Dedication Brings HOPE to Honduras

For more than 28 years – more than half of the 52 years Project HOPE has been in existence – HOPE has shared health education and humanitarian assistance with the people of Honduras. While we have made great strides in advancing health in this Central American nation, our work here is yet unfinished.

After Haiti, Honduras is the second poorest country in Latin America and the Caribbean region. Nearly 65 percent of Hondurans live in poverty. Forty-two percent are considered living in extreme poverty.

Despite the poverty, as I look into the faces and hear the voices of the Honduran people, I see and hear hope. A hope that Project HOPE is uniquely positioned to deliver. Why am I so optimistic about the future of HOPE in Honduras? Let me tell you why.

For 23 of the 28 years HOPE has been in Honduras, our current Country Director, Marco Antonio Suazo, has had his steady hand in our work here. From coordinating humanitarian relief efforts in response to the devastation from Hurricane Mitch in 1998, to overseeing a successful HIV/AIDS prevention program, to leading the successful Village Health Banks program, Marco has his eye focused and heart open to implementing the best possible health programs for his fellow Hondurans.

And Marco is not alone in his commitment to Honduras. The average tenure of HOPE’s senior leadership in Honduras is 18-20 years. And several of the “younger” HOPE staff members joined the HOPE family after graduating from our Village Health Banks – a testament that our micro-lending program is working in giving new opportunities to the women and their families who participate.

Along with the HOPE Honduras staff, I know another Honduran deeply dedicated to the health of his country – Honduras’s Minister of Health Dr. Arturo Bendana Pinel. How do I know this? I sat with Dr. Pinel in his office at 10 p.m. discussing what we could do together to make a difference in the lives of Hondurans.

In between his meetings with the President of Honduras and running a number of the country’s health care programs, Dr. Pinel still practices Obstetrics and Gynecology. He is very supportive of HOPE’s programs for women and children, and is particularly pleased with the success of our Village Health Banks program. I look forward to working with Dr. Pinel to address several of the country’s health challenges.

With a heavy heart, I leave Honduras. But I leave with confidence – in both the HOPE staff and in the Honduran health care leadership - that our work will continue to make a difference for years to come.

Now, it’s on to Nicaragua for the second chapter in my Central America visit.

John

Tortillas of HOPE and Health

I have traveled the world with Project HOPE. I have seen many of the world’s health challenges first hand. But today, I did something I’ve never done before in my life. I made a tortilla!

What does making a tortilla have to do with global health? Well, I made the tortilla with a new friend Candida. Candida is a grandmother and member of Project HOPE’s Village Health Banks, our micro-lending program. Like some of the women I introduced you to in yesterday’s blog, Candida’s life and health have changed because of the generosity of Joe and Teresa Long – major supporters of HOPE’s program in Honduras.

Candida is one of the hardest working women I know. She rises every day at 5:30 a.m. and makes more than 1,000 tortillas each day… seven days a week… 365 days a year. The math is easy. That’s more than 365,000 tortillas a year. In between making tortillas, Candida attends the health training provided by HOPE and makes sure her family and other women in her community benefit from her training.

Speaking of friends, today I met a courageous young man who is battling testicular cancer at the Emma Romero de Callejas National Cancer Center. Diego was in the last year of medical school when he was diagnosed with cancer. Diego is studying to be a pediatrician and shares my passion to help children through education and access to care. We made a promise that when Diego defeats his cancer, he will visit me at Project HOPE, and together we will make plans to help the children of Honduras.

While at the Cancer Center, I also met Dr. Flora Duarte who told me about a quiet crisis afflicting women in Honduras. Cervical cancer accounts for more than 23 percent of all cancers – the highest prevalence of any cancer in country. I was distressed by this information, but inspired by Dr. Duarte’s dedication to address the challenge. I assured Dr. Duarte that HOPE would explore intersections of interest among our many corporate partners to assist her in her efforts to make a difference in the lives of Honduran women.

During my visit to Honduras, I have been impressed by the dedication and determination of the country’s health professionals. Dr. Duarte and Dr. Hugo Godoy, the Hospital Director at Hospital Maria, a soon-to-be 178-bed children’s hospital on a hill overlooking Tegucigalpa, with whom I met today, both received advanced medical training in the United States. Yet both chose to return to Honduras to improve the lives of thousands in their home country. It is with dedicated health professionals like Drs. Duarte and Godoy that HOPE will be working with in the future to enhance health education and care for the people of Honduras.

Check back for more tomorrow,

John

Witnessing HOPE's Impact in Honduras

At the top of one of Tegucigalpa's seemingly countless hills, I met some of the most extraordinary and inspiring women. These exceptional women came from very humble circumstances and have built small businesses through their participation in Project HOPE's Village Health Banks micro-lending program.

I had the pleasure of meeting nearly 20 of these women to hear their inspirational stories. A woman named Pradith told me she was one of the original HOPE Village Health Bank members when the program started in Honduras 17 years ago. With her micro-loan, Pradith grew her business from selling fruit and candy on the street to now operating two small buffet-style restaurants and a fried chicken stand.

Two other women I met with shared something in common - both had had their lives changed because of a generous donation to support the Village Health Banks program from HOPE supporters Joe and Teresa Long. The first woman, Mirian, told me how she was able to save the money she made by selling clothes to pay for critical laboratory tests and an MRI scan for her daughter who suffers from epilepsy. Mirian had sought loans from other institutions to fund her business, but had always been turned down because she lived in a high-crime neighborhood. Through HOPE's Village Health Banks, Mirian found an organization that believed in her and gave her the confidence she needed, not to mention a low-interest loan - to help her fulfill her dream.

I then heard the incredible story of Yolanda - another beneficiary of the Long's generosity. Yolanda spends her entire day each Wednesday making tamales. Then beginning at 6 a.m. through 9 p.m. on Thursday, she sells her tamales to federal workers at the congressional offices in Tegucigalpa. Yolanda has five children. The loan she received helped her get her business off the ground. Now, with a gleam in her eye, she told me she can pay her bills and buy the food and medicines her children need to lead healthy lives.

Following my conversations with these exceptional women, I witnessed their dedication to the health of their community at a health fair they organized. More than 200 women and children in the El Carrizal community received eye exams and eyeglasses, breast and cervical cancer screenings, diabetes screenings and blood pressure checks.

The day ended at the HOPE office in Tegucigalpa where Pfizer Fellow Eduardo Heidelberg presented his recommendations on taking the Village Health Banks in Honduras to the next level. HOPE programs around the world have benefited from the knowledge and expertise of Pfizer employees who have graciously lent their talents to enhance the organization. Eduardo's keen insight and first-hand observations will contribute to the success of our Village Health Banks program for years to come.

Over the past 17 years, HOPE's micro-lending program has invested more than $40 million to help improve the lives of more than 24,000 women and their families. If only you could have seen the faces of the women and their families that I saw today. You would agree that this investment is paying dividends in healthier lives and stronger families. Not a bad investment.

Check back for more tomorrow,

John