Wow, I can't believe that today is January 20th and that I still have not posted this. I wanted to make sure I had time to clearly articulate my feelings about the entire experience, and I guess it just took a lot longer than I thought.
Day 0: Traveling
5 cities, 4 airports, 3 days. Salt Lake City to Oakland. New Years! Oakland to Los Angeles. Los Angeles to Houston. Houston to Tegucigalpa. Needless to say, I spent a lot of time in airports those 3 days. The air travel has now all blurred together, except for our 4 hours wait at LAX. By the time we were on the plane half of us had bought "Cloudz," the squishy neck pillows that we all love to hate, but love to love.
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| The view outside my window from OAK to LAX. California coastline <3 |
Day 1: Arrival
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| Arrival in Tegucigalpa! |
When we arrived in Tegucigalpa, it was midday, the sun was bright and the weather breezy and tropical. Almost like Hawaii in winter. We piled bags upon bags into the covered truck, and then piled ourselves into the mini-sized bus that would soon become our second home. We watched out the windows eagerly as we got our first taste of the Honduran countryside, and wow, was it beautiful. It was almost a 2 hour ride, but by the time we arrived to the compound at Posada Azul, everyone was pumped. Though our compound had incredibly steep steps leading up to the bunks, we climbed with energy and excitement. The girls bunks were packed tight, and all 20 of us were in the same room. We claimed our bunks and giggled like girls at summer camp, it was a great start to the week. That night, we had our first meal in Honduras, a modest meal of corn tortillas, rice and beans, boiled eggs, and avocados. After listening to our welcome introductions, we spent the night exploring the compound and slowly learning snippets about each other, it was just the beginning!
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| We rule Posada Azul. In our SWAG shirts, nonetheless. |
Day 2: Medicine Packing and the Orphanage
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| Nothing quite like medicine packing! |
The second day in Honduras started off far more eventful that I had planned, and not in a good way. Stupid me decided to take doxycycline (my malaria medicine) before eating breakfast. Result: 2 bites into breakfast I had to run to the bathroom to throw it all up. Lesson learned: do not take your malaria medicine without food. EVER. After that fiasco, we spent the rest of the morning medicine packing. It is exactly what it sounds like. We sit and count pills into bags, labeling them with names and doses, to ensure the Honduran people understand how to take the medicine we give them. Though tedious, the time passed quickly as we chatted. In just one morning, we counted thousands of pills, and the true impact Global Brigades makes in Honduras slowly started to materialize before my very eyes.
After lunch, we had the best part of our day waiting for us, visiting the orphanage in Nuevo Paraiso. When we pulled up, the children came running to the gate, and once inside, proceeded to grab us by the hand and show us around their homes. My little friend Nicole was possibly the bossiest one, but incredibly cute! It only made me wish even more that I knew how to speak Spanish. We played soccer and looked around their houses for a few hours, though it definitely felt way too short. It's really one of the reasons I can't wait to go back to Honduras, just to see those kids. They have so little, but such big hearts.
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| My friend Nicole. |
Day 3: Medical Brigades Begin
On our third day, we began our medical brigades. On the bus by 7:30 am, we rode for two hours to the rural community of Santa Cruz. Looking out my window, I saw sights that I could not compare to the poorest parts of the United States. It really hit me, we were in a third world country. We arrived at the school, a concrete building with metal roofing, but a beautiful grassy central courtyard. And thus the medical brigade began. We set up 6 stations: triage, doctors, dentist, charla, gynecologist, and the pharmacy, all in those dusty concrete rooms. The line outside the gates was already large, so we jumped right in. I began working my first day as the data informatics assistant to Dr. Shapiro. As he diagnosed the patients, I watched carefully and recorded the exams. Dr. Shapiro took the time to explain each case to Ozzy and I, and watching him work with people was simply inspiring. We saw a woman with asthma, others with rashes, and lots of children. Many people complain of cough and cold to get medicine for the future, but its understandable since they have such limited access to medical care in the first place. For my second rotation of the day, I was in the pharmacy. This station was fast paced and hectic, papers upon papers of prescriptions piled up, so we had to fill them all as fast as we could and hand them out. It was exhausting, but so worth it to see all the pills we packed go into the hands of those in need. That night we celebrated a successful first day together, and it was a blast. We were only more pumped for day 2 of brigades.
