Last night, we had the honour of sharing a meal with the Minister of Health in Honduras as well as local health officials. The Minister recognized Dr. Fabian Gorodzinsky, the Pediatrician on our team, with his work and commitment to the promotion of health in Honduras.
With the Minister of Health and her colleagues, we also had the amazing opportunity to see the transformation of a rehabilitation facility, the CRILE (Centro de Rehabilication Integral de Lempira), that in part was due to equipment sent in our container earlier this year. Last year, this centre was a location for our dental team to perform dental care. At that time, the team was in awe of the ingenuity and perseverance of the rehab centre staff who were operating their facility with very little equipment and minimal resources. When asked how we could help, the centre provided us with a list of useful items that would allow the centre to transform into a Centre of Excellence. Generous donations obtained over the year towards this end allowed for this equipment to be shipped from Canada and delivered to CRILE. We saw how the equipment is now being utilized by the Centre, and were able to share in the pride the staff had for their facility.
Today we awoke before dawn and started on our journey to Tambla, Lempira. There, the line was longer than we'd seen yet! Today was the first day in our brigade that had the opportunity of working alongside our dental colleagues. It was a busy and rewarding day, with 178 children seen!
Today we were overwhelmed with a sense of accomplishment and teamwork in facilitating a ventriculoperitoneal shunt placement for a young child we saw yesterday in clinic with obvious hydrocephalus. This child had never been evaluated before. Our team and the health community here came together not only to organize for the shunt to be delivered to the hospital in Santa Rosa, but also enlisted a neurosurgeon here in Honduras to operate, free of charge. This treatment will prevent permanent brain damage by relieving pressure in the brain that would otherwise occur with this condition. We anticipate the procedure will be performed in the very near future as supplies are on their way!
Looking forward to another busy day tomorrow! We continue to be motivated by the amazing people we meet and the opportunity to participate in delivering health care in this region.
