NY/HELP News

Report of communty surveys performed in Mataderos Tribe communities. Municipality of Yoro, Honduras

2011-12-04T19:00:00.004-05:00

This is a very interesting report of a survey of the communities of the Mataderos indigenous tribe, located around La Laguna, in Yoro, Honduras. It describes the current state of the communities, and discusses the needs for improvement that are perceived by the people themselves.

The report was compiled by Yovany Munguía, our NY/HELP coordinator, and translated and read by David Makepeace.

The audio version of the first part of this report is available at the link below. Other parts will follow.

NOTE: The first several sentences are very quiet, so you will need to turn your volume up. The volume increases after that.

http://www13.zippyshare.com/v/10845578/file.html

Thanks to Skip Tillinghast of Arcade UCC for his help in posting this file.

NY/HELP Honduras – Report for 2011

2011-10-28T06:28:00.004-04:00

NY/HELP Honduras began in 1989 as an ecumenical project of the NY Conference of the United Church of Christ and the Disciples of Christ. Since then, many people from all across NY State have traveled to Honduras and many others have provided financial and spiritual support for this program.

In 2011, NY/HELP continued to thrive, with support from churches and individuals all around New York State. While a hoped-for Winter trip did not materialize, due to conflicting schedules, a very successful Summer trip occurred during two weeks in August. Dr Gordon Comstock represented Arcade UCC. Also on the August trip were Emily McCormick from St Peters UCC in West Seneca and her friend Carrie Richter (both speak fair Spanish), retired teacher Judy Toner of Salamanca UMCC and her 14-year-old grandson Austin, Pastor Craig Wilson of the Brewerton Christian Church (who participated as part of his ministry studies at UCC’s NY School of Ministry), and retired welder Dick DeNise of Honeoye UCC (who has been to Honduras even more times than Gordon!). Gordon worked in the Clinic at La Laguna, seeing almost 100 patients with the aid of our Honduran nurse, Mirtila Garcia. The others spent several days in near-by villages, working with local families to construct stoves and latrines.

We brought two donated laptop computers for the new Centro Básico (Junior High) which NY/HELP helped construct over the past several years. Earlier this year, NY/HELP obtained a solar power system for the school. The laptops we brought were an immediate success with the students: these were the first computers they had ever touched!

A high point of the trip was the soccer (“fútbol”) tournament that NY/HELP sponsored. Four villages sent their teams; the first place went to La Laguna. This has been an annual event for several years; one looked forward to by everyone.

The most difficult part of the trip for Gordon was when he had to run a meeting of the Health Committee in Spanish. He did get through it, after a false start; but he needed nurse Mirtila’s aid (she doesn’t speak English, but she understands his Spanish and can explain it to others!).

We are currently working to find support for intestinal surgery needed by 3-year-old Josue David Cárcamo, grandson of the principal of the Centro Básico, who has complications resulting from his premature birth.

We found out at the end of the trip that our Yovany Munguía, our part-time coordinator in Honduras, is leaving his job with our partner organization Sustainable Harvest International and going to work with a community-development group in nearby Yoro. He assured us that he would continue as our coordinator, however. He has made our trips and projects much more effective, as he is there all the time.

NY/HELP would like to thank all of you for your continued prayers, encouragement, and support for the work in Honduras. We would like to think it “shows our faith by our acts”!

August Honduras Trip Completed, Travelers Will be Home Soon

2011-08-17T19:00:00.001-04:00

Things have gone well on this trip, tho 2 of us did get ¨traveler´s diarrhea¨ for a few days. They´re better now. We had a moderately busy clinic, tho the 2 days the others were gone, there were only about 10 patients a day rather than the usual 20-25. Still, very interesting cases. The rest of the group went to La Kiloma, 2000 feet elevation BELOW La Laguna´s 4100 foot altitude, and built some 7 or 8 stoves and 10 latrines (mas o menos) and several more stoves in La Laguna. We delivered the two computers to the Centro Básico, and the kids were almost delirious there! They were practicing with the computers by the time the morning was over, and were better than the teachers by then!

There are 5 computers at the Clinic, which are used mostly once a day by the elementary school in La Laguna (but I watched the kids in 5th and 6th grades and they were learning a lot!).

We had meetings with the Health Committee, and are trying to improve communications between our nurse Mirtila Garcia and the Committee. They have a lot of questions that they want us to answer, and we will need a meeting soon to discuss these (and then send them a response).

Last night, there was a banquet for Yovany Munguia, our NY/HELP coordinator, who is leaving his day job with Sustainable Harvest at the end of the year. He says he will be working on community development projects in Yoro, and will still be helping NY/HELP.

More later!

hasta la vista,
Gordon

NY/HELP Report from Yovany

2011-08-15T21:46:00.011-04:00

A Welcome for NY/HELP at the Centro Básico (Middle School)

Yesterday (Sunday) was a day of rest and the whole NY/HELP group was on the football field in Mataderos, enjoying the sun, grass and good football, sponsored by New York, who gave prizes for the three top places.

The community of La Laguna was was fairly, the first place winner.

