Peggy's Story
As I reflect on the experiences of the June 20-29, 02 medical mission trip to Honduras, the main event coming to my mind is the clinic in Icotea, Honduras on June 26. As we arrived at the one room clinic site at 8:30 AM, there were at least 100 children and mothers lined up outside the building waiting. We hurriedly moved our medical supplies in, set up the pharmacy, and prepared for the patients. The very first patient brought in was a 4 year old girl being carried by her mother. The girl, Keidy Sevilla, appeared frightened and feverish. It was evident the child had been burned. Her face, chest and upper arm were covered with black, dead skin from Kerosene burns from 13 days prior. The mother and child had been waiting 3 hours that morning for the medical team to arrive.
Justin Glass, our EMT, and I discussed options and decided on a treatment plan. The wounds needed cleaning, debriding and treating. We had a little sterile saline and a lot of hydrogen peroxide. We used the saline, and then had to use peroxide, even though we knew it was more painful to the child. In my 32 years of nursing experience, I have always avoided working with burn patients because I felt I could not separate myself emotionally from the patient to the point of being objective. When I went to Honduras, I prayed God would make me flexible, adaptable, and able to adjust to the culture to give medical relief. I found that when I expected miracles, miraculous things happened. As we cleaned the child’s wounds, I began to cry. We tried to work fast to minimize the child’s time in pain. I was gloved and unable to wipe away my tears as they dripped off my face. It suddenly occurred to me that my tears of sterile saline were flushing this child’s wounds. God continued to supply our needs. As we dried her wounds and applied a Silvadene treatment, the child stopped crying, held her arms up to me and we hugged, smiled and she told me her name.
Over and over, we saw the face of Jesus in the children and mothers. The village people are lacking monetary possessions and so many things that we take for granted. Yet they endure pain and discomfort daily but do not show their pain in the way Americans do. I found in Honduras, that even with the cultural differences and the language barriers, the smiles, laughter and tears are universal. They know love when they see it, just as we do. There are so many needs in Honduras.
When we first arrived in Honduras and inventoried our medical supplies, I noticed a case of Silvadene cream and wondered why we had it. I did not understand the need for it, but after June 26, I know it was there for a purpose. It was sent by God through someone in America to treat Kerosene burns. The mountain people have no electricity or generators, so they depend on kerosene lamps at night for light. Kerosene burns are a constant threat to the people. We were able to give Keidy Sevilla’s mother enough antibiotics and liquid Tylenol for 10 days and enough wound irrigant and Silvadene cream for a month. Another medial team was to go to the village of Icotea within a month.

I continue to go to bed at night hearing the cries of Keidy Sevilla in my mind, but I also see her smile after we treated her and I know we served a purpose in being in Icotea, Honduras on that day. Hopefully, I will be able to go back to Honduras next year and follow-up on some of the children who I know by name. My prayers are no longer generic or vague, but very specific and direct. I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to witness just a little of the day to day life of the Honduran people. They are indeed a very special people. Ironically, I believe that our medical team received far more blessings from the Hondurans than were given by us.

Peggy Polhemus, RN
Helena, Alabama
Member of Columbiana UMC Team
June 20 – 29, 2002