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Los Mangos

Erin Caldwell


Tuesday, May 21st, 2024


On the drive this morning, as we were traveling up the mountain, I was looking out the window and as we kept going higher up, the air became dustier, the terrain seemed to get more gray, and everything just looked so dreary and dirty. It was at that moment, I noticed the most beautiful, white bird flying in the sky. Its purity stood out against the desolate backdrop of the landscape and all of a sudden there was beauty there. It came to my mind, that is what our bus of team members must look like to the people of the community we were visiting… a bus full of beauty, light and hope… a bus sent straight from God, filled with his love.


-Alicia B



Today we were in Los Mangos, a first visit to this community by a Mountain Medical Team. Because it’s a first visit, the medical clinic saw lots of “urgent care” level needs and even some that in a more accessible area would have maybe even been more an emergency room visit. We were able to take great care of all with the resources we have available and the amount of joy, thankfulness and hope we leave each community with is just always incredible. The dental clinic was happy to report they actually saw some pretty good dental health today and were very happy to not have to do as many extractions. The wellness stations enjoyed spending time with the abundance of kids and babies. In the medical clinic, Dra Oliveira helped a women navigate through some very hard news about PCOS and infertility in a place where having a baby is very much expected as part of your life. She was able to find some hope for her in available treatment options near family. Other providers talked about also treating very sick patients with Dengue and other illnesses. Smoke/dust inhalation caused by the heat, drought and crop/trash burning practices have really taken a toll on respiratory health in this community and poor water supply/filtration has caused a large collection of illness. Those mixed with a rise in mosquito borne illness across the country have made living a healthy life in this community very difficult.


-Team



My high from today came in the afternoon of a pretty hot day. Throughout the morning there were 7 or 8 teens that were hanging out just watching what was happening as we set up and started clinic.  I was at the height and weight station and they each got weighed but otherwise they were just leaning against the FoB truck. In the afternoon I looked over and one of our security officers (a Honduran police officer) was standing off aways with these same teens and they were listening to every word he said. A 1/2 hr later when I looked over they were all sitting on the ground intently enraptured by this same man.


As we were packing up, with the aid of a translator, I expressed my admiration for the situation and asked him what he was telling them. He said he was telling them how important it was to stay in school and also how and why to be a police officer. I was overwhelmed with gratitude and gave him my cross. I told him that I was going to be praying for him...for safety on the job and for his willingness to invest an afternoon of his life investing in the lives of these young man. We exchanged a lengthy hug and parted ways. But I will be praying for Charlie!


-Cathy C

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