In January 2009 the mission team returned after another successful effort in Puerto Grande and Moropocay.

The construction team, led by Sam Lowe, built a shelter for Pastora Raquel’s outdoor oven so that she would be able to prepare her tortillas in inclement weather (she had previously had to go without food on many days in the rainy season because she could not use her oven). We also did indoor painting in the church and arranged for the floor to be tiled by local workmen after our departure.

The medical and dental teams continued their usual clinics, and expanded the use of the medical records system. (Dr. Moreno has been using these charts as well during his interim visits.) Dr. Moreno told us that he has begun to see the results of increased frequency of clinics: The diabetic and hypertensive villagers are in better control.

The vacation bible school workers were exhausted but happy, having entertained throngs of children for four days in the hot sun.

We ended our week with a wedding in Puerto Grande, and the traditional farewell dinner and team meeting to plan for 2009-2010. We decided to give our ecumenical group a real name: The Kurtz Humanitarian Initiative for Southwest H onduras, or KHISH, named for our founder, Dick Kurtz of Trinity Presbyterian church in B erwyn, Pennsylvania.

We established a website, www.khish.org.

February and March 2009

We presented reports to the mission and evangelism committee, the forum class, and a Wednesday night supper.

Funds for Dr. Moreno’s April clinics were released from the church budget for the purchase of medicines.

April 2009

Dr. Moreno, with help from his wife, Dr. Rosanna Zamora, and children Stephanie, Alejandra and Adolfo, conducted interim clinics in Puerto Grande and Moropocay, on behalf of Grace Covenant and the entire mission effort.

May 2009

Enthusiasm was high for the 2010 mission trip. We had 25 participants signed up, many of whom had already booked their plane tickets!

June 2009

A major bump in the road. President Zelaya of Honduras, with the backing of other leftist leaders in Central and South America, proposed a referendum that would permit him to run for another term in office. The Honduran Army, Congress, and Supreme Court resisted this as unconstitutional. Mr. Zelaya was removed from office (and from the country). Micheletti, the next in succession according to the Constitution, was sworn in. The international community responded by calling this a "coup" and freezing aid to Honduras. The U.S. State Department advised against travel to Honduras, and almost all us-based mission teams canceled planned trips.

July 2009

The political dramas continued, with the nations of the world taking sides. Zelaya continued to encourage his supporters to protest to restore him to power. H e snuck back into the country and took up asylum in the Brazilian embassy. Honduras continued to be cut off from all foreign aid.

The Moreno family conducted their second quarterly clinics in Puerto Grande and Moropocay, funded by Trinity Presbyterian Church.

Mark and Ashley Wright and their three young sons arrived in Honduras as Presbyterian Missionaries, working with the Presbytery of Honduras.

August 2009

We were made aware that the absence of foreign aid, along with roadblocks in Honduras and the drought caused by El Nino, were resulting in widespread famine, especially in the south. The mission and evangelism committee voted to release some of the funds allocated for the Honduras mission, for the purchase and delivery of beans and rice to Puerto Grande and Moropocay. Beatriz and Marvin Hernandez and their employees bagged a ton (literally!) of beans and rice and delivered them to the villages, where they were distributed at the churches.

The ongoing political instability made a number of projected members of the 2010 mission trip hesitant about going. An airline schedule change provided the opportunity for some mission team members to cancel their reservations without penalty. We continued to watch the news in hopes of a resolution of the political crisis.

September 2009

We made the acquaintance of a friend-of-a-friend, retired from americal optical, and told him about Dr. Ron’s observation about the high incidence of cataracts in villagers over 50. He put us in touch with Peter Solar of SEE International (www.seeintl.org), an organization of ophthalmologic surgeons who volunteer to perform sight-restoring surgery in developing countries. Dr. Ron took charge of this effort, and began to establish contacts with the local hospital in San Lorenzo to determine the feasibility of having a cataract surgery team help us in southern Honduras.

October 2009

The Moreno family conducted the third of their interim clinics, this one funded by First Presbyterian Church of Port Jefferson, NY, of which our friend Rev. Dr. Richard Graugh is the pastor.

A proposed planning trip for the construction project for the January mission trip was abandoned, again due to political instability in the country.

