Where is Belaire - Where can you stay?

Over the past sixteen months, Mary and I have visited the home of Evelyn and Jose Castellar at least a half dozen different times. Our first encounter occurred at a little cantina just outside the gates of the Hospital Loma de Luz near Belfate, on the northern coast. Mary, Gregg Rushton and I were working at Loma de Luz helping our good friend Judy Greene computerize their eye glasses inventory. I was having difficulty negotiating the amount due for a couple of soft drinks when the man standing in line behind me said “she (the cashier) said you owe her 38 Limpira”. I said thanks, paid for my drinks and went outside. I didn’t notice that the man had followed me and when he saw the CHHF sign on the side of the truck, he asked where Limon was. Gregg told him and said that we were headed there the next morning. The man introduced himself as Jose Castellar and after learning that we traveled with medical brigades; he invited us to stop by his farm the next day saying “You’ll drive right by our clinic and if you stop Evelyn, my wife, will give you some pineapples.”

Well, the next day we found the clinic and went into meet Evelyn and, of course, Jose hadn’t mentioned us and she didn’t know who we were or why we were there. But being ever gracious, Evelyn sent us up the drive to wait for her at her home. An hour later, after enjoying a wonderful lunch and loaded down with fresh pineapples we left. We left in love with the community and this couple from Federal Way Washington who are giving so much of their time and resources to help those so much less fortunate – the people of the surrounding villages that Evelyn simply referred to as her “neighbors”.  Now after conducting two different week long medical and eye care clinics at Evelyn’s Clinica de Los Angles, we plan on being regular coworkers at the clinic.



Clinica de Los Angeles



Since our return from our most recent visit and after numerous reports that we have posted on the clinic and the crisis that faces the people of the neighboring Cloud Forest, I have gotten several inquiries regarding how to get to the clinic and what accommodations are available?  The Lord knows that there are plenty of reasons to visit Belaire.

The village of Belaire is about 45 minutes from Cruzadas on the main road from La Ceiba to Saba (it is the second or third village beyond Jutiapa). Unfortunately the Pepsi Cola sign that tells you when you are approaching Belaire was knocked down by an errant cattle truck so it is difficult to know when you are there. The Clinica de Los Angeles is located just across the driveway from a very well kept soccer field which will be on your right as you are going from La Ceiba to Saba.

Sambo Creek, Jutiapa, Balfate and Belaire

As for lodgings, there are a number of excellent choices. Evelyn can get you in-touch with the Canadian (http://www.hotelcanadien.com/). She is good friends with the proprietors. Team Belaire has for the past two years stayed at Helen’s Beach Hotel (http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g292023-d631095-Reviews-Villa_Helen_s_Hotel_Restaurant-La_Ceiba.html). Helen’s is immediately adjacent to the Canadian. If you contact them, ask for Jack and tell him that guf, the fat man from AHMEN, told you to call. The separate bungalows are a very nice feature at Helen’s. They are very comfortable and have full kitchens/dinettes/living rooms and can be rented by the day or week.

Helen’s and the Canadian are adjacent to one another

When Mary and I are in the area by ourselves, we stay at La Delphina B&B (http://www.ladelphina.net/). This is a rather new facility that caters to small groups (they only have five double rooms). The owner is a man named Richard (ladelphina@hotmail.com). Again tell him the fat man from AHMEN told you to call.

Richard (striped shirt), Mary and Mario chat

Another possibility is the Palma Real (http://www.expedia.com/Northern-Coast-Hotels-Hotel-Palma-Real-All-Inclusive.h1817785.Hotel-Information?icmcid=191.tripadvisor.ExpediaHotelImagesUS.freesearch&foop=0&crti=4&itty&itdx&rdct=1&itid&nfla=1&from=f&hashTag=picturesAndTours&flag=l&hwrq&spsh&spsi&ICMCID=191.tripadvisor.ExpediaHotelImagesUS.freesearch&htid=1817785#). This beachfront resort is located within a half mile of Richard’s and probably within a mile of Helen’s and the Canadian. It is physically close, but it is in another world. Mary and I have never stayed there, but we have toured the place. It is where the rich and famous in Honduras vacation. Actually it is not all that bad when compared to US luxury resorts. And the food is free.

