Gehlen sponsors medical mission to Honduras

February 3, 2005

LE MARS - On Jan. 6, 26 volunteers from throughout the United States left for central Honduras and a medical mission that would last 10 days and touch the lives of many Hondurans.

Each year Gehlen Catholic High School sponsors this medical mission to 'Hurricane Mitch' ravaged areas of Honduras. It has been six years since Hurricane Mitch literally destroyed the small country of Honduras and much of the country's infrastructure is still in great disrepair and health care is non-existent or minimal.

The program has sent four medical teams into Honduras the past four Januarys and continues to send a high school student team during the Easter season each year. To date Gehlen has sponsored 10 trips into Honduras and has put 175 missioners on the ground in the third poorest country in the western hemisphere.

This years medical team was composed of: Francis Seivert, team leader, Elkton, S.D., Phil Ryan, pharmacy assistant, Le Mars (University of Iowa), Michelle Graham, doctor, Sioux City, Christine Sahn, ultra sound specialist, Lake Oswego, Ore., Tom Ryan, pharmacist, Le Mars, Carlos Delgado, doctor, Suwanee, Ga., David Goo, doctor, Atlanta, Ga., Tom Jeneary, dentist, Le Mars, Lorie Nussbaum, general medical / Rotary Club, Le Mars, Char Crichton, doctor, Portland, Ore., Rolf Crichton, dentist, Portland, Ore., Anne Oloff, nurse, Le Mars, Bonnie Driscoll, translator, Le Mars (MacAlester College), Diana Vanderkooi, nurse, Merrill, Father Doug Klein, priest / translator, Rock Valley, Omar Aleman, translator, Le Mars (Iowa State University), Randy Guerdet, doctor, Sioux City, Gene Lydon, pharmacist, Sioux City, Ann Sowlles, translator, Milwaukee, Wis., Pat Boudreau, nurse, Sioux City, Father Richard Ball, priest, Dow City, Marge Humphrey, general medical, Fort St. Lucie, Fla., Dorothy Calvani, general medical, New York City, N.Y., Dava Weinstein, general medical, New York City, N.Y. and Richard Seivert, director, Le Mars.

Greeting the team in El Guante, Honduras, F.M., C.A., were Sister Barb Zimmer and Sister Valerie Knoche, both Immaculate Heart of Mary Sisters out of Monroe, Mich. Sisters Barb and Val run the mission church of San Rafael in El Guante, and many of the surrounding parish churches. Joining Sisters Barb and Val were Sister Fatima Carcamo, Sulaco, Honduras, and Sister Juanita Polak, Sulaco, Honduras. Also joining the team from Honduras was Tacha Alvarado, a pharmacy assistant.

The dental teams worked in Cedros, Montana de la Flor, Crucitas, Agua Caliente, Palo Copado, Terrero, Suyatal, Tablon, and El Guante. The medical teams worked in Tablon, Agua Caliente, Montana de le Flor, Escano de Tepale, Palo Copado, Pedernal, Guayavillas, Nueva Esperanza, Guadalupe, Yoculoteca and El Higuerito. The teams often split up with one group going to one village while the other team went to a different one.

Nine members of the team made a special overnight trip to the remote area of Montana de la Flor to bring medical and dental help to the Xicaques (Tolupane) Indians. The team members describe their visit to the Xicaques as unbelievable. The team saw 402 patients that came down from the mountain with special instructions from their chief.

The Gehlen team had made an agreement in August with the chief to bring this team into the Montana de la Flor. The team was escorted into the MDLF region by government troops as an honor to the Tolupane and the Gehlen team.

The team described the health conditions of the Tolupane as terrible. They found a great amount of malnutrition along with so many other serious medical conditions. Tom Jeneary, dentist from Le Mars, described their dental health as the worst of the worst - for two days he did nothing but extract teeth.

"We when arrived on the mountain after an incredible ride one of the team members asked me if I knew how many people we might see," said Francis Seivert, team leader on our medical team that went to Montana de la Flor. Francis is an EMT living in Elkton, S.D. "I told them with the mistrust these people have for people we may see one, a hundred or none at all. Then only moments later, I saw so many people waiting my heart sank, because I knew we would never be able to treat them all that day."

In pharmacy, Tom Ryan, Gene Lydon, and Phil Ryan filled over 8,000 prescriptions, not counting piperazine, mebendazole or any vitamins given in the triage line. If counted, the number would be well over 10,000 Rx's.

The dentists, Tom Jeneary and Rolf Crichton, saw 293 patients, pulled 386 teeth, did 143 fillings and cleaned 23 teeth. All the villages had many more patients that needed dental care that could not be dealt with.

Christine Sahn (ultrasound) saw 56 patients and performed 56 ultrasounds. The doctors said having the ultrasound available was very helpful because in many cases they did not have to do a more invasive exam on women, especially with pelvic pain (e.g. PID's etc), and could better track the OB patients and the baby's development.

Those that did not see the doctors were provided triage, piperazine, mebendazole, vitamins (adult and kids) and Tylenol as appropriate. In the Montana de le Flor (The Flower Mountains) they also gave soap to all the patients, and in other villages as necessary.

Gehlen Catholic High School obtains free medicines from 4 different humanitarian organizations to be used during international medical mission trips like this. They are Catholic Medical Mission Board, New York, N.Y., Project Hope, Millwood, Va., MAP International, Brunswick, Ga., and AmeriCares, Stamford, Conn. Also contributing this year was Hy-Vee Stores Pharmacy Inc., Le Mars.

Richard Seivert, director of Mission Honduras said, "We wouldn't be able to help the poor of Honduras without the above agencies. I was pleased to receive the wonderful cooperation right from our local Hy-Vee Pharmacy and store manager Mark Frentress, who gave us a great deal of medicine at no cost and then allowed us to purchase the rest at reduced prices."

While in Honduras some members of the team participated in a number of different special celebrations.

Lorie Nussbaum, representing the Le Mars Rotary Club, and Richard Seivert, representing Gehlen Mission Honduras and Mission Honduras LeMars, participated in the celebration inaugurating the water project in La Nueva Concepcion, paid for largely by funds from the Le Mars, Rotary Club. Mission Honduras Le Mars contributed a small portion of the total funds needed to complete the project.