Exploratory Team Report 2007
by Hugh Guffy
 Many of the teams have already decided on destination points
for next year. Surely those teams that have been going to the
same location for several years and have strong relationships
with members of their adopted communities will want to continue
their established traditions. However, there are teams that have
expressed an interest in seeking new locations to serve. To this
end Jean Boshell and Tom Camp led an Exploratory Team back to
Honduras this past month.
Utila
You have already been alerted to one very promising opportunity.
Larry Pitts is very interested in having at least one team visit
the island of Utila this next year. He introduced the exploratory
team to Doris and Brent Brady who are expatriates living on the
island. The prospects are that teams will have access to a reasonably
comfortable building to use for a clinic, pharmacy and dormitory.
This building is a two story multiuse facility owned by the Bay
Island Conservation Association (BICA).
 There
are approximately 8,000 residents on the island with a large portion
being poor, underserved migrants from the mainland. Although Utila
is primarily English
speaking, Spanish is the language used in the schools and by the poor families
of the laborers and service personnel. The immediate needs are for medical, dental
and vision aid. In addition,
Sister Eleanor has expressed an interest in accompanying
any such team to provide evangelic support. She hopes to involve some of the
ministers currently serving other churches in her crusade. A Utila mission would
be limited to two  days
and three nights at the most however. Teams visiting the island would want to
plan to serve other communities around La Cieba as well.
One obvious advantage
to a Utila mission would be the support
of Cruzada. Additionally the Bradys would be available to help
with translation and logistics.
“Ninos de la Luz”
There are numerous other areas of need in La Cieba. One that was
identified by the Exploratory Team is the orphanage at “Ninos
de la Luz” (Children of the Light). This is an amazing orphanage/school/church
compound that is located behind the La Cieba airport. It is within
two miles of the Cruzada compound. Ninos de la Luz is administered
by its founder, Bill Kwiatowki and his wife, Mary. The compound
has been visited by both the Exploratory Team and members of Jane
Cox’s June 2007 team.
Both Bill and Mary have expressed an interest in having an extended
medical team visit them during 2008. You can get more information
on this opportunity at http://thechildrenofthelight.org/ .
La Union
Both Sister Eleanor and Sandy have designated La Union as being
a location of significant unmet need for 2008. This is a remote
village in the Department of Olancho. The need here is primarily
for medical aid and support of the church but construction needs
are also possible. Since there is no established mission house
in this area, Sister Eleanor suggests that teams stay at a local
Honduran hotel that is run by a Christian family. This area is
a priority for Cruzada and would have the advantage of using
Cruzada personnel for road management and facilitation. A mission
effort here would be very localized with the team returning to
La Union each evening. David Kelley states that “there
is enough unmet need here to keep a team busy for at least a
week.”
La Ceibita (in the Tocoa Area)
One of the goals for the Exploratory Team was to establish
some contact with the Methodist Church and to identify their
needs within the general area currently served by AHMEN. Our
purpose here was not to abandon Cruzada or CHIMES but simply
to explore options for expansion. To this end the Exploratory
Team met with Rev. Randy Webster ( Click here to read Randy's
brief bio) . Randy serves both the United Methodist Church and
the Methodist Church of the Caribbean and the Americas. His MCCA
church is located in La Cieba and his UMC Church is located in
La Ceibita. Randy accompanied the Exploratory Team to his Church
in La Ceibita which is located within a few miles of Tocoa.
There is a tremendous need in La Ceibita for both medical and
construction teams. The church has a parsonage and sanctuary
plus a large single-story multiuse building that is in transition
into becoming a two-story complex. The parsonage would be available
to house a team of about 20 people. It has a kitchen, bathroom,
and several bedrooms. The multiuse building is currently used
primarily to feed 240 needy children one meal a day, five days
a week. Randy hopes to expand the building’s usage to include
a vocational school and general community center. If a team were
interested in this site for a mission, all arrangements (in country
travel, lodging and meals) are made by UMVIM Honduras. For additional
information go to www.gbgm-umc.org/hondurasini/ or contact the
UMVIM coordinator for Honduras, Ron Davidson at hondurasvim@aol.com
.
Two other possible mission sites
During our discussions with the Cruzada leadership it was mentioned
that the Mission House on Roatan was in need of repair. This
would be primarily a construction team mission, but there would
be opportunity for a Bible School and general faith  interactions
as well. Teams interested in this option should contact Rev.
David Kelly.
Larry Pitts has learned of an additional site in the extreme
eastern region of Honduras . The House of Hope and the School
of Hope have been built since 2005 in Puerto Lempira which is
situated on the Laguna Caratasca in La Moskitia, best accessed
by air. The House of Hope is a safe haven for up to twenty-five
partially disabled children, malnourished babies and their families.
The School of Hope is an adjacent, three-teacher school for these
children who because of their challenges must have an education
to survive . Both the House of Hope and the School of Hope were
built with assistance of Send Hope (go to www.send-hope.org)
founded by Dr. Tom Brian of Allen, Texas, and are administered
by Katrina and Roger Engle rogerkatrina@gmail.com , missionaries
from the New Testament Church, Sebring, Florida.
Availability of Cuban trained medical staff
One additional aspect of the Exploratory Team’s efforts
was to establish a stronger linkage with the growing number of
Cuban and Cuban trained doctors in Honduras. To this end the
Exploratory team worked and traveled with eight Cuban/Honduran
medical staff members. In addition to experiencing their medical
efforts we were able to interact with each of them on an individual
basis.
Currently there are in excess of 400 such persons (Cuban trained
Hondurans operating under a provisional license and Cuban nationals
on assignment from the Cuban government) within Honduras. Direction
and placement of these individuals is in significant part controlled
by Dr. Luther Harry Castillo. The Cubans now have a physical
presence (official offices or clinics) over most of Honduras.
We were able to visit some of these facilities in La Ceiba and
Tocoa. Teams should be aware that the Cubans now offer a variety
of specialties to include lab technicians and dentists. It must
be understood that Cuban doctors have an approach to medicine
and to medications that is different form that held by US physicians.
As a consequence, each team will need to establish their own
procedures in utilizing Cuban trained personnel. This should
include the latitude that such persons have in prescribing medications.
It is advisable that the medical team leaders consult with those
AHMEN doctors who have worked with the Cubans in the past for
guidance/counsel.
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