Holy Name Press Releases

Holy Name Nurses Spend Easter in Honduras

April 16, 2007

Every year at Easter, a small group of nurses from Holy Name Hospital are part of a team of volunteers that travels to Honduras to provide medical and dental care to the poorest of the poor.

Alice Currie, R.N., Clare Deblasio, R.N. and Dr. Neil Kolsky have worked with the Henry B. King Medical  Brigade for the past several years.   The goal of this dedicated group of volunteers is to assure families in the most remote villages of Honduras are remembered and cared for. The brigade provides care to more than 3,500 adults and children as they travel from village to village armed with medical supplies and other equipment donated in the United States.

The team is comprised of doctors, dentists, physical therapists, registered  nurses, translators and aides. All through the year the group raises  money and collects donations of medical supplies in preparation for their annual journey. On arriving in Honduras the brigade sets up operations in the province of Santa Barbara.  Every morning they travel into the mountains and set up clinics in remote villages and sugar cane fields.  Medical and dental care is so scarce in this part of Honduras that many people have never been seen by a physician.

Most people come to the clinics seeking vitamins, medicines for intestinal parasites, anti-fungal skin creams or respiratory treatments.  Antibiotics are dispensed as needed to treat pneumonia, skin infections and ulcers.  Asthma is a common ailment and on any given day it is not unusual to see at least two people receiving breathing treatments. Anyone too ill to be treated in clinics is transported to a hospital in a nearby city at the expense of the brigade. In addition to providing care, the brigade has trained local physicians and other healthcare professionals to provide care during the rest of the year.

A medical mission is a rewarding and emotional experience. "You can't begin to imagine the poverty or the apathy so apparent in the faces of the people. We don't realize how fortunate we are that whatever we need is readily available, and our medical equipment is state-of-theart. In third world countries, conditions and equipment are sub-standard, but the gratitude of the people makes it all worth while," says  Clare Deblasio.