Feb. 16 – Mar. 1, 2008 Mission
The advance team of Rudy and Kathy Peterson, Dr. George & Marilyn Fifer, Dr. John Twiggs, Brian Newton and Becky Hollingsworth arrived in Honduras on Feb. 12th. The advance team is instrumental in preparing the clinic for the mission. Brian, our pharmacist is one of our critical advance team personnel. He determines which meds are going to expire soon to make sure we move those during the mission. We purchased over $10,000 dollars for this mission and want to be good stewards of our donations. Rudy with his engineering background keeps our clinic functioning on all levels. One of his projects was determining use and flow rate with our water supply from the village.

Our mission is also blessed to have the help of Hector Mendoza, who at every turn is ready and willing to do anything and everything we ask. His wife Jessica was a translator for our mission.

• Our team members were:
• Physicians: Dr. George Fifer, Dr. Lori Remeika, Dr. John Twiggs, Dr. Gary Van Oudenhoven
• Dentist: Dr. Richard Peters
• Pharmacist: Brian Newton
• Certified Nurse Midwife: Kathy Autrey
• Pediatric Nurse Practitioner: Karen Mitchell
• Nurses: Kathy Peterson, Kathy Spevacek, Marie Jacobsen, Janet Crossley, Marge Peters
• Dental Hygienist: Becky Hollingsworth
• Med Tech: Phyllis Coonen
• Engineer: Rudy Peterson
• Special Helpers: Marilyn Fifer, Braden Cazares, Anna Jacobsen, Elise Reding
• Eyeglass Department: Dr. Allen Ehrhardt, Pauline Schiferl, James Schiferl, Wayne Johnson, Richard Nestingen, Geraldine Nestingen, David Wagner, Caroline Wagner, Mike Lobertske, Emmy Lobertske, Roy Oberheu, Bill Fenger, Donald Peterson, Ronald Schively, Jackie Schively

The last four days of our mission a Lions group from Central Wisconsin joined us at a nearby Kindergarten building to dispense and fit eyeglasses. They saw 529 patients and made 11 referrals.

Susan Cole an ex-patriot that lives in Trujillo, helped with translators for the clinic days. She did a wonderful job. There was a need for 12 translators when the Lions arrived and we always had what we needed.

We were blessed with help from local Hondurans every day who worked diligently. We gave out 50 certificates to our Honduran helpers!

On Sunday morning after the team came in we met with mayors, teachers, and other leaders of our villages that we serve. We also met with our scholarship students discussing expectations and encouraging them in their studies. We had volunteers from the students to help with the clinic each day. We have a total of 65 students in the program this year. Carlos Espinal one of students talked about what the program has meant to them. He said the students are very happy and grateful that they are in the program. He talked about how much he has changed since the beginning of the program and he will prove his gratitude with his diploma for our help.

Karen Mitchell one of our regular team members has finished her long term missionary work with the Finca del Nino and the Centro de Saluds. Her experience with the local medical care has been a great resource for our mission. We are hoping that in the future we will be working in conjunction with the Centro de Saluds rather than a parallel system. We referred approximately 83 patients to the Arkansas brigade or to hospitals in the larger cities.

We were blessed with a hard working team that worked very efficiently. We treated 1,406 medical patients, 1,239 people received parasite medication, 695 Med. Lab tests were performed, and 4,225 prescriptions were filled.

The dental clinic saw 198 patients. There were 234 extractions and 47 exams. The teeth of 48 scholarship students and 8 clinic helpers were cleaned.

We had a generous soccer donation from Soccer Plus in Centerville Ohio, Dr Mark and Lynn Blumenschein, and Kelly Blumenschein along with her Girl Scout Troop. Four of our villages with soccer teams received Team Jerseys with coordinating socks. The coaches and players of the teams were so appreciative. They had never had matching jerseys before. They discussed with us the importance of having the youth involved in this activity. Futball as it is called in Honduras is their number one team sport.

Clinic repairs and work needed to our structure included dealing with an active termite nest in the dental clinic, water cistern levels, and updating electric and plumbing fixtures.

All of this would not be possible if it were not for our generous sponsors of MHS. We are helped individually as well as by organizations. King Pharmaceutical Benevolent Fund provided us with $71,682 worth of pharmaceuticals and medical supplies. Wisconsin Lions donated over $2500 for vitamins. We also received support from friends, family, churches, and co-workers of our team members.

From our mission in September 2007, a patient returned that we had given money to for a hospital referral. The patient had a deep infection in his bone and was unable to walk. He came in to thank us and to show us his healing. Medical procedures that are easily attained in the US are out of reach for the villages we go to. They do not have the money to ride the bus to the hospital and then when they arrive if there is not an official referral they are often not seen because they are in the lowest socioeconomic class in the country.

We also had one of our scholarship students come to us explaining that he is now having seizures and that his family told him he could no longer go to school because his brain would not be able to handle it. The doctor wanted him to have an EEG but he could not afford to do it. We were able to send him for the test and then able to provide him with the 7 months of Dilantin he will need. We explained to him that he would not have to drop out of school. He was very happy.

Our team and the local Hondurans came together and were able to provide medical and dental service to the least of these our brothers. They were so appreciative and we all brought back memories and blessings that will remain close to our hearts for a long time.

Each mission it seems we are able to take our level of care up a notch and it is exciting to see!! We still have a budget of $30,334 a year for additional needed medicines and mission costs. This past mission we still spent an additional $10,000 for medicines. Our team members pay entirely for their trip as well as bring many other items for donation. Our donations have declined in the last few years. Would your prayerfully consider your support for this mission?

God Bless you,
Becky Hollingsworth