Palma Real, where the rich and famous stay

One other option exists. A couple of hundred feet beyond the Canadian is a small Bed and Breakfast/ Bar & Grill called Paradise Found. It is owned and operated by an expat couple from the US. Like all the other options, Paradise Found fronts on the Caribbean. It is relatively quiet and informal. We have never stayed here but our 2010 team did eat dinner there one evening. Their grill enjoys an excellent reputation amongst everyone we talked to. Unfortunately our experience was not the best we’d ever had in Honduras. It became evident that their staff’s ability to handle crowds of more than five or six is limited. We showed up (with prior notification) with around ten at the same time as another group of around eight showed up. We’ll probably not return.

The tables and benches are all made from very heavy slabs cut from driftwood found floating in the Caribbean

2011 US/Honduras Summit

The United Methodist Church sponsors a US/Honduras Summit each year where the Honduras in-country people meet with teams from all over the US to improve their ability to serve the Hondurans.  This year the First United Methodist Church Oak Ridge is hosting the Summit.  A flyer is shown below.

The 2011 Mission Season for the Alabama

 Honduras Medical Educational Network

It is late February and the 2011 AHMEN mission season is well underway. Mary and I have already gone with Gregg Rushton, Peggy and Russ Polhemus, Sharon Bentley, Ellen Storey and Carlos Mayfield to the little village of Belaire. Here we worked with our good friends, Jose and Evelyn Castellar, at the Clinica de Los Angeles. Our trip was very successful and is the topic of another posting on Papa Gordo’s Page.



Our very first Honduran mission trip

Mary and I have at least two more trips planned to go back to Honduras this year. Next we will do a “twofer” going first with the 316 Fellowship back to La Union.   The 316 Fellowship Team from Hoover (a part of greater Birmingham, AL) is led by Pat and Cindy Richards. The Richards are veterans of the original Discovery UMC teams that were led by Joe Jones and our son, Brad. Discovery was the first AHMEN team to go into Tocamacho back in 2006. The next year we went beyond Tocamacho and pushed all the way to the Pueblo Nuevo, at the very edge of the Moskitia. (This is when Mary and I began stacking teams together, spending longer time in the field and saving on airfares.)  

Pat and Cindy became team leaders in 2008 and in that year and again in 2009, took our first teams into La Union. La Union is a mountain village in the department of Olancho and is located within an area referred to by the locals as the “bad lands.” Upon our first trip there, Mauricio, the pastor of the local Cruzadas Church, met us by saying “welcome to the wild, wild west.” Actually it is very similar to Yorito in terms of infrastructure and basic human need. The last two trips we have been accompanied by Sister Eleanor Cooper, National Co-director of Cruzadas.

We will be again going to La Union with the 316 Team this season to conduct medical, eye-care and veterinary clinics. In addition we will hold one day of medical and eye-glass clinics at the new clinic at the Cruzadas compound in La Ceiba. When in La Ceiba we’ll probably stay at the La Quinta but during our time in La Union we’ll stay at a moderately comfortable (cold shower, no AC) hotel near the Cruzadas Pastor’s home where we take all of our meals.

The second leg of our “twofer” will be with the “It’s a God Thing” team from Livingston Chapel in Crane Hill. AL. This team will be going to Belaire where they will do medical, evangelism and eye-care clinics at the Clinica de Los Angeles and perform some limited house calls on the people of the Cloud Forest. The clinic sits on the farm property of Jose and Evelyn Castellar. They are wonderful hosts and would welcome teams that are traveling through to stop by and see what goes on at their clinic. The Castellars split their time fairly equally between Belaire and their home in Federal Way in Washington State but both the farm and the clinic are staffed during the periods of their absence.

“It’s a God Thing” team will also work one day at the dump in La Ceiba and will be interacting considerably with the girls at the Shalom dorm. Traditionally we have a hotdog/marshmallow roast with the girls, and this year we hope to have a couple of the girls join our field team. We will be staying on the beach near Sambo Creek at the Canadian Hotel.  After the mission some of the team will go to Utila for a few days of extra R&R. The team has for the past three years held clinics on the island and we have many good friends there.