Today (Monday), part of the group was to complete the construction of stoves, other completed an improved roof. Judy, Austin and the girls (Carrie and Emily) were in the Centro Básico (Middle School), installing computers and teaching the first steps of computing to the students.

Meanwhile Dr. Gordon continued with 30 to 40 patients a day at the clinic.

Everything has been busy today as the afternoon had meetings with the Tribal Council, some materials were delivered to families, and handicrafts produced by women were bought.

Tomorrow will be the last day working with the tribe and they continue to work until noon, leaving La Laguna at 2 PM and arriving in La Habana, to stay there and leave early on the17 for San Pedro Sula, for a deserved rest after week and a day of hard but rewarding work on behalf of needy families of the Mataderos tribe. Some members go to Yoro to visit the Boarding House (and Petronilla, the house mother), which still supports NYHelp, and learn about their current situation.

Some of the activities, we send in photos ...

Yovany

House with a bad roof.

House with an improved roof.

All is Going Well

2011-08-11T20:31:00.003-04:00

I received an email from Yovany Munguia today. He is our in-country coordinator who works for Sustainable Harvest. Below is what he reported.

I got Craig on Monday at 5pm and took him to the hotel and all well. (Craig's plane had been delayed & he arrived one day later than the rest of the group) On Tuesday we went to La Habana and then to La Laguna and joined the group, who had come to La Laguna yesterday, after shopping for school supplies and food for their stay in the tribe.

Yesterday, 6 of them went out into the community of Kiloma, loaded with materials for families, and school supplies for three schools and a kindergarten. They will stay in the community and work on it and in El Paraíso, building latrines and improved stoves. It was a tiring trip, and some were on foot and others on a beast, at least 5 km in the company of at least 8 members of those communities that accompanied them. They will be there until Saturday, returning in the evening of that day. Everything is going well so far.

Dr. Gordon remained in the medical clinic working with Mirtila. I will see him again on Sunday 14, which is a day of rest and we will have some meetings. That day there will be football (soccer to us), which is done every time NYHelp is in the villages. Participating teams are La Laguna, Mataderos, El Paraíso y Kiloma, which are communities where the group will work on this trip.

Good. On Monday, the 15, I will report more about how the work progressed.

When I hear more I will post it.

August Honduras Trip Underway

2011-08-07T20:04:00.002-04:00

Seven people left from 3 different airports this morning headed for San Pedro Sula, Honduras for a two-week mission trip. Just getting there has been an adventure, apparently. Gordon and 2 college students, Emily McCormick & Carrie Richter were delayed leaving Chicago (the first leg of the trip from Buffalo to Honduras) for 2 hours due to engine trouble. The plane out of Miami apparently was delayed also, but not as much. It looks like they will arrive in San Pedro Sula about a half hour late. One group from Syracuse (Judy Toner & her grandson Austin) was on time as far as I know and should have arrived at 4:30. Dick DeNise flew from Rochester and was due to arrive at 4:30 also. Craig Wilson, who left earlier than the others from Syracuse did not have as much luck. Within 5 minutes of landing in Miami, his plane was waived off due to weather. By the time they were able to land in Miami, the plane to Honduras had left. He is spending the night at a hotel in Miami with the home of getting on Monday afternoon's plane for Honduras, thus arriving 24 hours late. The twist on his adventure is that all his belongings are in his back-pack, which the airline would not allow him to carry on the plane, or gate check, and has not been reunited with him as yet. Hopefully, all will be reunited tomorrow afternoon and by the time Craig arrives the supplies are obtained so they can head up to the mountains.

The good news is we were able to obtain two donated laptop computers to take to the middle school in Mataderos. Both are Dell computers which have been refurbished, one by a man in Arcade who does this for a hobby to donate them to missions. The other was worked on (it has "issues" mostly a virus) at a newly opened computer store here in Arcade, who donated his time. We really appreciate both of these folks for their donations.

August Mission Trip to Honduras Looking for Laptops

2011-07-21T22:10:00.003-04:00

Seven volunteers will be traveling to the Mountains of Honduras for a two-week mission trip the second week in August. Various projects are planned including building latrines, stoves, roof repair (or replacement), as well as work in the medical clinic and with the schools.

Donations of money are always needed and encouraged to buy supplies that will be needed for the projects. This time, we are also looking for donations of one or two laptop computers to be used in the Middle School recently completed in the mountains.

To donate (either money or a laptop), please email Gordon & Ginger Comstock at gkcomstock@gmail.com.

Your prayers are always invited as well.

Summer NY/HELP Honduras Trip Scheduled

2011-04-10T21:34:00.002-04:00

The next NY/HELP Honduras trip is scheduled for August 8 through August 20. If you are interested in participating in this trip, please contact Gordon & Ginger Comstock at gkcomstock@gmail.com or David Makepeace at dmakepeace@livoniacsd.org for more information.

Our NY/HELP nurse in La Laguna, Mirtila Garcia, will be having gall-bladder surgery shortly. The cost for that is about $600. Another child from La Laguna, Josué Suarez, will hopefully have surgery in the near future as well; he has a blocked blood vessel to his liver, which causes episodes of intestinal bleeding. His surgery will also cost about $600. Donations are needed to cover the expenses of these surgeries, and can be sent to NY/HELP Honduras, c/0 Arcade UCC, 297 Main St, Arcade NY 14009.