November 2009

We came to the firm realization that the future for the children of Puerto Grande and Moropocay will never truly improve without education. In conversation with friends in the field of education, we decided to involve students in the English as a Second Language (ESL) program at VCU. No student volunteer was available at the planned time of this mission trip….so the faculty member who heads the ESL division offered to go herself!

Honduran elections were held peaceably at the end of the month. The United States State Department lifted their advisory against travel to the country.

December 2009

We designed a workbook/coloring book to teach some basic English vocabulary words to the children, including songs such as "Jesus Loves Me," "He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands," and "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes." We began bagging crayons, pencils, and erasers for each student.

First Presbyterian Church in Port Jefferson prepared 100 hygiene kits, with soap, toothbrushes, washcloths, and other toiletries.

A team of volunteers from Grace Covenant and Immanuel Episcopal Church spent a Saturday afternoon preparing clinic ID badges for the villagers.

We ordered medicines from Interchurch Medical Assistance, and purchased additional medicines including Visine, antibiotics, asthma medicines, and others, to supplement the medicines that Dr. Moreno purchases locally for the clinics.

Arrangements were made for a meeting with all the parties to the cataract surgical program in San Lorenzo; Dr. Ron, Susan Farrell, Shannon Staub, Eleanor Fukushima and Dr. Moreno would meet with the Board of Directors of the San Lorenzo hospital to finalize arrangements for the cataract surgeons to come to Southern Honduras.

We also scheduled meetings with our friends, Jorge Aldana from the U.S. embassy, and Luis Eviline from Engineers Without Borders, to take place during our week in Honduras.

We began the process of packing, mindful of the baggage limit of two 50# checked bags per person.

We were in communication with the Wright family, and Mark said that he planned to accompany our group for the entire week.

January 2010

In the end, we numbered fifteen. Our group included one Presbyterian minister, one Episcopal priest, two doctors, two nurses, one pre-med student, one dentist, one former Peace Corps volunteer, one medical office receptionist, one Girl Scout leader, one professor of education, one social worker, and two attorneys. W e were six Presbyterians, five Episcopalians, and four "none-of-the-above." We came from five states. Six of us had served on previous mission trips for KHISH. Nine of us were new to this particular mission effort. What a team! We jumped headlong into our work, and everyone worked hard.

The medical team conducted four daylong clinics, two each in Puerto Grande and Moropocay. We had the unexpected pleasure of hosting two young Honduran physicians, who toiled valiantly alongside us.

The dental clinics focused primarily on extractions of the worst teeth. We had the help of Dr. Alex Moreno, and also of new volunteer dentist, "Gaby" in this effort. Dr. Jensen, from the University of Pennsylvania School of Dentistry, led a symposium for local dentists on the newest techniques for dental implants.

The vacation bible school/ESL team conducted English lessons and children’s activities for three days in Puerto Grande and one day in Moropocay. Dr. Seonhee Cho and Boo Elmore gained valuable insight into both the literacy levels and the "teachability" of students in the two communities.

Building materials were purchased and delivered to continue the rebuilding of the Pastor’s manse in Puerto Grande. Local workmen were enlisted to continue work after we left. W e took stock of last year’s construction project and noted items of unfinished business.

Rev. Mark Wright was a tremendous asset to our effort, and we also had the pleasure of meeting his wife, Ashley, and their three sons. Mark has also been in phone contact with Steve Cobb. We look forward to ongoing collaboration in supporting the indigenous efforts of the Presbytery of Honduras.

Iglesia Luz Y Vida has a new Sunday school building, built by the Presbytery of Tampa Bay. We agreed to pay to have stucco applied to its walls, inside and out, in preparation for our construction team to paint it in January 2011.

Jorge Aldana from the U.S. Embassy promised to continue to help us in any way he can with logistics. Although funding for our "water project" for Puerto Grande may now take a back seat to Haiti relief, we are hopeful that the U nited States Department of Defense will ultimately provide the funding for us.

Luis Eviline from the Polytechnic Institute and Engineers without borders pledged to continue to provide technical support.

Dates for the 2011 mission were set.

SEE International has posted "Project Vision Honduras/San Lorenzo" on its website as a volunteer opportunity for ophthalmologic surgeons.

2011 Honduras Mission: January 2-16

Pending the dates for the cataract surgical team, the remaining teams (medical, dental, educational, and construction) will stagger to provide a continuous presence for two full weeks.

Thank you for your financial and prayer support of the Honduras mission!