2022 Medical Brigade Newsletter #5
June Newsletter
This is the fifth in a series of newsletters intended to assist with your participation in Honduras Good Works Medical Mission Trip. Please read the previous newsletters to make sure you are on the right track. Also, be on the lookout for the final newsletter in July.
Payments
If you have not paid your cost in full, the final payment was due May 31. Total cost of the trip is $2100. The trip amount includes airfare, travel insurance, lodging and meals, travel within the country and mission fees. It also helps provide room and board for our Honduran volunteers, and to purchase medicines in country for the brigade. Contact Honduras Good Works at brigade.info@hondurasgoodworks.org for further information on amount due.
Packing parties
The next packing party is June 4, 2022 at St. Luke’s on the Lake Episcopal Church, 5600 RR 620N. Austin, 78732, from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Lunch will be provided. Feel free to bring snacks to share with others.The final packing party will be at St. Alban’s Episcopal Church located at 11819 S I-35 Frontage Rd South. Austin, TX 9:00 a.m. until noon. Feel free to bring snacks to share. PLEASE come to these and bring your friends! We need lots of hands. We can accept toiletries at the St. Luke’s party, but not after that.
A Typical Day in Honduras
Since we have many newcomers, here is an idea of what our day looks like. We will be staying at a Carmelite Nun Catholic Retreat Center, Montaña Clara Maria Casa De Retiro. You can find them on Facebook if you want to see more info about them. Wake up is at 6am, breakfast at 6:30. Morning service begins at 7:30 which is a brief prayer and praise service, followed by the day’s assignments. You will be told which team you will be on, who your translator is, and who the drivers are. You must be present for this! We will have 3 teams going out each day to the villages. There is an AOD (administrator of the day) for each team who will supervise the loading of the trucks and confirm the right people are in the right trucks. We will drive typically 30-90 minutes to get to our village, caravanning with the other trucks in our team. After arriving at the village, before unloading the trucks, we have a prayer with the local volunteers (who are frequently students who are in our scholarship program) and the village leaders. We then set up our stations, see patients till about noon, break for lunch, then continue until everyone is seen. Occasionally, we must stop before then, to allow enough time to return before dark. The AOD is responsible for making sure this happens. A nurse or other provider will help triage patients if it appears this will be necessary. We usually take time to stop at a gas station and pick up snacks and perhaps beer or wine. Dinner back at the Retreat Center is at 6pm, followed by small group time, a time to share and decompress, followed by a 1-hour social hour, where you can enjoy an adult beverage if you have purchased any. We do not allow drinking of alcohol at any other time, and it will be locked up in a central location and is not to be kept in your room. This is out of respect for the nuns, and for some of their workers who are in recovery, and who appreciate this precaution. After this, there is always work to be done to pack up for the next day, and several people are needed to help with this, so please look for the repacking work site. Quiet time begins at 10pm.After 5 days of clinic we will have one day “off”. We don’t know what that day looks like yet, as the US is still requiring Covid tests before flying back to the US, we will all have to go to a lab, probably in Tegucigalpa, to get this done. We typically take the group bus to Valle de las Angeles that day, which is a lovely tourist town with lots of arts and crafts shopping and good food. Several people stay behind at the Retreat Center and get work done, counting left over supplies, delivering left over meds to the local clinic etc. That evening we will have a fiesta with the local volunteers-typically a time of sharing stories about the week, a pizza party, and local Honduran music. All of this is tentative until we see how the timing goes for CoVid testing.
Packing for Honduras
Once we know how many team bags we will have, we will advise the team how many of you will not be able to bring a personal checked bag. In that event, please plan on packing light. Days can be warm-usually mid to high 80s, with a chance of rain, and evenings typically cool off to the 60s and low 70s. There is no AC at the retreat center, but with windows open, it is usually pleasant. Some people will bring a battery operated, small fan. Layers of light weight clothing are best. Modest clothing, please. Provided there isn’t rain, the nuns will provide a laundry service mid-week, so you can pack 1⁄2 as much as you anticipate. Closed toe shoes are recommended but you may want a pair of sandals for evenings. Insect repellent is a must, to protect from mosquitoes that carry nasty viruses. We will have several cans available, along with wrist bands for the team’s use. Also pack: Sun hat, sun glasses, sunscreen and toiletries, REUSABLE WATER BOTTLE, AND FACEMASKS. Currently villagers are still wearing masks, and this may still be the case this summer-in which case, the team will need to also. Do not pack/wear any expensive jewelry. Do not bring candy or gifts for the kids. This leads to a beggar mentality and causes resentment among the kids who don’t get things.