Successful Mission Trip

2010-09-01T10:08:00.009-04:00

A group of nine NY/HELP volunteers spent two weeks between July 26 and August 7, 2010 working with the people in the mountainous communities around La Laguna, near Yoro in northern Honduras. The volunteers on this trip included a doctor, two medical students, a math teacher, a Spanish teacher, a college freshman (in the fall) and a family of three.

..............

We worked with the community on improvements on the clinic, especially a new roof, fencing in the clinic property and planting trees. Other projects included helping to build lorena stoves and school visits. We met with the Tribal Council and discussed future plans and the relationship between NY/HELP and the Mataderos Tribe.

NY/HELP Mission Trip Comes to a Successful End

2010-08-06T07:09:00.001-04:00

Hola, amigos de NY-HELP,

We have completed our projects in La Laguna, up in the mountains near Yoro, Honduras. The trip was very successful. The clinic has a new roof (well, 90% of one, and the rest of the corrugated lamina will be put up this weekend by the community workers, working under the skillful supervision of Elio Lopez. There also is a new fence just around the clinic (well, almost -- it still needs 12 meters more!). But the clinic roof no longer leaks! The community workers did a top-notch job, with the assistance of Mike, Doug, Jamie and David.
Jamie, Doug and the girls went with Rigoberto several times to help build stoves in needy houses. These stoves not only let people cook their food better, and use less firewood, but the chimney takes the smoke OUTSIDE instead of floating around the house.

In the clinic, we saw 146 patients. On Saturday, we packed some supplies and went with our nurse, Mirtila Garcia, to the neighboring community of El Calechal. In addition to the patients that came to our temporary clinic in the kitchen of the Catholic church, Gordon made house calls on 6 elderly patients. Our two medical students from the NY College of Osteopathic Medicine on Long Island, Kelly and Emily, did a great job of helping in the clinic. They would see patients, frequently with David translating, and discuss them with Gordon and Mirtila. They picked up on a number of interesting problems. In addition, we funded several requests for assistance with medical problems such as needed surgery.

Shea kept very busy, visiting local schools, teaching songs to the kids, and helping translate. She did a great PR job for our group with the children!

We walked down the mountain on Wednesday (and it didn´t rain!), and took a busito to San Pedro Sula. Gordon and Shea are now in Copan, having visited the famous Mayan rules there. The rest of the group is recovering from mountain life on the beach in Omoa. We will be meeting back in San Pedro Sula Friday night.

Thanks to everyone for their prayers and assistance!

Gordon F Comstock, MD
August 5, 2010

NY/HELP Mission trip update #3

2010-08-01T14:31:00.000-04:00

I received a cell phone call this morning from Gordon. They were on their way to buy refreshments for the day's soccer tournament. (During every trip there is a soccer tournament between 4 villages)

The trip has been a successful one so far. About three quarters of the Clinic roof has been replaced. They are working on the security fence surrounding the Clinic building. A number of trees have been planted on the Clinic grounds. There was a mobile clinic held in the nearby village of Calichal and Gordon reported treating a 99 year old woman who would not have been able to walk to the La Laguna Clinic.

He reported that every one is well and things are going well. They will be in La Laguna until Wednesday. After they leave the mountains they will spend Thursday & Friday as recreational days, some going to the beach and some to the ruins of Copan.

Your continued support and prayers are welcomed.

Paz y salud,
Ginger Comstock

NY/HELP Group in La Laguna

2010-07-27T22:41:00.002-04:00

This evening I received a phone call from Gordon Comstock giving an update.

The group visited the boarding house while in Yoro. They then drove up to La Laguna. The road was not the best as it had rained.

All is well with everyone. They were starting to work on putting a fence around the clinic.

Ginger

NY/HELP Group Arrives Safely

2010-07-27T08:18:00.004-04:00

I received a cell phone call from David Makepeace in Honduras Monday afternoon (July 26) to let everyone know that the group has arrived safely in Honduras. They were leaving the airport and traveling to Yoro. There they will buy groceries and any other needed supplies and spend the night. Then tomorrow, Tues July 27, they will be headed up the mountain to La Laguna to begin their mission work.

Ginger

David Makepeace & his wife travel a week early.

2010-07-21T14:34:00.003-04:00

We arrived safe and had a good trip to mountain with Yovany. Did some great preplanning. We need to send a coordinator early from now on.

I will see Dr. Gordon at the airport. Everyone is waiting with open arms and multiple problems.
Love,
David

July Trip leaves soon

2010-07-13T11:40:00.003-04:00

There is a 9-person group traveling to Honduras for two weeks beginning Monday, July 26.
They will be working on several projects, among them, re-roofing the clinic building, installing a fence around the clinic property and building more efficient stoves for several families.

As always, your prayers are important as we continue this important work.

First Hurricane of the Season hits Honduras

2010-06-01T08:14:00.005-04:00

The torrential downpour began around 5.45 pm on May 19th and quickly flooded the main streets and avenues of downtown and other heavily trafficked arteries vehicles.

