Friends:
Hello
again after another rewarding mission to Honduras . Go to the website www.KHISH.org for a more complete description of our efforts in
Honduras
. Enjoy the pictures. See the
list of participants at the end of this report.
We appreciate your support. Here is what we accomplished this past
year in
Honduras
with your help. Our plans
for the future include you.
PREPARATION FOR THE TRIP
As usual, we spent a lot of time during 2009 preparing for the trip,
fundraising, gathering supplies and making plans for how we can best conduct
medical and dental clinics and do construction projects in Honduras.
We continue to work closely with Central American Relief Effort (C.A.R.E -
Steve Mentzer) and with Mission
Relief Services, (Jim Harrison) to improve the lives of the people in
Honduras. We continue to work
with Engineers Without Borders (E.W.B.).
This is a university professor/student organization which is active in the
U.S. and in many foreign
countries. They will help improve
the water supply in the communities we serve in Puerte Grande and Morocopay. We
have established a new relationship with SEE International which is a group of
Ophthalmologists who perform cataract surgery in developing countries.
Grace
Covenant Presbyterian, Trinity Presbyterian and The First Presbyterian
Church of Port Jefferson each sponsored one of the three medical and dental
clinics which were conducted at Puerto Grande and Morocopay during 2009.
Grace Immanuel Episcopal Church Foundation joined these churches in
sending beans and rice to Honduras during the height of the
political crisis. Immanuel Episcopal
strongly supports our program which is welcome.
The KHISH team of 15 gringos included two doctors, a dentist, two nurses
and two pastors. We hammered out a
budget of $27,696, not including airfare which was paid by each
participant. The budget included
money for supplies for construction, for a dental symposium and for medical and
dental clinics. Our budget was accurate and we followed it. More importantly we
met the financial criteria of spending every nickel of donated money on
worthwhile projects in Honduras
, nothing on administration.
We were joined by Hondurans including
three doctors, three dentists, four administrators, two drivers and two security
people. Rev. Mark Wright, the newly appointed
missionary to Honduras worked extremely hard all week as one
of the translators for the medical clinic. Marvin Hernandez, husband of Beatrice was one of our drivers and
additionally supervised construction projects.
The budget was funded mostly by donations of $5.00 to $25.00. A significant amount was provided by the
Trinity Outreach Committee through the annual Spring Fling and by the Grace
Covenant Outreach Committee through its fund raising efforts. At Woodcock
Washburn Law Firm, June was Jean’s Day.
On Fridays anyone could wear jeans to work for a $5.00 contribution to
the Honduras Mission. We thank
everyone at Woodcock Washburn for the contribution. If I have missed anyone, I
apologize.
We received help from
the Tully family at Southminster Presbyterian Church inRichmond, Virginia who
provided fifty soccer balls for the children. John Ward, DennyLeeper, Dave Reid, and Don Bovais of Trinity were among the continuing strong supporters. Evi
Maharis collected cases for the reading glasses which we purchased.
THE TRIP
The group from Richmond met at 2:00 a.m. on Saturday morning, January
9th to begin their adventure to Honduras. Upon arrival this group was
transported to the Hotel Maya by our
faithful coordinator, Marel
Hernandez who was joined by Noel
Mejia a Honduran Administrator
employed by Tampa Bay Presbytery. Dr.
Len Jensen, a Philadelphia dentist met my
son, Rick Kurtz, and I at the
Miami
Airport
. We barely made the
flight with 10 minutes to spare because the
Miami
Airport
is a Zoo.
Everyone traveled safely from Tegucigalpa to Pespire over the “road of
death”. After a very efficient assignment of rooms at the hotel in Pespire we
went for dinner at La Casada where we enjoyed the first of many delicious and
digestible meals prepared by Beatriz. Beatriz and Marvin Hernandez are now on the board of C.A.R.E. They expedited and supervised
our every move in Honduras .
After dinner, on Sunday evening, our three church pastors, Richard Graugh, First Presbyterian of Port
Jefferson, Ryan Kuratko, Rector of Immanuel Episcopal Church, and Reverend Mark
Wright, Presbyterian Missionary conducted a very meaningful church service.
We celebrated communion served by
Rev. Ryan Kuratko. The
celestial choir lead by Eleanor
Fukushima was beautiful.
DENTAL CLINICS
Dr. Len Jensen and his colleagues, Dr. Abby and Dr. Freddie, recent graduates
of the Tegucigalpa Dental School
conducted dental clinics. They
identified many dental problems and corrected some by extraction of the faulty
tooth.
We were able to successfully install a new dental chair in the Health
Care Clinic in Puerto Grande. This
dental chair was donated by Dr. Len
Jensen and was transported to Honduras by Mission Relief Services.
A much
needed Dental Chair was installed in the Clinic Building in Puerto
Grande
Abby and Fred are
recently graduated Honduran Dentists who are dedicated to providing dental
services to the needy people in the mountains of southwest Honduras .