The “It’s a God Thing” team is led by Larry “Bucket” Guthrie. He does not have email. To communicate with Bucket, send emails to Laura Faull. Laura will see to it that Bucket gets your message and will send you his response. 

The need for medical attention is probably equal in La Union and Belaire. Both of these teams are composed of strong Christians and are led by seasoned leaders. Approximately 60 – 70% of each of the teams is returning missioners and either team would welcome additional members. As a matter of fact, since these two teams run back-to-back, it is an excellent opportunity for both new and old AHMENers to double-dip (go with both teams).

Our last trip of this season will be to Pueblo Nuevo and Palacios. For each of the past three years, Dr. Tom Camp has led a multi-tasking team through Limon, to Cusuna, Ciriboya, Pueblo Nuevo, Palacios and into the Moskita. The project leaders for the nurture center, sewing school and libraries travel with Tom to conduct annual reviews, do training and plan for the upcoming year.

This team’s visit is coordinated as to coincide with the AHMEN/SIFAT leadership training seminar in Cusuna and the annual US/Cuban/Honduran medical seminar at the hospital in Ciriboya. Although much of the activity of this team involves administrative duties, there is a lot to be done in providing clinical aid. The medical component goes up river into areas of the Moskitia to provide clinics for the indigenous people living in the Rio Plátano Biosphere, the largest area of rain forest outside the Amazon.

The leadership training seminar is a unique initiative that was begun less than a year ago as a collaboration between AHMEN and Servants in Faith and Technology.

 SIFAT was established to equip believers to share God’s love through appropriate technologies. For many years SIFAT has brought potential community leaders from all over the third world to Lineville, Alabama for a training practicum in appropriate technologies and leadership. The AHMEN/SIFAT initiative reverses the manpower flow and takes the training to remote sites in the third world. Our first trial has been in the village of Cusuna. The goal of this effort is to help people become more self sufficient. Self sufficiency begins with empowering education in the basic “how tos” and “whys”. This training is a first step in that process.

Bryon Morales of SIFAT conducts training in Cusuna

Both AHMEN and SIFAT are committed to two distinct humanitarian efforts, while demonstrating Christ’s love. The first of these is simple relief aid. We must first attend to the health and nutritional needs of those who cannot afford it. This is what our medical brigades and our recent Stop Hunger Now collaboration attempt to achieve. But we realize that long-term, perpetual welfare is counterproductive. So we are beginning to invest in development strategies that grow leaders from within the community to help them break the cycle of dependency. AHMEN has a substantial history in efforts to empower the people of Honduras through vocational training in our woodworking, sewing and computer schools. The AHMEN leadership is very excited in this new added direction to further empower the people of Honduras through leadership training. It is hoped that the Cusuna experiment will be successful and that additional training sites might be established in Yorito, Belaire and La Esperanza.     

The teams that we will go with are not the only AHMEN teams that are available for those who want to participate. There are several other teams that are forming now for this 2011 season.

April 25 – May 7, 2011:   The “La Moskitia AHMEN/CHIMES Medical Mission” Team is co-led by AHMEN’s Bruce McFadden and CHIME’s Bud McKinney. CHIMES (California Honduras Institute for Medical and Educational Support - http://www.projectchimes.org/) is a sister NGO that was founded by Tom Camp’s brother Bill. The objectives for this team are solely medical. Visit Bruce’s Blog (http://ahmen-honduras.blogspot.com/) for more up-to-date information or contact Bruce at N5594J@gmail.com or Bud at bud137@SBCGlobal.net.

May 27 – June 5, 2011:    The “316 Fellowship” Team from Hoover, Alabama will go to La Union. The team has medical, veterinary and eye-care components. Will also do a Bible Story ministry for children. For additional information contact Pat at noneckquas1@bellsouth.net or Cindy at cmckr35244@gmail.com.