Agatha is the first named hurricane of the season.

Rain in San Pedro Sula

Floods in El Progreso

Chaos and destruction in San Pedro Sula after storm

NY/HELP -- A Peace Corps Analog?

2010-04-14T21:58:00.002-04:00

The following article was published in the March 2010 newsletter of "Amigos de Honduras", an organization of Returned Peace Corps Volunteers that served in Honduras.

NY/HELP -- An Amigo de Honduras

A few years ago, I was up in the mountains in Honduras, talking with one of the young people participating in a NY/HELP project there. He was interested in international affairs and refugee problems, and I was encouraging him to join the Peace Corps when he finished college. He was a little doubtful, though, saying "I hear the Peace Corps signs you up for life."

Well, I think he was right – at least for some of us! I taught high school in Ghana while in the Peace Corps in 1966-68, and talked for years afterwards about doing some type of international service. My chance came in 1989, when our church gave me the opportunity to participate in an ecumenical project, working with people in an indigenous community up in the mountains near Yoro. I had become a family physician after my PC days, and so I had the chance to be in a mobile clinic brigade in La Laguna, about 30 km from Yoro, Yoro. I went back two years later, and have been hooked by this experience ever since.

NY/HELP is a ecumenical project of the New York Conference of the United Church of Christ, and is supported by donations from people and churches in New York state. Although we are church-based, we avoid preaching, but do try to "show our faith by our acts". One of our first projects was to build a clinic – but then discovered that we needed local nurses to provide care when no NY/HELP doctors were there. We have sponsored several young women in nursing school, and one, Mirtila Garcia, is currently our full-time nurse there, working in cooperation with the government health system.

Working with the community is much more than just health care, though. We have sponsored educational projects for many years, and recently worked with local communities to build a middle school (grades 7-9) nearby, so local children could continue their education beyond sixth grade. `(The government education department is providing teachers for this school.) The school was built using donations from people and churches in New York state, and labor from the community (and volunteers from NY).

Nutrition has been a continuing problem, and we have worked to improve local farming practices by helping families plant gardens, and for the past ten years, working with another NGO, Sustainable Harvest International (founded by a RPCV from Panama, Flo Reed).

Water systems and sanitation (meaning latrines!) are other important projects; these have become a "felt need" for communities in recent years. During our NY/HELP trip in August 2009, we were fortunate to have four current Peace Corps Volunteers work along with us. Three are involved in "Wat-San", Peace Corps/Honduras' water and sanitation program; they spent a week surveying the local community water systems. Two systems were in good shape, but the others needed a lot of attention. One of the PCVs will be returning to the village in January 2010 to give a 3-day educational program for the "Juntas de Agua" (Water Boards).

I was personally really pleased to spend some time with these current PCVs. I saw that 40 years after I was in the Peace Corps, we still have great people volunteering for this job!

One more thing: like the Peace Corps, one goal of our NY/HELP program is to teach us gringos about Honduras, and how people in other cultures and societies exist. From talking with other New Yorkers, I think this second goal has been a success as well.

More information about our NY/HELP program can be found at www.ny-helphonduras.org/

Gordon F. Comstock, MD
Medical Adviser, NY/HELP
Peace Corps/Ghana, 1966-68
November 27, 2009

February Mission Trip Has Returned

2010-03-09T17:23:00.003-05:00

The group which spent a busy 2 weeks in Honduras has now returned. Shortly we will be posting reports and more pictures.

A Message from Yovany, of Sustainable Harvest

2010-02-25T18:26:00.002-05:00

This was received by email Wednesday, February 24, 2010

February 24, 2010 7:19 PM

Dear Dr. Gordon:

I was with the group for three days (Sunday 21 thru Tuedasy 23). They didn´t have problems in arrive to Honduras. Only Richard DeNise had problems with the connection and arrived at 9:10 PM, but we was to Yoro City, the next day, for joint with the rest of the volunteers group.

We realized three trips La Habana-La Laguna, for mobilizate the 10 persons and 20 big bags!, with medicines, school suplies, clothes and other materials for families and students. Too, we moved materials and 4 volunteers (Richard, Brian. Dena and Marco) to Quiloma, where thay will wotk in repair and construct a new fences to Primary School in the community.

About Andy (Andres), he is incorporate to group since the 21. He, with other peace volunteer will work in prepare a proposal about the clinic and possible traspass to medical NGO or public health department of Yoro. It´s only a proposal that they elaborate with Tribe Council for to give NYHelp for analyze. Too, he will work in construction of fence in La Laguna school some days.

That´s are all for this time. All them are working now!!

Yovany

Mission Trip Underway

2010-02-22T07:31:00.002-05:00

On Sunday, February 21, an 11-member mission group left for Honduras for two weeks in and around La Laguna, Honduras.

Along with running a medical clinic, working on education, possibly new roofs, the group will be looking at new sites to expand to for our project. We may begin working with another very poor village in the valley of Sulaco, over on the other side of the mountains from La Laguna.

Stay tuned – a trip is being planned for this summer!

