When: July 31 - Aug 8, 2010
Where: San Marcos de Colon, Honduras
Who: Primary Medicine & Dentistry, Pharmacy,
Physical Therapy, Nurses & Logistics (non-medical helpers), 1 -
2 Pastors (to take an active part in the Spiritual aspect of the
team and work with the National Partners/Spiritual Counseling)
Status: Accepting Applications
Special Travel Announcement: All participants must
travel to/from Honduras as a group. No deviations in travel will be
allowed without prior approval from GHO Director.
Project Fee: $1,200 + international airfare (subject
to change)
Team Leader: Bill Sasser, DMD
To read Dr. Sasser's Biography Click Here.
Trip Details:
Location / Climate:
We will fly into the capital city – Tegucigalpa, Honduras on
Saturday and spend the evening at a local hotel. On Sunday, we
will travel to San Marcos de Colon, which is approximately a 3 to 4 hour
trip by bus. San Marcos is a small town in southern Honduras on
the Nicaraguan border. The city is located up in the mountains, so
the temperature in July is generally pleasant.
Housing:
Our host will be the Good Samaritan Baptist Mission. This baptist
mission was founded by the Tyson family and is headquartered in Villa
Rica, GA. In San Marcos, their facilities include a large
dormitory-style main building, along with offices and a central kitchen
/ dining area. In the town there also is a mission elementary and
high school, a pastor’s training / conference center and guest
housing. We will stay at the central mission facility located in
town. Rooms are dormitory-style, generally two beds to a
room. There are ample bathrooms and running hot water is
available. Safe drinking water will be provided – it’s
recommended you bring your own personal water bottle to use and refill
daily. Cooked meals will be provided daily – the food is
very good and comparable to foods we are used to here in the
states. Bed linens are provided, as well as towels –
it’s recommended that you bring an extra towel and washcloth or
two. Team worship time and devotions will be held daily in the
central patio area of the mission complex.
Clinic Set-Up / Staffing:
Our clinic will be in the mission’s elementary
school for the week. We will set-up and organize the clinic on
Sunday afternoon and begin seeing patients on Monday morning.
Clinic will operate Monday through Friday morning. We will provide
medical care, dental care, an eyeglass ministry, a pharmacy and
hopefully some physical therapy. The clinic will be coordinated
and overseen by the local pastor’s association. We will plan
take a small team to a local village as part of an outreach ministry one
day, as well as providing some home visits to local
shut-ins. Interpreters will be provided for the team.
Ministry / Evangelism:
Every patient coming through our clinic will go through an
evangelism station with the local pastors prior to receiving their
medical / dental care. We will have opportunities to minister and
share with patients one-on-one as well. Part of our team will go
into the local schools for outreach to the school children. We
will serve as encouragers and support the local pastor’s
association, as we seek to give credibility to the local church through
our witness there. We will attend local church services and may
have an opportunity for team members to preach and give a personal
testimony.
Final Weekend:
On the final Saturday morning we will return to Tegucigalpa. The
afternoon will be reserved for a team activity, using the time to rest,
unwind and process what has occurred during the previous week. We
will stay in the same hotel we were when we first arrived. A final
team dinner and time of sharing will occur Saturday night at the
hotel. We will then fly back to the states on Sunday.
Summary:
This is an excellent site for a short-term medical / dental mission
trip, whether you are a first-timer or have lots of prior
experience. This time of the year is perfect for families to bring
children on the trip as well (12 years of age or older). We
will have supportive hosts and very reasonable accommodations. The
Hondurans, especially in this area of the country, have tremendous needs
and very limited access to care – they are most appreciative of
our services. This team / trip will fill up quickly, so
don’t wait until the last minute to sign up. We will aim for
a team of approximately 30 people. Various health care
providers (doctors, dentists, pharmacy, nurses, PT, optometry, pastor,
etc) as well as non-medical personnel are needed. Regardless of
your gifts or talents, you can and will play an important role on this
team.
Vaccination Information: Wondering what
immunizations you’ll need for the mission trip? Please refer to
the Centers for Disease
Control website.
To apply for this trip, Click Here.
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