March 2015
This was our annual “Fuerza para el Futuro” trip, this one led by Dartmouth/Fuerza alums Jules Ortego and Christine Averill who accompanied ACTS veterans Sue Burgos and Mike Harris. The focus of the trip was on (a) Fuerza activities in which the Dartmouth group worked with local youth to prepare the new dental clinic and to stage dental presentations in local villages, and (b) the conduct of general clinical care with particular attention to several longstanding individual patients.
The new dental clinic building adjacent to the medical clinic had recently been completed, and the Fuerza team of Dartmouth alums plus and local youth spent several days painting, cleaning, and preparing the room for use. The Dartmouth group was remarkably competent in both their Spanish fluency and their comfort and management with children, and the students generally conducted themselves admirably with their work.
The highlights of the Fuerza activities were the staging of the dental presentations in Carrizalito and Los Planes. At each site, Jose and Oscar, the Honduran dentists who joined our group, lectured on basic dental care and the Fuerza participants presented the village families with toothbrushes and toothpaste. Carrizalito recently had running water installed by the Engineers without Borders, and the residents there were also given towels donated by Lebanon NH’s River Valley Club. The final phase of the dental work by the Fuerza team included the completion of a preliminary dental survey of El Rosario residents in preparation for the opening of the new clinic.
Sue Burgos meanwhile directed the medical operations with Rosa in the clinic in El Rosario and then in visits to several individuals who have special medical needs. All of the patients including Dona Chica, our long-time laundry woman, seemed to be faring well, and Sue concentrated subsequently on restocking the medications with our shipments and on distributing new clothing we brought for the families in Los Planes.