The 316 Vet team learns a rough and tumble version of veterinary care

June 4 – 12, 2011:   The “It’s a God Thing” Team from Livingston Chapel in Crane Hill, Alabama will hold medical and eye-care clinics in La Ceiba and Belaire. The team will also be involved in substantial evangelism. The team leader is Bucket Guthrie. He can be contacted via Laura Faull at twfaull@bellsouth.net. 

June 8 – 15, 2011:   Tom Camp will lead a medical team to La Esperanza . This will be the first time AHMEN has actually held clinics in El Esperanza. Tom led an exploratory team there in 2010 and it was determined that the need was sufficiently great to warrant returning with a full medical complement. For further details contact Tom Camp at llamacamp@gmail.com.

June 10 – 18, 2011: Debra Rodgers will lead a construction team from Discovery United Methodist in Hoover to either La Union to do work on the Cruzadas parsonage or to La Ceiba to work on the new clinic there. In addition, the team will be engaged in Bible training for the youth of the church. For information, contact Debra at debracrna@aol.com

The “BioSand” Team from Discovery and Helena UM Churches will be working in numerous villages along the northern coast and in the central highlands for an extended period of up to four weeks. This team will be involved primarily with education and demonstration as they install and teach locals how to operate simple BioSand filters. These are extremely efficient filtration systems that are easy to build and simple to maintain. For exact dates and any other additional information contact the team leaders, Joe Jones at Joejones141@bellsouth.net or Cliff Hardy at hardyc@bellsouth.net.

Simple Bio-Sand Filters provide clean drinking water

June 21 - July 1, 2011:    The “Jane Cox” Team from Columbiana-United Methodist Church will go to the CHHF clinic in Limon. This is named in honor of one of AHMEN’s most involved members, the late Jane Cox. It will be co-led by Peggy Polhemus and Sharon Bentley. In addition to conducting medical clinics and children’s ministries in and around Limon, the team will also provide a clinic at the Cruzadas compound and/or the La Ceiba dump. Contact either Peggy at mspeggysue@netzero.com or Sharon at sharonbentley@bellsouth.net. 

June 23 – July 3, 2011:  The “Feed My Sheep” Team from Decatur, Alabama is venturing into new territory for an AHMEN team. Led by CD and Linda Tripp, the team will go to La Ermita. The Tripps are veteran team leaders. For details contact either CD at ctripp@bellsouth.net or Linda at LMMT4@yahoo.com.

July 6 – 16, 2011:    The “Baptist Connection” Team from Mount Vernon Baptist Church in Curry, Alabama will hold medical clinics  at the CHHF Clinics in Limon and in Icoteas. The team leader is Richard Bowie. You can contact Richard for further information at pharmknife@aol.com.  

August 6 – 14, 2011:   The annual International Medical Seminar Team will go to Ciriboya. Elements of this team will hold a seminar for librarians in Cusuna, assist the SIFAT leadership conference in Cusuna and conduct both medical and eye-care clinics in Cusuna and Pueblo Nuevo. A portion of the medical team will also hold clinics in the villages along the river in the Moskita.

The AHMEN/SIFAT & Library Seminar Team leaders are Tom Camp and Lou Altman. Tom can be contacted at llamacamp@gmail.com. The 5th Annual International Medical Seminar Team leaders are Tom Camp and Tom Arnold. Tom Arnold can be contacted at taspok@mindspring.com. The Moskitia Team is led by Bruce McFadden and Bud McKinney. Bruce can be contacted at BCMCF@BHAM.RR.COM and Bud can be contacted at bud137@sbcglobal.net . Mary and guf Guffey will lead the eye-care component. They can be contacted at hjguffey@earthlink.net.

Tom “poles his boat ashore” in the shallows of the river

Team Belaire 01/26 - 02/05 2011

“Team Belaire - 2011” has just completed its mission trip to the Clinica de Los Angles in Belaire, Honduras. The team consisted of Gregg Rushton (team leader), Sharon Bentley, Ellen Storey, Carlos Mayfield, Peggy and Russ Polhemus, and Mary and guf Guffey. We were joined by Dr. Delmer Montoya, a Honduran physician, Sonia Barabas, a local pastor and nurse, and Patty Calderon, a Cruzadas interpreter. This is the team’s second mission to the clinic. Our hosts were Evelyn and Jose Castellar.