Communication While in Honduras
The retreat center does have internet, but it is spotty and not entirely reliable. We suggest you get an international plan for your phone, realizing there are only some places that have good cell service. Many folks in Honduras communicate with the States using What’s App, so you may consider this option to communicate with those at home.
George Bush Intercontinental Airport, Houston (IAH)
Brigadiers need to be at the United Airlines Group Check In counter in on July 10 by 6:30 a.m. While this is usually in terminal C, there is construction and it may change from year to year, so expect a last minute email about which terminal it is located in. Wear your team T-shirts on the day of travel. If you have not picked it up it will be given to you at the airport.Have your passport handy.We need several people outside Terminal C by 6:00 am to help unload the crates and duffle bags from the trailer that will be driven down from Austin.Please follow these guidelines for check-in:• DO NOT check in until the whole group checks in!• DO NOT ELECTRONICALLY PRE-BOARD, as this causes a lot of problems for the group.• Meet at the group check-in desk, and we will check in as a team.• Please do all you can to travel with only a carry-on. We will definitely assign you one team bag and many of you will need to take 2 team bags, and so will not be allowed another piece of luggage for your own. (Honduras restricts the number of bags per person to 2. Period!) Once we count how many team bags we will have, (after the last packing party) we will know better how many need to do carry-on only.• HGW will also be paying for the team bags. Do not pay for any checked bags. If you have status with United Air and get free baggage, please let us know before we check in.• Give Reign the baggage claim ticket for team bags.• DO NOT tip anyone for group activities. Reign is in charge of all tips for porters who help unload the U-Haul at the airport in Houston. If you are having any difficulty, please notify Reign at 254-319-8144.
Palmerola International Airport, Honduras (XPL)
This will be the first time our team has flown into Palmerola airport, located in Comayagua, Honduras, so we cannot say for sure how it will go! But, the first step upon arriving in Honduras is to have your vaccine card looked at, and then to go through customs. You will need your passport. On the immigration form, indicate you are coming for tourism. Once you’re through, go to baggage claim area and find your personal luggage if you checked any. Keep it with you as you wait. If it does not arrive, let Reign know.Do not leave the baggage claim area until told to do so by Reign! Please use the restroom here if needed so you don’t wander off once we are through baggage claim. We will collect all team bags into one area. Reign will count bags and present the team luggage claim tickets to airport personnel. Only when we have confirmed all luggage is accounted for does anyone leave the baggage claim area.Once outside the baggage area the advance team will be looking for team T-shirts to greet us. They will have chosen porters to take our luggage to the bus and trucks. Keep your carry-on with you until you see it loaded onto one of our trucks or the bus. Please stay together and don’t wander off!Tips will be taken care of. Do not tip anyone, and don’t give money to beggars. Our advance team will arrange for a trusted money changer to change your dollars to lempiras. DO NOT DO it with anyone else. At times he will want to do the exchange on the bus, at other times in a particular spot inside the airport. Please stay together so you will know when and where this is happening. During the week you might want to buy snacks, adult beverages for social hour and souvenirs, so exchange accordingly. Usually $100-$200 is plenty, depending on how much souvenir shopping you are planning. The shops in the tourist town usually will take a credit card. Water and pizza will be provided for us in the bus and trucks. Wear your name tag so that the advance team knows who to share these with. Because our funds are limited, unfortunately we are not able to purchase enough water and pizza to share with airport workers.Buses and trucks will be loaded with all bags and boxes by porters and our team members. DRIVERS IN HONDURAS: If you have been designated as a driver, go with Reign to the car rental agency with your driver’s license. Once outside the airport, you will be directed to the bus and the trucks.To answer questions or for technical help, please contact us through brigade.info@hondurasgoodworks.org or at 830-275-0106.