Common Misconceptions
One of the points in this book is to alleviate some of the many misconceptions that people have about Honduras and perhaps we should start with the long lines that medical aid workers often experience as people walk for miles to visit the volunteer nurses, doctors and their assistants. There are a lot of people in need and this creates huge lines. Even though the medical mission teams go to remote areas this does not mean that there are only a few people to help at each village or stop as a Family Doctor from Canada on a medical mission in Rural Honduras states;
MISSIONS TRIPS
"I am surprised to see that on our way, we go through mountains and isolated roads but when we arrive at the locations for our clinic, there are already hundreds of people waiting to be seen. Many of the local people have been walking for hours sometimes days to get there. They patiently wait outside in a very tight line under the sun. Many women are breastfeeding while standing in line. It happens frequently that a person faints from dehydration and heat stroke."
The villages are quite gracious and not everyone is without. Some homes have electricity from their own sources. Even the wealthiest person in the village does have a lot but still they are wealthy by rural Honduras standards and one volunteer was surprised to learn during her trip on a mission to Honduras that often;
"When it is time to eat lunch, the richest person of the village opens her house to us and feeds us local food. They are very proud to offer whatever little they have. The meals are mainly composed of "frijoles" (beans), tortillas and papas (potatoes). For us we get extra like chicken, pork and beef but eating meat is rare for them."
Some people think that the government in Honduras does not care about its people. This is not true at all. One medical mission team told of a story in 2006;
"We were very happy to learn that the first lady was coming to see one of our mission day. It took us over two hours of very rough roads from our already remote location to get there. Our jaw dropped when she "fell off the sky form of the helicopter" so much for realizing the isolation. She seamed genuinely interested and asked me "What are the health problems of my people?"
What Can You Do?
There are so many ways to help in Honduras, such as sponsoring a child, donating items on the list of needs of groups planning trips or giving money. Most of all donating your time will do the most good, especially if you have skills, such as medical knowledge, engineering background or educational experience. Of course all the wonderful groups helping in Honduras need money.
In the back of this book you will find a list of groups and organizations that you can send money too or volunteer to work with, so you can do your part to help the poor in rural Honduras. Browse through the lists of needs, items, donation requests and volunteer jobs on their various websites and see what you can give to assist in the mission to help in Honduras.
The fact is that everyone can help: either by donating money, time or joining a group. Those who come back from their volunteer efforts in Honduras explain how it has changed their perspective and their lives in so many ways. Often without realizing it, those of us in the first world often take things for granted, so at times we forget how good we have it and go about our daily lives without even thinking.
In case of a person really interested in joining a mission who is short on money, there are alternatives. One our the medical mission member just asked her local Lion's club for sponsering and got it easily.
Lance Winslow has dedicated part of his life raising money by doing car washing events. They are easy to set-up and a lot of fun.
No comments:
Post a Comment