Evelyn is the founder of Clinica de Los Angeles. She and her husband split their year, six months in Honduras (in 3 month intervals) and six months in their US home in Federal Way, Washington. Evelyn is tireless in her efforts to help her neighbors and is especially passionate toward the impoverished people of the Cloud Forest.      

The people of the Cloud Forest live in the very worst conditions. The terrain is difficult and conditions are exceptionally harsh. The rainy season swells the rivers making travel nearly impossible. Potable water is nonexistent. Parasites, fungus and disease weaken everyone. The most vulnerable are the children. Infant death is common. The boy standing in the doorway above attests to the utter despair that is their existence.

The objectives for our mission were to provide medical aid, to examine eyes and fit glasses, to distribute food, and to evangelize. We conducted clinics for five full days plus two half days. The numbers of people who came were overwhelming. Many of our patients travelled (many walking) for 4-6 hours and some stayed for days, waiting to be treated. Our medical team served 977 patients to include 12 minor surgeries. Our eye-care team fitted 64 pairs of RX glasses, 145 pairs of readers and distributed 325 pairs of sunglasses. In total 222 eye examinations were completed.

Russ Polhemus who was in charge of our devotionals and evangelism had 168 requests for prayer and commitments, to include first time professions of faith and rededications. He also established numerous relationships with members of the community.

One unique feature of this year’s trip was the distribution of food packets to the many children that were identified as being at risk due to malnutrition. The recent heavy rains and local crop failures had severely limited food supplies all over Honduras. This situation put the people of the Cloud Forest in crisis.

 Fortunately we were able to establish a partnership with the “Stop Hunger Now” organization and with Leonarda’s Home of Hope and were able to acquire enough packets of fortified rice/soy meal to feed 300 starving children for four months. SHN (www.StopHungerNow.org) is a humanitarian relief organization operating out of Raleigh, North Carolina. They purchase and package a completely balanced food supplement into bags which serve up to six children. 

LHOH (http://www.leonardashomeofhope.org/) is an orphanage that is supported by a consortium of contributors that is headquartered in Norge, Virginia. They arranged the distribution of the SHN food packets to the Cruzadas compound in La Ceiba, Honduras and were kind enough to share their allocation of packets with the Clinica de Los Angles.

The clinic in Belaire serves approximately twenty small hamlets and villages that dot the surrounding country side. This is a substantial catchment area. Most importantly, however, Clinica de Los Angeles is positioned at the gateway to an area of the virgin Cloud Forest that is the home for many of the neediest people in Honduras. These people are extremely isolated and are best characterized as marginalize by both the government and the population at large.

We were unable to visit the Cloud Forest on this trip, but two of our group were able to make house calls to a couple of the more remote patients living close by.

We were blessed with good weather during our trip and this helped in the distribution of the food packets. Peggy and Delmer took food with them as they conducted house calls on disabled and critically ill patients across the river.

 Many of the rural homes around Belaire are accessible only by steep footpaths.  Sometimes keeping up with the locals is a little challenging for Gringos and flatlanders.

In the clinic our nurses and doctor not only treated a wide range of ailments but they oversaw the pharmacy and dispensed medications. Considering the sheer volume of traffic through the clinic, this is no small task.

   

As we did last year, we setup the eye clinic on Evelyn’s back porch. Carlos conducted the primary eye exams and tested each person coming to the clinic for their far vision acuity. Mary did the near vision exams, measured near vision acuity, and fitted readers. Gregg used the Retinomax 3 to determine the prescriptions needed to correct far vision and guf used the computer to match these prescriptions with the “best fit” glasses that we had in our inventory.

In total we carry 4840 pairs of cleaned, used eye glasses with us. These glasses are all stored in specially designed trays and matched by prescription and id number within a specially designed computer program. We are indebted to Holland Kendall of Kendall Optometry Ministry, Inc (http://kendall-optometry-ministry.com/kendall-optometry/) for his equipment and software support.