NY/HELP Meeting - Sunday, January 17, 2010

2010-01-06T16:12:00.003-05:00

We will be meeting at 2PM at the Arcade United Church of Christ, 297 Main St, Arcade in our meeting room by the back door of the church. The meeting is open to all who are interested in the NY/HELP mission.

Much of the agenda will be on the upcoming February trip, but we should also talk a bit about planning for our summer trip as well.

If you are interested, please come. If you have questions, write to gkcomstock@gmail.com.

NY/HELP Meeting Sunday, November 15

2009-11-11T11:50:00.002-05:00

Our next NY/HELP meeting will be Sunday, November 15, 2009 at 2PM at the Arcade United Church of Christ. Any and all who are interested are invited. Use the back door and we meet in the first door to the left.

We will review the August 2009 trip and discuss arrangements for the Feb 2010 trip. We will also need to discuss Yovany & Sustainable Harvest's coming change of focus from the La Laguna area to Sulaco and how this will affect our mission trips.

On Again - Off Again

2009-11-07T12:45:00.002-05:00

From LaPrensa at 11am this morning. English translation is below the Spanish.

Tegucigalpa, Honduras

Los representantes del depuesto presidente de Honduras, Manuel Zelaya, y del de facto Roberto Micheletti, podrían reanudar hoy el diálogo para la integración del Gobierno de unidad, tras el fracaso del primer intento en ese sentido el pasado jueves. Jorge Arturo Reina, miembro de la Comisión de Verificación en representación de Zelaya, dijo hoy a los periodistas que el diálogo se podría reanudar al mediodía. Agregó que "hay un preacuerdo" para volver a la mesa de diálogo alcanzado al parecer tras extensas conversaciones mantenidas ayer viernes con los miembros de la Comisión de Verificación, la representación de la OEA y el embajador de Estados Unidos en Tegucigalpa, Hugo Llorens, entre otros, enmarcadas en el Acuerdo Tegucigalpa-San José.
En términos similares se expresó Arturo Corrales, representante de Micheletti en la Comisión de Verificación. Corrales afirmó que "el diálogo sigue", pero no precisó si se reanudará este mediodía, aunque dejó entrever que así sería.

Tegucigalpa, Honduras

The representatives of the deposed President of Honduras Manuel Zelaya and the de facto president Roberto Micheletti, said that the dialogue could resume today for the integration of the unity government, following a failed first attempt in that direction Thursday.
Jorge Arturo Reina, a member of the Credentials Committee representing Zelaya, said to reporters that the dialogue could resume at noon. He added that "there is a pre-agreement" to return to the negotiating table apparently reached after extensive discussions yesterday Friday with members of the Credentials Committee, the representation of the OAS and the U.S. ambassador in Tegucigalpa, Hugo Llorens, between others, framed in Tegucigalpa-San José Agreement.
Arturo Corrales, Micheletti representative on the Credentials Committee, expressed similar terms. Corrales said that "the dialogue continues," but did not say whether it will resume at noon today, but hinted that it would.

Vote Postponed on Deal to End Crisis

2009-11-07T10:15:00.005-05:00

According to the deal worked out earlier, Manuel Zelaya and Roberto Micheletti had agreed to let Congress vote on whether to return Zelaya to the presidency, as the international community has been demanding. But congressional leaders, who backed the coup, have yet to call a vote. The accord had also required forming a temporary "unity cabinet" with representatives of both sides. It seems now that Micheletti has put together a "unity" cabinet without Zelaya or any of his supporters. This is from the Buffalo News 11/7/09

According to this morning's LaPrensa Micheletti announced Thursday (11/5) a "hold" during the weekend to finalize the Government of Unity and National Reconciliation following the refusal of deposed Manuel Zelaya to participate in the new cabinet.

There seem to be conflicting stories on why the unity cabinet has not been formed.

Barbara Joe, a returned Peace Corps volunteer who has been keeping close track of the situation on her blog - listed below.

http://honduraspeacecorps.blogspot.com/

Honduras Rivals Resolve Deadlock

2009-10-31T14:59:00.006-04:00

The de facto Honduran government has agreed to a deal that may allow ousted President Manuel Zelaya to return to power ahead of elections next month. Under the deal, the Supreme Court must authorize the Congress to vote on whether to allow Mr. Zelaya to return to power and serve the remaining three months of his term. It also calls for a commission to investigate the events surrounding Mr. Zelaya's removal from office.

http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-10-30-voa7.cfm

Roberto Micheletti said the agreement would create a power-sharing government and require both sides to recognise the result of November's presidential poll. The opponents had earlier been told by US Assistant Secretary of State Thomas Shannon that they had to reach an accord in order to ensure international support for the election on 29 November. Mr Zelaya described the accord as a "triumph for Honduran democracy", and said he was "optimistic" of returning to power.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8333210.stm

Other writings on this subject might be interesting as well. There is a good Peace Corps blog by Barbara Joe http://honduraspeacecorps.blogspot.com/2009_10_01_archive.html

Left: 10-29-09 Zelaya & US Assistant Secretary of State Thomas Shannon

Right: Interim President Roberto Micheletti delivering speech on 10-29-09

AP Photos

A Message from Honduras

2009-08-07T07:36:00.002-04:00

On Thursday, I received a message from Yovany.

