FOR THE HEALTH OF OUR PEOPLE
APADRINE UN MEDICO
MEDICOS ESPECIALISTAS EN MEDICINA FAMILIAR
TRABAJO AD HONORES EN EL PRIMER HOSPITAL POPULAR GARIFUNA DE HONDURAS.
JUNIO 2011
OUR HEROS IN ANONIMINITY
There is an idea: good things don’t make too much noise
A bomb creates more clamor than a caress. A medical consultation in the last corner of a remote community will not appear as breaking news but it will be the best news for the person who receives the attention.
This is what the doctors of science and conscious do: they transpose the theory of this project into real, tangible practice; they are those who realize the dream of health for the forgotten.
They are heroes in silence, no one praises their practice, no names echo in the upper echelons, they do not display their work from a podium; they are fanatics of doing and not of saying, they are of simple appearance, when they take off their doctor coats they are confused with any other member of the community. Easily they could pass unnoticed but they are never forgotten by those who have regained their health thanks to the opportune and dedicated work of these doctors.
They make roads. For them solidarity is not a word, it is an action. They have the valor to change what needs to be changed. They do not measure time nor distances in order to carry out their work, while other discuss strategies and programs of how to do things they simply go ahead and do it.
For this, they are: OUR HEROS IN ANONYMINITY
- Dra. Wendy Perez Health Network Community of Iriona Viejo
- Dr. Luther Castillo Harry Hospital Community of Ciriboya
- Dr. Samir Centeno Health Network Community of Cocalito
- Dra. Amanimun Lacayo Health Network Community of Punta Piedra
- Dr. Jose Lino Hospital Community of Ciriboya
- Dra. Zunilda Martinez Health Network Community of San Jose de la Punta
- Dra. Melissa Oliva Health Network Community of Cusuna
- Dra. Ingrid Norales Health Network Community of Sangrelaya
- Dalia Posas Health Network Community of Sico
The cost of live of a permanent medic in the zone has a high price.
Even though they live in the modesty of their surroundings, the distance and the accessibility of the zone generate costs of meals and mobility.
Taking into account that in this model of health no doctor in service receives a salary--rather they are self-sacrificing since the service they give is a complete benefit for those who receive it—we present this space as one of doctor sponsorship to those who would want to commit themselves to the health of our communities.
A day in the coats of our doctors
Each of the previously cited doctors forms an important part of the Health Network attending the Twelve Health Stations established in the highlighted communities.
The Garífuna and Cuban doctors, in their majority, are not native to the community in which they work; rather their families reside in the neighboring communities to which they need to travel to due to the basic necessity of seeing their families.
Besides this, they need to move to neighboring communities to complete rounds of house visits where there are no health stations, arrive to the home of the ill and provide medical attention when, for some reason or another, he or she has not been able to travel to the Hospital or to the nearest health station. This also implies that each doctor must return to the hospital, since that is where the pharmacy is located, in search of medication. Furthermore the doctors must cover watch-periods which, in terms of attention, establish the direction of the Hospital.
All of the transportation and meals are currently covered by each doctor, who, due to their unsalaried position, often confront precarious situation to complete their task. Despite all the limitations that they face, they do not stop for a second affirming and defending QUALITY HEALTH FOR OUR COMMUNITIES.
GENERAL PROPOSAL FOR THE DOCTORS’ MEALS AND TRANSPORTAION
Sponsor the stipend of a doctor
Meals per Month $ 239.00
Personal hygiene products $ 32.00
Transportation $ 48.00
TOTAL $ 388.00
MONTHLY SPONSORSHIP OF A DOCTOR WHO ATTENTS 24 HOURS IN THE COMMUNITY
COUPLE SPONSORSHIP PLAN
$160.00 per person: with this monthly donation a couple can sponsor a doctor, together collecting $3200.00
Club of the friends of the heroes in anonymity
This space gives room for individual contribution based on the conviction that one does not need to have much to give something. A friend of the heroes in anonymity can donate $10.00 monthly and achieve the goal of forming a club of friends at an international level.
As an active member of the club of friends of our heroes you will receive the profile of the doctor whom you sponsor, a report of the actives that they realize in the health networks and episodes of our hero in action.
To Participate Actively and to Contribute
Any amount that you contribute will be in support of Our White-Robed Heroes to continue to carry out their work bringing about the Health of our Communities.
Call or write us at:
E-mail: fhatuadiw@yahoo.es
- Honduras C.A La Ceiba Atlantida
Barrio La Julia, Adjacent to the previous location
De Leonardo Disco, in front of the coffin manufacturer Rogelio.
Tel # . (504) 406 88 67
(504) 89 72 05 99
(504) 32 82 95 32
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OUR HISTORY
In 1999 after the devastating hurricane Mitch, in which more than 50% of the national infrastructure in roads, buildings and bridges were reduced to rubble and the Garifuna, indigenous and Miskito communities remained totally cut off, leaving them vulnerable. After the tempest, more optimist analysts said that we had regressed more than 50 years in our development. However this natural disaster marked a transcendental point in the history of our communities.
International solidarity was felt immediately and after 10 years some of it has remained, effectively continuing on. The Cuban cooperation, with a group of doctors ready to reach the farthest courners of the country, without second thoughts initiated their treks to our beaten Garifuna communities. This awakened a dream for many youth. That they become health professionals and they brought what seemed to be an illusion: the possibility to go study degree in the sister Republic of Cuba.
Inspired by a genuine example and with the certainty that a better future is possible, these youth drew up a new path and devised a New Model capable of changing the “not so advanced” reality of the Garifuna communities of Honduras in the area of health.
After great efforts in fundraising and socialization, this group of youth, headed by Dr. Luther Castillo, decided to construct the building that in 2007 was inaugurated as the first phase of what we now know as the First Popular Garifuna Hospital in Honduras. The hospital is medically equipped with the direct help of the Republic of Cuba whose Medical Brigades work effectively in the zone. In the hospital’s first year, it provided services for: GENERAL MEDICINE, EXTERNAL MEDICINE, INTERNAL MEDICINE, STOMATOLOGY, and PHARMACY
Today we have all the specialized basic services and we have given more than 500 thousand free consultations including medicines.
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STUDENTS WORK BRIGADE
SWB Started in 1999 as an initiative of the Garifuna students in Cuba. The students were searching for a way to contribute to the improvement of health in their communities. They therefore decided to donate 15 days of our vacations to work in the Honduran Garifuna communities along side the Cuban doctors. From 2001 to date we have developed our student brigades and medical work in the communities of Santa Rosa de Aguan, Tornabé, Triunfo de la Cruz, Santa Fe, San Antonio, Guadalupe, Limón, Cusuna, Ciriboya, Iriona Viejo, San Jose de la Punta, Sangrelaya and Cocalito. We have given over 18 thousand free medical consultations with their respective medications, trained more than 200,000 youth, undertaken community projects such as the main park in Cusuna, soccer fields in Cusuna, Punta Piedra and Limón, volleyball courts in Cusuna, Punta Piedra and Limón. We attend the Garifuna in their native language, an element of great historical importance in our community, and an indispensible PATIENT-DOCTOR relationship in the health process. This year 2010 will not be the exception and we are placing the necessary human resources to cover this humanitarian work in favor of the health of our communities making available all the knowledge acquired in the course of our medical careers. We have met the goal of attending the needs of the communities of the Municipality of Iriona.
