wfn.org | CWS Medical Teams In Honduras

[CAROL_FOUKE.parti@ecunet.org (CAROL FOUKE)]

National Council of the Churches of Christ in the 
U.S.A.
Internet: news@ncccusa.org

Contact: Wendy McDowell, NCC, 212-870-2227

131NCC12/14/98  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Editor's Note: Four CWS-sponsored medical teams have 
been sent to Honduras to assist with the Christian 
Commission for Development (CCD) response, and a 
fifth team will be sent later this month. Chris 
Herlinger, CWS/ERO Information Officer, and David P. 
Young, a photographer and member of the Presbyterian 
Church (USA), accompanied the first medical team 
during Thanksgiving week, and also visited Nicaragua 
to report on local response there by CWS partners. A 
story by Herlinger on the medical team follows and 
ACT is distributing other stories. Photos will be 
available.

"THERE ARE NO SPECIALTIES HERE:" CWS MEDICAL TEAMS 
BRING MEDICINE, CARE TO HONDURAS AFTER MITCH'S 
DEVASTATION

NEAR CHOLUTECA, HONDURAS, Dec. 11 ---- The medical 
team arrived in Mercedes del Perico late on a warm, 
sunny morning -- Thanksgiving Day back in the United 
States -- after a 90-minute drive from Choluteca.

They were greeted by more than 100 residents of the 
small farming community, eager to see a doctor or 
nurse for the first time since floods spawned by 
Hurricane Mitch severely damaged the southern 
Honduran village's corn and bean crops.

The visit was widely anticipated; some had been 
waiting in line for four hours, and a brigade of 
villagers had painstakingly worked days before to 
repair a damaged dirt road to ensure the team of 
volunteers working through the Christian Commission 
for Development (CCD) and organized by Church World 
Service (CWS) and the Church of the Brethren could 
safely get through. (Mercedes was chosen as a site 
because CCD, CWS's partner in Honduras has long been 
active in the community, where it has initiated a 
variety of health and technical programs.)

Within minutes, the team of two doctors, three 
nurses and a medical translator were at work. 
Someone quipped that "there are no specialties 
here." Work was communal; consultation was frequent. 
Nancy Robinson, nurse mid-wife from Jacksonville, 
Fla., and a member of the Presbyterian Church (USA), 
said the unlit, three-room center where the team saw 
patients was the darkest space she had ever worked 
in.

With CCD staff, including coordinator Irma Cananza, 
helping dispense donated medicines, team members -- 
including nurse practitioners Roxanne Cross of 
Saline, Mich., and Debbie Ritchey Okeson of 
Rockford, Ill., both members of the Church of the 
Brethren -- saw a steady stream of patients. 
Persistent coughs were frequent; complaints about 
the flu and stomach ailments were common.

Among those lining up were farmer Santo Davila, his 
wife, Silvia Senteno, and their six children, ages 
three months to 11 years. In the month since the 
flooding, life had not been easy, and medical 
attention was sorely needed in Mercedes, Davila 
said. "Ahora, no hay nada," he said. Now, there is 
nothing.

"The situation was critical even before Mitch, and 
now it is even worse, particularly for the 
children," said another resident, Adelina Ramirez, 
as she held her nine-month daughter, Yarin. 

By day's end -- and following a brief Thanksgiving 
lunch of water, dried fruit and nuts for team 
members-- it was clear that the weeks of rain and 
floods had not only caused a lot of flu, but had 
exacerbated chronic health problems, such as 
respiratory ailments and parasites, for the 160 
persons seen. (In site visits to other areas, Nancy 
Robinson said, water-related skin ailments were 
prevalent.)

CCD staff and medical team members concluded that 
while the physical resilience of Mercedes residents 
was remarkable, the community's immediate future was 
far from settled. "They've been through a horrifying 
experience, but they know they face a new one," said 
Dr. John Sibley of Aetna, N.H., a member of United 
Church of Christ.

The problem is food. Emergency relief supplies 
provided by CCD will tide the community over for a 
few months, but come next spring and summer, food 
will be in short supply. It is important now, said 
CCD staff, that communities such as Mercedes become 
independent of emergency food supplies as soon as 
possible, since relief agencies can provide food 
only for so long -- possibly through the early 
winter.

"We have to prepare them emotionally," said Dilcia 
Paz, a CCD coordinator in the area, who said CCD is 
likely to initiate a program in which emergency food 
aid is conditioned on the community working together 
on reconstruction -- a kind of food-for-work 
payment.

But the most immediate need in communities such as 
Mercedes has been for medical assistance. "In the 
face of such destruction, we are focusing our 
efforts to help alleviate suffering," said Lonnie 
Turnipseed, former Church World Service director who 
has been assisting the CWS Latin America office 
coordinate medical team visits to Honduras.

"Since CCD made medical teams its first priority, 
CWS made it our first priority," he said, noting 
CWS's partner relationship with CCD.

A total of four teams have now been sent to Honduras 
-- 24 people in all, including eight doctors, 14 
nurses and two non-medical personnel. The first team 
that arrived Thanksgiving week had seven members, 
some of whom did not travel to Choluteca, but went, 
instead, to Honduras' Mosquitia coast. A fifth team 
is scheduled to leave the week of Dec. 20, and CWS 
expects to send teams every week through the end of 
January.

Volunteers are being asked to pay a flat fee of 
$822, which includes airfare, room and board and 
insurance coverage. Spanish language ability is 
helpful, though not a prerequisite; however, at 
least one person on the team needs to speak Spanish. 
Most teams will stay for two weeks, and CWS is 
particularly interested in forming teams from 
particular communities and churches. Those 
interested in more information should call (212) 
870-2468.

Reflecting on the experience, Dr. John Sibley said 
beyond the specific medical attention, it was 
important that communities like Mercedes be provided 
a needed show of support in what has been a critical 
and difficult moment. "Perhaps the biggest thing we 
can do is show that somebody cares," he said.

But the concrete assistance can't be underestimated, 
either. By the end of the day, Santo Davila and 
Silvia Senteno and their six children had all seen 
doctors and received medicine; one of the couple's 
sons was seen smiling, carrying some cough medicine.  
"This is good," said Silvia Senteno. "It will 
prevent more illness."

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