Honduras

You do not become good by trying to be good, but by finding the goodness that is already within you, and allowing that goodness to emerge - A word of wisdom learned in Honduras.

Our Medical Team

Earlier this month I went with 16 others to Honduras on a 10 day medical mission.  With only 4 medical providers and a physical therapist we were able to see over 1100 people. 

The providers and our interpreters

Even though the purpose of our trip to  Honduras was to help others, I received some soul medicine of my own.  Of course there is great joy in being with a beautiful group of many like minded people. But on this trip, my experience of truth was found in the quiet solace of inner reflection within my soul.  

Rarely have I ever come home from such trips feeling like I have accomplished nothing. Most of the time I come back sharing stories from the field of the large number of patients we treated, the rare diseases we diagnosed, and the extreme poverty that we see. Although all the above still occurred,  this time I walked away with a better understanding of others and myself.  

My first sense of this awareness came while listening to a patients heart beat. The make shift clinic that we set up was extremely noisy and somewhere in between the construction crew breaking up the road outside with a jackhammer and the constant bustle of a busy clinic I heard, for the first time, the song of a heart beat. 

As I closed my eyes to concentrate on the rhythm and rate I felt with absolute certainty  connectedness to life. The rhythmic chant of the beats was the same as the several thousand hearts I have heard throughout my career, but for the first time it completely dawned on me, the striking similarity of us all. 

My new Buddy,  Ishwar.

This was not an ephemeral or fleeting moment, but a true experience.  Across borders, cultures, languages, and religions, I understood that at our core we are the same.  

I admit that much of my life prior to the last 3 years I have felt indifferent and detached from the rest of the world.  When news of conflicts in the Middle East, famines across the world, or growing numbers of refugees would come up, it would frustrate and anger me for a few moments but quickly these fleeting thoughts would end.  Throughout my "busy" life I spent very little if any time reflecting on what I read and back to into my Stepford life I would be absorbed.  And through my continued ignorance to the rest of the world, further spreading injustice. 

However, it has become increasingly apparent to me that I can no longer sit here while my fellow brothers and sisters suffer. If this similarity exists, if we are all citizens of this world alike, then I have a responsibility to learn, understand, and respond. I not only believe that everyone has a story, but that all of them are intertwined into a larger whole. 

My medical mission sisters, Kim (Pharmacist) and Debbie (nurse)

Roommates, Ashley and Kim

In the last 3 years I have started to read the world news first, opting not to fixate on what Kim Kardashian is doing or the latest Hollywood trends. Rarely do those stories ever leave me feeling empowered or encouraged anyway. I cannot say that reading about the 1 million Syrian children refugees encourages me either, but it does give me something to pray about and someone to hope for.  

Beki, one of the sweetest nurses I know. 

 It holds me responsible when I consume more than I should or waste unnecessarily,  and it re-directs my thoughts off my not so significant problems to a much greater plan. 

So I can say my time in Honduras was a blessing,  it showed me a very important truth. I hope for the day when guns are laid down and hands are held instead, when our human experiences are enriched together as we recognize the similarity in us all.