Honduras 2015

I went to Honduras in June of this year. About two months ago. I haven't really mentioned it because...I don't really know why. It was an amazing experience. I learned a lot and saw things that I had never seen before, I met some amazing people, and we participated in a dental mission that met some of the needs of the people in various villages there.
So why have I not been talking about it? The answer: I don't know.
I really struggled when I was there. I mean, really struggled, so much that I cannot really define it. Back in December, I learned of a team from our church that was going to Honduras to work as part of a dental mission: several dentists and lay people from the church and community would be going as a team to visit various villages outside of San Pedro Sula in Honduras and work with some of the people to check their teeth, perform extractions, and do cleanings, as needed. Even though I do not have experience working with dental patients, I thought that there might be something I could still do as a nurse, so I emailed the trip coordinator and said that I was interested in going.

Fast forward six months. I boarded a plane with about 25 other people that I barely knew and traveled south to Honduras. I have never been to Central America before. I do not speak Spanish. It didn't matter. The people that I traveled with were, in a word, amazing. I met many wonderful people who were all there to help the people of Honduras, to meet a need for dental care. The dentists that traveled with us were so awesome...they had such compassion on the people there...and each had a very strange and interesting sense of humor, as I would find out.

The country is lovely. They grow coffee, bananas, and pineapple, among many other things. The people are hardworking and kind; they love their children and take pride in their work. I had many encounters with the local people who came when they heard that a dental team was coming to their area. In some cases, they waited all day to be seen. Sometimes, they didn't need dental care, but they learned that some medical people were in the area and would we check a blood sugar level or look at a recent finger injury? Sure.

It was humid. I had one episode of car (or rather, bus) sickness that involved some amount of vomiting on my part. But no parasites, no food poisoning, the power went out a few times and it was hard to sleep. Once, a toad crossed my path and I thought it was a small rabbit because of its size. We shared showers with frogs and scorpions and there were some incredibly large bugs.

This is as big as it looks, and it's real.

I also met people who had tremendous hearts for those who lived in Honduras. People who traveled back year after year to serve those who needed dental care. I have little to no experience with dental care, but I worked in post-op for those who had teeth pulled. They were tough. They walked away with gauze in their mouths and a free toothbrush and were fine, instead of needing iPads and games and toys and all of the other things that we in the U. S. sometimes seem to need when we have dental work done.

So why was it so hard? Maybe because it was such a different culture and a different time. Maybe because I missed my family terribly. I do believe that I was meant to go. And it meant something. And sometimes when things do not seem like they are the right time...they are actually God's correct timing, whether we realize it or not. Although I had a hard time there with almost everything that I encountered, it was still meant to be and I was supposed to be there.

Going to Honduras meant that we had good times, and we had bad times, and we had...times. It was worth being there and it made a difference. The people are amazing..both the people who live there and those who volunteered their time and energy to go and serve. And I'm quite sure that they would do it again, and I really admire that.