We have spent the last two days in remote villages of Honduras - driving one to two hours to arrive at each village. The mud is unbelievable, and I cannot imagine what it is like here in the rainy season. We have long days here, as we leave between 7 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. each morning and arrive back around 5:30 or 6 p.m. The drives to the villages are just beautiful. The mountains are picturesque and the ride yesterday actually revealed scenery much like our Great Smokies!

We are quite the attraction here, as people come from the villages just to watch us in our caravans drive to our destinations. Each village offers pretty much the same accommodations. We work in school houses (which the villagers have built often carrying the supplies - cement, gravel etc. - in on their backs) which are open air, cement floor and wall structures. They are not clean or ready when we get there, so we spend the first thirty minutes moving furniture and getting prepared. We have become quite impressive at setting up clinic - it is amazing how fast we do it. It is amazing what it looks like when we are done.

As we work, the lines form. Mothers with their children, men taking time away from the fields and young children who walk in on their own to be seen. While the crowds are large, people sit so patiently and just wait their turn. Their patience is so incredible! We all laugh and say you would never see this type of patience in the United States. They wait all morning, and if by lunch time they have not been seen they wait patiently while we grab a quick bit to eat. We always have to turn people away, which is very, very hard.

The poverty here, as you can imagine, is quite severe. Billy, one of our incredible Missionary hosts, told us they go hungry at least two months out of the year. They earn money working in the fields picking mostly coffee. Even the small children work, and we have seen many who do not look to be six or seven returning from the fields after a long day of work. They earn at most $5 and the children earn a $1.

Our missionary hosts are fantastic. Mary is a "get 'er done" type of woman, and she is so wonderful with these people and does not understand the term obstacle. She just BLOWS right through any challenge. Billy, her husband, is hilarious. Speaks fluent Spanish with a heavy Arkansas accent, and is one joke right after the other. He tells a great "yarn" as well, and I quickly jump on his bus every morning. Although it is the roughest ride (we are packed in like sardines) he is so entertaining (and informative, I have learned a lot) that it is like a "driving show."

We are off today to our last village (cannot believe it is Friday), and then tonight Don Udo is having us to his house for a farewell party. It has been an incredible week, and I wish I had had more time to share stories and tell you more of our adventures. But - we have been so busy and Bob and Adrian have made sure the Asheville Rotarians have made the most of this adventure!

More tomorrow!
Meridith
PS - Don Udo is so proud of his Paul Harris, and the members of Rotary are so incredibly grateful for all that you do for them. The meeting was QUITE humbling for all of us that attended.

We're off!
Yesterday was eventful! The town of Copan was alive and celebrating. Their new mayor took office yesterday, and they are preparing for Wednesday's celebration of a new President. It is certainly a fascinating time to be here. Our medical/dental students are bright, well-informed and opinionated about all the political happenings here. Interesting similarities to our country - too much media bias and the power of the political machine. One big difference though - the Hondurans do not elect their officials for more than one term. It is not law, but it rarely if ever happens. The town was alive all day yesterday with parties in the square, food and celebration. Last night we barely slept due to the fireworks and loud parties all night long.

Our hotel, Don Udos, is just wonderful. It is clean, really comfortable and we are safe here - we think. Last night Don Udo went out to check to see what all the noise was about and he tripped over the hotel's sleeping security guard. People are a bit more laid back here!

Now, on to work! We set the clinics up yesterday and did a few dry runs. A lot of work, but I am impressed with the amount of equipment we have and what we have been able to do with extensions cords and generators. The dentists and oral surgeons will be working in one clinic, with the medical team just across the street. We have no idea how many people will be set to visit with us today, as "advertising" is strictly word of mouth (no pun intended.)

We are loaded with stuffed animals, coloring books, and crayons for the kids. And the day promises to bring great stories.

And great stories we have! We just returned from our first official day in clinic. Dr. Councell alone performed more than twenty exams, and the dental team was steady all all day long with people lined up out the door. The clinic opened at 8:30 a.m. and we wrapped up at about 4 p.m. having to turn people away. The children are amazing - they wait patiently for long periods of time just to be seen, then never make a peep as we numb, drill and fill teeth. Even in oral surgery, the three and four year olds make the best patients.

The day care was a big hit! The puzzles and the games. We were prepared for a mob scene but once again the kids played together, shared and were generally kind and appreciative of all that we brought them to play with.

We spent the last hour of the day organizing, splitting supplies and getting prepared to head out tomorrow to the rural parts of Honduras. We are going up into the mountains to the remote parts of this country, and we are taking portable dental units and medical supplies to do what we can. Half our team will continue to run the clinics here.

Tonight though, we celebrate! Don Udo is preparing a lobster dinner and right now I can hear the laughter and lively sounds from happy hour at the bar. A great day - we helped people and we are becoming fast friends!

Ola! (did I spell that right?)
The Adventure Begins! We have arrived in Honduras, and what an experience this is shaping up to be.

We had the typical travel delays - weather delayed the plane, one of our crew missed his connection and we lost a couple of bags. True to Rotarian character, our sense of drive, cooperative natures and ability to laugh at everything saw us through just fine. The bus ride from San Pedro to Copan ended up being four hours rather than three, due to the number of cows that seem to find true pleasure in standing in the middle of the road delaying traffic. They truly have no fear and I am convinced are the Honduran National Champs in the age old sport of "chicken."

We may have started this trip barely knowing one another but one long travel day has made us fast friends (truly a great group of people.)

Today is our get organized day. We easily have fifteen bags of dental and medical supplies, including two dental chairs and dental lamps. We also have toys and coloring books for the children to play with while they are waiting for their parents to receive care. Our goal today is set up our clinics, set up the day-care and assign everyone tasks and roles. Tomorrow we will hold just one medical and one dental clinic, but beginning Tuesday we will work in Copan, as well as send one team to a more remote village. This will give us the opportunity to both treat more people and treat those who truly are in need of care.They may never have seen a doctor or dentist before.

We are off on what promises to be a scavenger hunt to buy even more supplies. We have a huge list and it will be fun just to see what we can find (this town is cute, but it is small.) It is amazing to realize how much we take for granted. Betty Doll discovered that more than 90% of this country's electricity comes from generators, and Don Hudo told us that the water and electricity are fragile. We will lose power and run low on water at some point this week. Our main goal to day is to ensure the clinic is clean and ready for us, and that our sterilization process is in place. Again, something we take so for granted at home, and something we truly have to focus on here.

We have many expert photographers on this trip, and I have brought my FLIP video camera. Please look for photos and videos - edited though - as what happens in Honduras stays in Honduras!

Stay tuned for more Adventures from Honduras!