DENTAL SYMPOSIUM
On Friday January 15th Drs. Len Jensen and Alex Moreno conducted a dental
symposium attended by 16 visiting dentists, including a representative from the
Tegucigalpa Dental School. Alex Moreno has accepted a position in
the health administration of the new government in Honduras headed by newly elected President Lobo. Alex presented his vision of a program
to improve the dental health of the Honduran people. Alex will be part of a new
government in Honduras which
is stable, fair and devoted to the people of Honduras.
Leonard Jensen presented a detailed
analysis of dental implant surgery. Everyone appreciated the attention we are
giving to dental health in Honduras. The Alex Moreno program for dental health
is called the “GIFT OF A SMILE PROGRAM”.
Dr. Leyda Callejas, a recent
medical school graduate, translated for the symposium.
LITERACY IMPROVEMENT PROJECT
In past years we have used a Vacation Bible School program to occupy the children who
attend the medical and dental clinics with their parents. This program was
elevated to a new level of improving reading skills. Dr. Seonhee Cho, Boo Elmore and a
guide, Stephanie Erezo played games
and read stories to the children. Their responses to the stories and games
helped the children immensely in their reading capability. Dr. Cho is a professor in the Education
Department at Commonwealth
University in Richmond, Virginia. She designed a workbook to teach the
children beginning vocabulary words. Dr. Cho now has information about the
baseline literacy level of children in Morocopay and Puerto Grande. The development of a
comprehensive literacy improvement program is a key element of KHISH activities
in the future.
The
children eagerly participated in their first school
classes
WATER PROJECT
We have undertaken a long-term project to improve the water facilities at
Morocopay and Puerto Grande. Engineers Without Borders will provide engineering
services for this project. Last Year a group of engineering students from the
Polytechnique Institute in
Honduras
went to the
village
of
Puerto Grande
to review this project with
the people of that community. We have a rather detailed plan for the
improvements which must be made to the water treatment and distribution system
in that community. The estimated cost of this project is $61,000. Our medical
team repeatedly treats water borne illnesses and infections that would not have
occurred or spread if soap and clean water were available for bathing.
Jorge Aldana is in charge of
procurement at the U.S. Embassy in Honduras. He has worked closely with
us on the improvement of the water facilities in Puerto Grande.
The EWB Group has also
studied the water problem in Morocopay and written a report. This
report will be submitted to the U.S. Embassy in Honduras for consideration for actual
construction after Puerto Grande is
completed. Professor Luis Eveline and his wife,
Caroline, met with us at the Hotel Maya in Tegucigalpa on
Saturday morning. The improvements
of the water supply in the communities of Puerto Grande and Morocopay are vitally important. We
have started the process of obtaining approval for the funding of these projects from
the U.S. government. Our optimistic
outlook is that at least Puerto Grande
will be started this year and possibly improvement of the water supply at Morocopay will take place next year.
SEE INTERNATIONAL CATARACT
PROJECT
SEE International is an organization of
ophthalmic surgeons who travel to remote parts of the world with equipment which
they use for cataract surgery on the spot. All they require is a sterile
operating room, pre-screened patients, and nursing care for a quick recovery.
Peter Solar is the enthusiastic administrator of this organization. He has encouraged us
over the past six months to establish a relationship between SEE and
the San Lorenzo Hospital. Presently, all cataract
patients must travel to Tegucigalpa for their cataract surgery. This
requires an arduous trip over the “death highway” and at least an overnight stay
in Tegucigalpa. On the other hand, taking patients
from Morocopay and Puerto Grande to the San
Lorenzo
Hospital requires only
a thirty minute drive from these mountain communities down to the hospital on
the Pacific Coast of Honduras. On Wednesday afternoon, January 13, 2010, several
of us attended a meeting at the newly refurbished hospital in San Lorenzo. The head of the hospital
administration and the Chief of Surgery met with representatives of C.O.V.A. (now Z.O.E.) and KHISH to discuss having ophthalmic
surgeons from SEE International perform cataract surgery
at the San Lorenzo Hospital. SEE
surgeons will bring all equipment and supplies needed to perform the cataract
procedures. The hospital in San Lorenzo
will provide
operating rooms and recovery rooms at the hospital. We inspected these
facilities, took pictures, and discussed the agreement which everyone is ready
to sign. We anticipate that the first cataract operations will take place during
the first week in January, 2011.