He said he was with the group for the past few days. All in the group are fine. There were no problems getting to Yoro with three members of the group, on Sunday, August 02nd and with Dr. Gordon and Selvin, on Monday, Aug 03rd. The 4 volunteers are in La Laguna, working in medical clinic. The other 4 Peace Corps volunteers are working in an up-date of the situation of the watershed and water projects of 4 communities of the Tribe. The past two days. they visited the project of La Laguna and Mataderos and now, they will be in El Paraiso village. When they elaborate the reports, they will analyze it with Communal Water Boards, for repair or improvement of those projects.

One of the Peace Corps volunteers, Andrew found his mom, Nancy and they are working together in La Laguna.

If I hear more, I will post it.

Keep this group in your prayers as they work in these remove villages in Honduras.

The Trip had a Bit of an Unusual Start

2009-08-03T21:00:00.003-04:00

Gordon lost his passport when leaving the Buffalo to Atlanta plane in Atlanta on Sunday, Aug 2. Fortunately, when he went back looking for it he found the person who had found it! Unfortunately, he was not in time to make the flight to San Pedro Sula with the other three! He managed to get scheduled on the same flight for Monday. His sister Marty & brother-in-law Dan live in Atlanta. I made contact with them & Marty went to the airport and managed to find him. That way he didn't have to spend the night in an airport chair! Monday morning she took him back to the airport and he made his flight.

About 1pm I got an email from another NY/HELPer, Lito Gutiérrez saying he called the clinic nurse, Mirtil, to let her know that Gordon was delayed. This evening about 8:45pm Lito called me to let me know that all were safe in La Laguna now.

The next update will probably be after August 13, when they come down from the mountain and are able to get to an Internet café.

August Mission Trip Begins

2009-08-02T08:48:00.003-04:00

This morning the 4 members of the August mission trip to Honduras (Eileen Brittain, Hanna Zetterstrand-Robinson, Nancy Savoy and Gordon Comstock are on their way. They met at the Buffalo Airport at 4am to organize the 8 bags of supplies they are transporting. Their flight was leaving at 6:15am and will arrive in San Pedro Sula, Honduras about 11:15am (1:15pm Eastern Daylight time) to start their 2-week mission.

As we get information, it will be posted here.

Will the Situation in Honduras Affect the August 2009 Mission Trip?

2009-07-10T21:23:00.001-04:00

We received this message from Yovany Munguía in Honduras.

July 9, 2009

Special Situation in Honduras: Political Crisis
And its Impact on the Arrival of the Group.

As you know, on June 28, the National Congress, supported by the Armed Forces and other government entities, proceeded to remove from power the country's president until that time, Manuel Zelaya..

The main reason was that he was acting in illegality to promote and implement the June 28 political poll, for people to see if they want the establishment of a National Constitutional Assembly, with the veiled en of his reelection, as have several other countries in South America (Venezuela, Ecuador and recently Bolivia). Therefore, Mel Zelaya is facing a number of charges in this country, because apart from this poll being illegal, there are a number of other administrative anomalies.

The error of the new authorities was to have the former president unexpectedly sacked and sent into exile, rather than start a trial in the country and if convicted, sent to prison. This resulted in demonstrations for and against the former president in the major cities, and a climate of uncertainty and tension in the whole population, but most people still live their daily lives and this has not generated extreme violence.

With regard to the arrival of the group under the current circumstances, I do not see any problem, both in their security, or how to develop their work. Airports are operating and airlines arrive. Taking of the roads is not occurring (to prevent the passage to Yoro from SPS) and if blocked, they are cleared by the police. Trade is open for the purchase of supplies and materials. No anti-American sentiment. Once reaching the tribe, everything goes normally, because while there are people who are on one side or another there, this is not open or violent. Clearly we must be prepared for some discomfort along the route to the recreation areas, because we are in an "abnormal" situation in relation to other groups that have come.

It is expected that in the coming days and mainly in the next week the situation will improve and we will have a clearer picture. Today and tomorrow, ¨Mel" Zelaya and the current government will have to move closer to meeting the President of Costa Rica, to find common ground. The majority of the population has this expectation, but are not very confident about it, since both are locked in their positions, but it is a beginning to the end of the crisis. I hope for an early agreement, before the arrival of the group, as I do not think that we can continue in this position for another month.

I will keep you informed on Saturday night and during the next week.

Yovany Munguía, Coordinator, NY/HELP

A letter from Yovany in Honduras

2009-07-04T11:22:00.009-04:00

7/1/2009

To David Makepeace of NY/HELP

Dear David,

I’m sorry not to have talked to you until today, but from the 25th to the 30th I have been in Yoro with a group of volunteers and have not had any access to the internet, even though I have seen the news. The situation is calm with sporadic demonstrations in the large cities in favor of Mel’s (Zelaya’s) return to power or others (the majority of the population) to support the new president Robert Michletti, the former president of the congress, staying in power for 6 months until the general elections which will be in November of this year.

Just as the missionaries are saying, the blame for all of this lies with Mel Zelaya, as he wanted to generate a vote in favor of a new constitution that would allow him to be reelected and become the “Chávez” of Central America. The other powers declared this position illegal, and, as the president (now ex-president) would stop this effort, what has happened. It is not the military governing this suffering country but civilian power. I think we are better now.