Kids, kids and more kids. Whenever we setup our eye clinic, we become something of an attraction for the kids in the community. After all, with equipment that looks like a radar gun to “shoot” eyes, computers and DVD screens, we are the best show in town. And of course, there are always the sunglasses. What could be cooler that sporting a new pair of shades.

By the time the average rural Honduran is forty years old, his/her eyesight has become limited due to cataracts and pterygia. If we can only get these kids into the habit of protecting their eyes from the sun, we wouldn’t have the need for so many referrals for surgery.  

For four of our clinic days we were joined by girls from Shalom, the girls’ dorm at the Cruzadas compound. The first two days Maribel, Fannie and Magdalena came and observed and helped out. The second two days Yormani and Jenny joined us and assisted in the medical clinic and pharmacy.

Jenny is studying to become an English teacher and was a wonderful interpreter, but all of the girls understood enough English to be of great assistance. Since the girls had to be transported to and from the dorm in La Ceiba each day, it made for some long, long days for both the girls and for Gregg who chauffeured them.  

The eye glass clinic utilized several of Evelyn’s “girls” to help with registration and crowd control. These young ladies participate in the clinic’s scholarship program and volunteer at the clinic whenever medical brigades are not at the clinic.

 Mariela, Cindy, Heidi, Cami, Vera and Janire were extremely pleasant and worked very hard. At times it got more than a little difficult for the girls when tempers flared amongst patients who had waited many hours to be seen.

  

Our days were spent working hard. But we also had time to relax and have some fun. One evening we spent in the Castellars’ living room being serenaded by Jose and Sherlock. Jose is Evelyn’s husband and can even remember the song that he wrote for Evelyn so many years ago when he first met her in Columbia.

Sherlock is the young man in the green shirt. He lives in La Ceiba and heard about our eye clinic and came to have his eyes checked. He stayed the rest of the day to help translate in the eye clinic and then joined us for our sing-along.

One evening, Evelyn arranged for us to join many of the local young people for a dance demonstration and Honduran sock hop. It was fun watching some of our group strut their stuff to the salsa beat.  

The highlight of any trip to Belaire is a visit to the Casa Cielo (http://casaderoc.org/www.casaderoc.org/Home.html). Casa Cielo houses 24 foster children all 6 years old or younger. It is truly amazing to witness so much energy, love and discipline. The home is run by Papa (Leonard) and Mama (Marie) Jones. Mama and Papa are ably assisted by their daughter Joy and their daughter and son-in-law, Jeanette and Del Sambucetti.

After we visited the current location for Casa Cielo, Del took us to the site of their new home. At this point it is simply an enclosed plot of land but within two years it will be a modern orphanage that will offer hope and sanctuary for 40-45 children. While we were at the site I asked Del to tell the others about little Jose’s vision and prayers for a reliable bus for the home. If you ever visit Casa Cielo, be sure to ask about it.

While part of the team went to Casa Cielo, part elected to visit Evelyn and Jose’s beach house at Balfate. They spent much of the day exploring the stream that runs through the Castellars’ property where local miners pan for gold. Carlos had brought his metal detector from Alabama and he and Jose scanned the creek bottom for heavy ore.

Before lunch on our last day in Belaire the team went by the Hospital Loma de Luz (http://www.crstone.org/) where we met with old friends and left medical supplies. Loma de Luz is unique within Honduras as it is one of the very few fully licensed private hospitals. It is a wonderful place of healing. More importantly, it is a tremendous testament to Christ’s love.

We then visited the hospital’s children’s home. This is a semi-autonomous facility where critically ill children can stay while receiving care at the hospital. In addition to the central facility, there are several small bungalows where family can come and stay while visiting the children. We got to meet the two little girls from the Cloud Forest that Evelyn had brought to the center for treatment.

Before making the five and a half hours journey back to San Pedro Sula, we dropped by Dr. Marion Dodson’s agriculture research center called the Fundacion Agricola Vid (www.funavid.com). We had met Dr. “Buddy” and his wife Dee and toured his complex on our trip in 2010. The focal point of the center is a large metal hanger that houses several apartments, men and women’s dormitories and classroom space for two hundred people. It is always a pleasure to stop by, especially around lunch time. Dee makes a fantastic coconut cake.