to share.
It has been a pleasure and a privilege to participate in this service.

Lisa and Becky for Team #10

Thursday, Oct. 16, 2008
Today we visited a village 2 1/2 hours from Barnabas House - Las Lomas.
No FOBF team had previously served this village. A family from this village had requested that a team come after their son had reconstructive surgery for cleft lip. The village was very clean and the community was excited to have us visit. The community director met us at the road to escort us into his village.

FOBF's Pascuala Martinez presenting her health
and hygeine lessons to the people of Las Lomas.
(You may notice that Melvin Flores (on left) has a bullhorn,
but Pascuala can do just fine without it.)

We had a VERY busy day and it seemed as if everyone had an infection of some sort. Between the three clinic areas, we served approximately 600 people in five hours.
 
"Optomistrist" Dean Rickabaugh was pleased to fit a 12 year old, Juan Carlos Estrada, with glasses which were given as a gift by Caitlin Schoemmel - a special friend of FOBF. The picture (at top) is of Juan, Dean, and interpreter Oscar.  The right pair of eyeglasses truly means the world to the person who receives them - if you have old eyeglasses, please donate them to FOBF.  If you can organize an ongoing collection at your church or workplace, please do so.  
 
We noticed that there were an unusual number of elderly villagers- with the oldest being a 90 year old man.  It is evident that the people of Las Lomas are dedicated to helping those in need.
 
We have definately been feeling the effects of Tropical Depression 16 - it has rained for most of the last three days, but it has not kept us from reaching our villages each day. Our spirits were uplifted after a long journey home by a devotion and special song lead by Courtney and Grace. We are looking forward to a restful night and a new adventure tomorrow.
 
Bruce Jones for TEAM #10

Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2008
We went to La Vueltosa today!  We were told that FOBF hadn't been to the village in over 3 years!! It was a beautiful village on top of the mountain.  Elmer, the bus driver for FOBF, got us through some really dangerous roads that were wet and muddy from the rain. The people of La Vueltosa met us at the school, graciously helping us with our medical supplies.

 Today we served over 450 people who presented with illnesses such as strep throat, tonsillitis, cough, fever, fungal infection, high blood pressure, asthma, etc.  Breathing treatments were given to one really sick child who had been wheezing for quite sometime.  We were just thankful that we could be there for him at that time.  Stickers were given to all the little muchachos and muchachas who came through the clinic.  It really touched our hearts to make these kids smile. We are all so happy to serve these people not only medically but spiritually.

Tomorrow we are headed out to Las Lomas which is almost 3 hours away from the Barnabas House.  We have to get up extra early tomorrow :-(

We love and miss everyone!
 
Bruce Jones for TEAM #10

Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2008
Good Morning Friends,
 
Today we went to the village of El Higueron. We had a great adventure getting there in the bus. We hit every pothole there was. It was up in the mountains and clouds, cool and breezy much to our delight. After it rained, it started to get a little humid but we were done by that point.
 
The school where we ended up (at the top of the mountain) was very clean and well kept. They had two rooms and electricity with lots of desks and chairs for us to work with. The only critters that we had to deal with today were the random local "perros" (dogs). We saw more patients today than yesterday but it seems more relaxed. We are starting to get the hang of how things should go and are becoming more organized. Maybe we'll be pros by week's end.

Some of the highlights of the day were several crosses (the necklaces we give to someone that touches our hearts) that were given away.  We also valued our time with the elderly, the children, and the interactions between teammates. For example, Kaylee gave her cross to a little girl who stayed by her side all day.
 
One of the dear older people was a woman of the tender age of eighty-five who had severe arthritis but was so grateful and sweet. The children were very sweet and helpful and at one point were applying stickers for Bruce as he filled deworming medications. The team has just increased in our bonding experiences and growing in our appreciation for each other and everyone we serve in Honduras. We are headed to La Vueltosa bright and early in the morning and look forward to what that may bring.
 
Hasta Luego (until later),
Bruce Jones for Team #10    

 
The nursing students were able to experience listening to abnormal lung sounds with one particular person. We treated all different kinds of illnesses from colds, ringworm, dermititis, pain, and asthma.
 
The area we were in was quite flooded, and muddy. The building we set up clinic for was not conductive to having a medical clinic (i.e. bats in the eye clinic, etc). But we adapted. 

 
There was a hotel connected to the building and they provided tables for us, and the use of their restroom. Nonetheless, we served the community through grace and mercy which was the theme of our devotion tonight that was lead by one of our team members, Monty.

 
p.s. shout out to Michelle Hartman, she is here!  
shout out to Jefferson College of Health Sciences and all our friends and family!
Tomorrow we´re off to El Higueron :)
 
Bruce Jones for Team #10

 
Most of our team is from the Jefferson College of Health Sciences in Roanoke, VA and Carilion Clinic:
Linda & Dean Rickabaugh
Lisa Allison-Jones
Bruce Jones
Pastor Dave Calhoun
Monty Gross
Theresa Kern
Becky Clark
nursing students:
Courtney Barger
Teal Clark
Sybil Calhoun, RN
Nneka Okoye
Grace Yu
Kaylee McMahan

Sunday, Oct. 12, 2008
Hola,
 
Sunday we spent the day as our Cultural day touring Comyagua. The bus ride took us about two hours to get there and the roads were curvy. There was a lot of construction going on along the Pan-American highway. We met up with some friends of Grace that she had previously lived with while she was here in the Peace Corps. They ate lunch with us and visited a museum with artifacts of the Catholic Church that dated back to the 15th Century. We also toured the Catholic Church and it was beautiful. At the parque central, the Catholic church had a mural shadow of its building made by colored stones. Being a Sunday everything in town was closed. 

For dinner we headed back to Peña Blanca and ate at Las Glorias. This was an amazing resort right along the lake. Several people had tilapia which came whole, head and tail, and took up the whole plate.  The place had a walking bridge that didn´t look to safe but we had a great time walking, jumping, and swinging on the bridge.
 
There is a lot of water around because of all the recent rain. Last night at Las Glorias there was a downpour and went on throughout the night. We also had our first medical experience before heading out this morning for our first medical day. There was a local missionary from New Mexico at the resort that had a pretty bad nose bleed. Theresa, and Monty came along and assisted him. They held pressure, packed his nose, and stayed with him.

We were not able to send out this letter last night, because of the crazy downpour (the satellite internet connection does not like overcast conditions.) The bus is running at this minute and we are heading out to Las Marias for our first day out on the field.  

Talk to you all soon when we get back!
Saludos y Vaya con Dios.
 
Theresa Kern for Team #10