The August group should not be nervous. Here we expect the situation to settle down in the next two weeks. For your meeting on the 12th (of July in Arcade) we will have the situation in perspective.

Today I met with the Mataderos Tribal Council to program the visit of the group and some projects including the inauguration of the new Centro Básico and the situation of the clinic, but, since I just return from 6 days without seeing my family, I will write you tomorrow about that. Also I am preparing a report to send you of activities and finances. I hope to send it by Friday.

The people in the rural areas are fine so don’t fear. My family and I and the employees of Sustainable Harvest are also well.

Yovany

Message from Honduras

2009-05-29T20:45:00.005-04:00

We received a message from Yovany Munguía just after supper time this evening. I have pasted it below.

"Thanks a lot to Jehovah God that love so much to Honduras (and type of earthquake on the sea, horizontally and no vertically movement of the plaques), we don't have big troubles, destruction or thousands of Hondurans dead. Thank you to you for your permanent praises for Honduras. In the Mataderos tribe there are some destroyed houses and others that are damaged, but all the people that you know are fine. The school building survived the ¨temblor¨ without problems.

There may be problems of communication in the next days, for the movement of the submarine cables that transmit Internet and long distance calls, but in the next week, all will be good (in this aspect)."

I also am reprinting parts of an article (translated from the Spanish) that was on the La Prensa web-site this afternoon.

La Prensa May 29, 2009, 6:01PM

by: Tatiana Paz Morel - -- tatiana.pazt SPAMFILTER @laprensa.hn

Seven people are reported dead after the earthquake of 7.1 degrees on the Richter scale at 2.24 in the morning of Thursday, I caught the vision to Hondurans and filled with fear.

Damage to property

The authorities of the Standing Committee on Contingencies, Copec, was demolished about 80 houses, three affected bridges and a hospital, 16 schools, eight public buildings, two hotels, seven churches, factories and nine damaged.

The greatest damage to the road network in the country, authorities reported on Public Works, was the rupture of the old bridge La Democracia, El Progreso, Yoro, was impassable and therefore must be reconstructed.

A newly paved stretch of highway CA-5, which links San Pedro Sula and Tegucigalpa, was cracked in Santa Cruz de Yojoa. The road network also suffered breaks in Omoa and Puerto Cortés.

Property of the courthouse was damaged. Although the tremor was felt with more intensity in the Bay Islands and La Ceiba in these areas are not reported significant damage.

The origin

The earthquake occurred at latitude 16.78 north and 16.16 degrees east longitude, the epicenter was 10 km deep and was caused by movement between the Caribbean plate and the North American plate, as the director of the department of Geophysics of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Honduras, Gonzalo Cruz.

The strong shaking which lasted about 30 seconds, was felt throughout the country and caused panic among the people who took to the streets in many areas but the power was interrupted.

Damage as reported yesterday
Injured 17
Houses destroyed 80
Houses damaged 175
Bridges damaged 3
Schools damaged 16
Public buildings 8
Hospitals damaged 1
Hotels damaged 9
Church damaged 9
Park& damaged plants 7
Airport 1
Potable water system 2

Magnitude 7.1 Earthquake Stikes off Honduras May 28, 2009

2009-05-28T20:18:00.011-04:00

There was a powerful 7.1 magnitude earthquake at 2:24 a.m. Thursday morning (May 28) killing at least six people and wounding 40 more. These figures may change.

Southeast of San Pedro Sula, half of the 120-meter (130-yard) Democracy bridge in the town of El Progreso collapsed. This is a bridge over the Ulúa River, the most important river economically.

Maritza Varela, director of the El Progreso Hospital reported that at least 13 injured people were admitted early this morning, one an adult with a hip injury and two minors, one of five years and the other nine were sent to the Mario Catarino Rivas hospital due to severe multiple skull injuries. They are sisters and live in Cologne La Nacional.

Patients from the second floor were taken to area hospital's garage for several hours.

The wall of the court house in San Pedro Sula was damaged.

This is in the area of Santa Barbara, Honduras.

All pictures were from La Prensa on-line.

As more information is learned,
more will be posted here.

NY/HELP Trip - August 2009

2009-05-24T09:43:00.002-04:00

The next NY/HELP mission trip to Honduras will be the first two weeks of August! Joining Dr Gordon Comstock will be Nancy Savoy of Buffalo, a women’s health nurse practitioner, and Eileen Brittain of Arcade, who will be our Spanish linguist. We will be having a medical clinic and hopefully survey new water systems.

The last room of the new middle school in near-by Mataderos should be completed by the time we arrive. NY/HELP has been working with people from the local communities to build this school, so that children from this mountainous area could continue their education past 6th grade, without having to go to the “county seat” of Yoro, some 20 miles (and 4 hours travel) away. This has been a big thing for the tribal communities here!

NY/HELP is still in need of donations to help equip the library at the school, as well as donations to provide medicines for the clinic and water projects and health improvements in the ten communities that make up this mountainous neighborhood.