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| At work with Dr. Shapiro! |
Day 4: Dentist
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| Dental assistant in multiple countries! |
On the second day of our medical brigade, I began the morning in the dentist station. After working in Ozzie's dental office in Danville over the summer, this was definitely a shock. Their resources are so limited, there is no anesthetic for fillings, and no vacuum to catch blood for extractions. I saw one 19 year old get her molar pulled because she couldn't afford a root canal and the tooth was causing her pain. And after the whole procedure, the only medicine we could even give them was ibuprofen or acetaminophen, basically Tylenol or Advil. The whole things is almost hard to describe, but the pictures say the most. After my dental rotation, I spent time in triage, which ended up being one of the most memorable station experiences. Carlos, our brigade psychologist, helped translate while I took notes, blood pressure, weight, temperature, and sometimes even blood glucose. It was so hands on, and being able to hear people's stories and concerns was incredible. And no lie, having a stethoscope around my neck definitely made me feel like a real doctor. I was more motivated than ever to pursue a career in medicine. That day, the singing began. Our bus ride back was a chorus of 25 voices, singing every single song, together are a group. I think that's when everyone realized that it wasn't just a bunch of USC students, we were a brigade family. That night we sat around a circle for a couple hours, quizzing each other on all sorts of topics about our lives until it was finally time to tuck in and get ready for the last day of brigades.
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| Becoming pros at taking blood pressure :) |
Day 5: Last Day of Medical
On the last brigade day, we were in full swing. I didn't sleep on the bus that morning, I was too wrapped up in conversation and excitement for our final day. I began the day again as data informatics, this time for Dr. Rogers. He has a different style from Dr. Shapiro, and it was really fun to watch. Dr. Rogers was incredibly knowledgeable, and even let me and Ozzy jump in to help. We saw a man with a catheter to a woman with shingles, it was quite and eventful morning. In the afternoon, I moved to the pharmacy, but the day was short and sweet, we finished our patients early! But it was the very last couple minutes spent at the school that were truly the most moving and rewarding. The community volunteers that had been assisting us all week brought us to one of the classrooms and gave speeches, each thanking us for our contributions and telling us how absolutely grateful they were that we could bring such direly needed medical care to their community. By the end I was in tears. All the early wake up calls and long bus rides were so worth it, just to have those final moments. And that was when I knew that I would have to come back on another brigade before I graduated.
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| Team Rogers! |
Day 6: Painting and Fiesta
On our last day in Honduras, the brigade opted to do a community project for the people of Santa Cruz. We returned to the school one last time and got to work sanding the walls of a classroom so we could paint. We painted the room lilac and purple, one stroke at a time, until the entire room looked like new. And yet, the most memorable part of the day was the bus ride back to our compound. We played 90's oldies from our collective childhood, and I don't think we stopped singing the entire way home. Sometimes, there's nothing better than singing your heart out, right? Well, there was one thing. After returning to the compound that evening, we learned that during our 3 day medical brigade, we saw and treated a total of 718 patients. Seven hundred and eighteen people. I was literally blown away by the success of our brigade. I still am. And with those numbers to keep our spirits high, we got ready to fiesta! That night we bussed to another compound called Rapaco, where we danced the night away on a wood deck that circled a huge tree glittering with christmas lights. It was the perfect ending to an amazing trip.
Looking back on this trip, I have nothing but good memories. I will never forget my experiences with my new friends, but even more importantly, with the people of Honduras. I truly learned that it only takes a little effort and a lot of heart to start making a difference in the lives of others, and to try to give back to the people that we share this planet with. I guess you could say that this trip changed my life, and it surely changed how I want to keep living it.