CONSTRUCTION
PROJECTS
Considerable progress was achieved on our biggest project, the
reconstruction of the Posadas’ family residence in Puerto Grande. Pastor Neptaly Posadas, his wife, and
six children have been living in a two-room concrete block building adjacent
their old home which has been demolished and is being reconstructed. During the
past year the site of the new house has been leveled, footings have been poured
and some concrete block walls have been erected for the new house. On arrival in
Puerto Grande we organized a new
construction team. Marvin Hernandez
accepted overall responsibility for the project. He hired Abel Aguilar a local mason at a wage of
$15.00 a day. Abel has considerable
construction experience in the United
States and in Honduras. Abel did construction work in northern
Virginia for
seven years. Our long time security man, Fausto Martinez willingly worked with
Abel. They recruited three local
laborers who worked for $8.00 per day each. The crew went right to work knocking
down some of the columns and walls which had been erected in the wrong location
before we got there. While this was going on, some of us went to San Lorenzo to purchase supplies needed for the
construction of the walls. The next day 2200 concrete block were delivered with
enough gravel, sand and cement to complete the rest of the concrete block work
at the house.
Rick Kurtz and Abel Aguilar mix cement for the footings
and walls of the house
After we left Honduras the wall and foundation work
has been completed. The house is now ready for a corrugated sheet metal roof. We
need $2,000 for the material and the labor necessary to put a roof on the
Pastor’s house. We propose that each of Trinity Presbyterian Church, Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church, Immanuel Episcopal Church and Port Jefferson Presbyterian pledge $500
toward this construction project. This $2,000 will complete the shell of a house
that Pastor Posadas and the entire community can be proud of. Please consider
whether you can participate in this project. The roofed house will provide
shelter from the elements for the
Posadas
family while it is being finished. We
will plan on taking money and manpower to
Honduras
with us next year to
complete the wiring and finishing touches necessary for this project.
FUTURE CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS
We plan to complete the house at Puerto Grande and start on some new
construction projects at Morocopay
next year. Here are some possible projects to be discussed and implemented.
Pastora
Vasquez discusses improvements needed in community property at
Morocopay
1.
Stucco and paint the outside of the Sunday School Building at Morocopay.
2.
Put a fence around the Church and Sunday School
Building. Pastora Vasquez thinks the property
should be secured by a fence before further improvements are made in the Church
property.
3.
Install solar panels and lights in the Church buildings. The community of
Morocopay has no electricity and the
prospects of getting it look slim. We have a contact at a company which has done
solar power projects in
Honduras
. We plan to get estimates
for this electrification project. If this can be accomplished we can do other
projects, such as install a dental chair in the Sunday School Building so that
visiting dentists can work more easily in the community.
4.
Make improvements in the Iglesia
Luz y Vida Church. This church is about a mile beyond the Morocopay church. It was built by
Churches in the Tampa Bay
Presbytery. At each of the several medical clinics we have conducted at Morocopay members of the “Light and Life” Church have attended.
That church has requested more attention. We will inquire about doing V.B.S.
activities at the church next year.
FUTURE PLANS
Several of us are hoping to be in Honduras during the first two weeks
in January, 2011. Ron has reserved
the entire Hotel Palmeras for these
two weeks. Please join us for as much of these two weeks as you can. This longer
stay in Honduras will allow us to work with
the visiting ophthalmologists from SEE International as well as do our normal
clinic work. Talk it over with your friends and family and plan a winter break
in Honduras .
Thankfully submitted
_____________________
Richard E. Kurtz for KHISH
List of Participants
2010
U.S.
Participants
Dr. Leonhee Cho
Richmond
,
VA
Kathryn Dailey, R.N.
Montgomery, Al
Dr. Ron David
. -
Richmond, VA
Ken Draigh
-
Port Jefferson,
N.Y.
Boo Elmore -
Richmond, VA
Susan Farrell, R.N. -
Richmond, VA
Eleanor Fukashima -
Richmond
,
VA
Rev. Richard Graugh -
Port Jefferson,
N.Y.
Martha Horne
Richmond
,
VA
Dr. Len Jensen -
Drexel Hill,
PA
Rev. Ryan Kurato -
Richmond, VA
Dick Kurtz -
Berwyn, PA
Rick Kurtz -
Lake Mary, FL
Dr. Susan David-
Richmond
,
VA
Shannon Staub -
College Park,
MD
Rev. Mark
Wright
Tegucigalpa, Honduras
Honduran
Participants
Dr. Adolfo Moreno -
Tegucigalpa,
Honduras
Stephanie Moreno -
Tegucigalpa,
Honduras
Alejandra Moreno -
Tegucigalpa,
Honduras
Dr. Alex Moreno -
Tegucigalpa,
Honduras
Dr. Abby Luiz
Tegucigalpa,
Honduras
Dr. Edwin -
Tegucigalpa,
Honduras
Dr. Leyda Callejas
Tegucigalpa, Honduras
Dr. Luz
Luiz Tegucigalpa, Honduras
Security
Fausto Mendoza Martinez
Carlos
Administators
Marel Hernandez
Marvin and Beatriz Hernandez
Noel Mejia
Drivers
Leo
Sergio
Translators
Lyla –
Dave Romero
Stephanie Erezo
Linda Danella
Douglas
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