Las Margaritas

March 25th, 2026 - March Mountain Medical Team

The entire brigade met early this morning for our group photo in front of Barnabas House. We began our trip to Las Margaritas, a community of approximately 260 people. Our team “Muchos Manos” visited this community last year as a medical brigade and this is the fourth year the community has been with the program.

We arrived to see a large number of patients waiting for us outside the gate area of the school. We were assisted in unloading our equipment by many parents and children. It was a very special day with many team members giving away their crosses. One was given to an eighteen-year-old mother who had walked two hours to obtain care at our clinic for her three-year-old and three-month-old.

Another cross was given to an eight-year-old boy who was screaming for “Mom, Dad, God, anybody HELP!” while having a baby tooth extracted. After the tooth was out, he proudly showed everyone the tooth in his hand and the cross around his neck. Another cross was given to a woman who touched multiple hearts, as she had lost multiple family members in the last nine months.

Some of the children recognized our team members from last year. One eight-year-old girl was looking for Dr. Joe at the end of the day because she remembered that he had given her a cross last year. Another team member, being so touched by this, shared her cross with the little girl.

 Our team is very grateful for the backpack EMR that Friends of Barnabas uses to record medical records. Our staff can look at previous entries and growth charts to compare data from the past. It was noted that a diabetic had better controlled blood sugar compared to last year and he voiced understanding about his risk of complications from his diabetes.

Many of the children colored pictures for the team while waiting to be seen for clinic. Apparently, the children of Honduras also know the “6 – 7” social media trend and had a blast running around saying “six seven” in English to all the American team members to make us laugh.

The children of the community were extremely helpful with packing up the supplies and loading the bus. The final cross of the day was given to a boy who was quite happy to receive it. He was given a cross at the end of the day by a team member after a group photo. He immediately hung it around his neck and ran across the playground to show his friends. Our team was touched by how engaged the children were today. We are looking forward to helping another community tomorrow.   

~Dr. Sharon & Joe Brown