Minnesota 2009

Larry, Rene, me, Chris

Members of the Rotary group from Bemidji, Minnesota have been visiting Santa Barbara, Honduras for the past twenty years. During my service I have had the honor of working with them during four of their visits. This year they brought down thirty people, including dentists, a construction team, a urologist, a gastroenterologist and miscellaneous others. As the Peace Corps volunteer living in Santa Barbara, I set up all the translators and then worked with the group while they were here for over a week. I actually had one of the easiest jobs translating for Dr. Ted Will. I call him the MC of the group and he is now retired after years of coming to do good in Santa Barbara. So, I basically just acted as his assistant and we both went around and supervised, making sure everything was going well. I feel that I have become a very good supervisor during my time here in Honduras.

While with Ted I actually got to drop in on surgery and endoscopy and see some cool stuff.
I would say the prize goes to the worm they found in a young boys appendix. He had an appendicitis, so they performed an appendectomy and when they opened it up found what had caused the problem.

The appendix is on the left and the worm is on the right.

I also got to see endoscopies (the insides entering through the mouth) and colonoscopies (entering through the other end).

Another important part of the medical brigade was the teaching that many of the doctors did. One of the ER doctors gave a number of talks about airway management and stabilization to residents at the hospital and the firemen in town. One doctor gave a talk about foot care for diabetic patients and another gave a lecture on gastric pathology to all the doctors at the hospital. In addition to their formal lectures, the doctors from Minnesota worked side by side with Honduran doctors throughout their entire visit, teaching as they worked.

In addition to the work in the hospital and the dental and construction work done in the rural communities surrounding Santa Barbara the group also spent a day at the prison. Since I have been working with the prisoners over the past year, I helped coordinate a visit by the dentists to the prison to pull teeth. Apparently the dental team was a little apprehensive about visiting the prison, but at the end of the day I think they all really enjoyed the experience and came away with a positive impression.

Thanks to the leaders and the guards that I work with helping out, everything was perfectly organized and the dentists saw over 50 people in one day.

In addition to the dentists, the construction team purchased materials to build new stoves and chimneys in the prison kitchen. Previously they were cooking over open fires in completely enclosed rooms, causing all sorts of health problems for those who work in the kitchen. When I visited it last year I could hardly see after 10 minutes, I can’t imagine working in there all day.
Kitchen before

One of the prisoners is a mason, so Minnesota just ordered the materials and he took charge from there.


Katie and I often gush about why we like the Minnesota Rotarians… Here is a top ten list:

1. They rent and drive their own cars
2. They learn Spanish
3. They feed us
4. They are patient
5. They are flexible
6. They know more people in Santa Barbara than we do
7. They come twice a year (once to plan and once to work)
8. They teach
9. They listen
10. They get it