Honduras 2008-- Post #6 La Esperanza

The trip to La Esperanza was not only beautiful but also refreshing. After several days of 95+ degree weather, the trip to the mountains felt great as we felt the cool 70-ish degree wind come through the truck windows. Since January to May is the dry season in Honduras, the green of the mountainous region, along with the natural beauty of the topography, was so nice to see. We set up clinic in a currently unused church building in the tiny village of La Esperanza. This village is about a 20 minute drive down a dirt road off of the paved highway that winds through the mountains. The people living there are the Lenca Indians, a "cousin" to the more famous group of Indians called the 'Incas'. The bright colors of their wardrobe and the features on their faces certainly displayed their Indian heritage. Though the land they lived in looks lush, the people were hard-pressed to find access to a sufficient amount of water because of the geographical location they were in. They were dirtier than even the Hondurans who lived in the drier and more remote areas we visited. We held clinic in the church for a few hours and saw predominantly upper respiratory infections---headaches, coughs, runny noses, sore throats, etc. Hopefully, the medicine we gave them helped soothe these annoyances. We also gave out some more chancleetas (flip-flops), which the kids were so excited to receive. They came running from school (after it got out) when word spread that we were giving them away. It was a very enjoyable day for all of us as we were able to spend it in good company.
Some little feet waiting in line for some flip-flops. Almost all of the kids had plain black shoes on, so to get new flip flops that were bright colored was a pretty cool thing for these kiddos. They were more than willing to wait in line for a pair, and we were happy to give many pairs away.

The scenery en route to and surrounding La Esperanza was absolutely beautiful. It was my favorite stretch of road to travel on. Apparently it was a little bright that day, and my sunglasses weren't handy because I'm squinting.

The church building at La Esperanza.

Jeff sees a mom and her kids who came to the clinic.

Women and children walk to the church for clinic. You can see the little girl on the left who is holding her new blue flip flops. The other kids were coming to join the line to receive their pair.