There is still time to join the trip, which leaves August 2. If you are interested, or want more information, contact Gordon or Ginger Comstock at gkcomstock@gmail.com.

2009-03-16T10:27:00.007-04:00

NY/HELP had a very successful follow-up meeting on Sunday, March 15. We talked about the accomplishments of the 14-member February mission trip. We also began to plan for the next trip in the summer of 2009 -- probably the end of July or the beginning of August. The highlights of the minutes will be posted on our website

soon.

The students at the Mataderos school showed great talent as they painted a mural on the side of the school.

2009-03-08T14:56:00.005-04:00

The February 2009 group came back on March 1 and will be having a wrap-up meeting on Sunday, March 15, at UCC Church in Arcade, to share accomplishments and plans for the future.

Here is a short statement from David Makepeace ahead of that meeting. More will be posted after the meeting.

"The excitement surrounding NY/HELP these days is palpable and this was also evident on the trip with everyone approaching their jobs with commitment and emotion. We are clearly making great progress in our goal of making the tribe self-sufficient in the three areas of our interest – education, sustainable productivity, and medicine.

I will let the individual group members report on specifics, but, in general, the trip was very productive. We set up the clinic in La Laguna with Dr. Gutiérrez, Dr. Susan Schwartz, “pharmacist mate” Steve Schwartz and medical student Jan Wong and, thanks to gynecological nurse practitioner Ilene Alt and Dr. Liz Zausmer, were able to set up a women’s clinic in Mataderos as well. Dr. Gutiérrez also set out on two occasions by mule to visit outlying villages servicing patients who could not make it to either of our clinics.

Our work projects were many including new roofs, entire homes, stoves and latrines. Dick DeNise, myself, Dana Wilson, Allison Brown and Zack Krause spread our efforts among five of the ten villages in the area with two separate overnight trips to El Paraiso and Agua Blanca respectively."

2009-02-27T14:55:00.001-05:00

Hola amigos,

Thursday, February 26, we heard from Kelly Beers, reporting for the NY/HELP mission group. She says the trip went really really well. They accomplished a lot; all the doctors kept really busy and the time in Honduras was a success. The group is now taking a day of vacation before heading back to the states this weekend.

More will be reported after they return and we have a 'wrap-up" meeting.

Thanks for your prayers and support.

February 2009 NY/HELP Mission Trip

2009-02-16T16:07:00.002-05:00

This morning (Monday, February 16, 2009) 14 volunteers left for Honduras for a two-week mission trip. They have an ambitious schedule they hope to work on while there. That includes: 1- working on the construction of the 5th (and last) class for the middle school, which will serve as laboratories and painting and packaging of management and library; 2- supporting construction of 4 roofs, 10 Lorena stoves, 6 latrines and 5 floors in four different communities; 3- The doctors may run a mobile clinic in one of two outlying communities while others in the group do other work in that community. There will also be the traditional soccer tournament in one of the communities.

New Mission Trip Coming up in February 2009

2008-11-10T16:32:00.005-05:00

The next mission trip to Honduras will take place in February, 2009 -- from February 16 to the 28. At this point it is "over-subscribed" with 14 people currently signed up to go. We try to limit the trips to no more than 12 people so as not to overwhelm the villagers and the sleeping spaces.

There will be another trip in the summer of 2009 as well. If you are interested in learning more information or going on that trip, please contact the Comstocks at either gcomstock@cnyti.com or gkcomstock@gmail.com or David Makepeace at dmake@frontiernet.net

2008-08-23T20:53:00.011-04:00

Honduras – Sights, Smells and Sounds July 2008

Sights

The first view of Honduras from the air is of green fields and a brown river snaking in and around the countryside. The flat land extends until the mountains begin without foothills. Honduras is either flat or vertical. Large companies own much of the flat land, growing bananas or cattle for export; the native Indians live mainly farther up in the mountains on the poor soil.

Driving into the city from the airport it's hard not to notice the industrial buildings, many with American names (the "sweat shops"), the numerous billboards advertising everything from cars to food to bottled water. In addition it seems as if every flat surface (walls, fences, etc) has some company's name painted on it. The city itself is crowded with people and shops and overhead cris-crossing electric lines looking like a badly woven spider web. Other sights include American restaurants interspersed among the Honduran ones, and guards at nearly every store, not just banks, but even McDonalds has a guard.

When driving away from the city heading toward the mountain villages, the road goes through small towns and then heads uphill where the scenery is beautiful – mountains in the distance and often steep drop-offs at the side of the road which is cut into the side of the hill. Some fields on the sides of mountains are so steep one wonders how they get planted or harvested.

Smells

The city of San Pedro Sula smells like any city in some ways. Cars, trucks and buses produce exhaust smells. When it rains the streets and sidewalks have that "fresh washed" smell. When the streets are crowded and the weather is hot and humid there are smells of human sweat. In addition there are the smells coming from some sidewalk vendors stalls of whatever it is they are cooking to sell to passers by.

In the mountains there is the smell of the roads – sometimes mud or else dust, depending on the weather. Beyond that, on the walking trails, and even sometimes when in a truck, there is the somewhat faint but definite smell of herbs, perhaps oregano or cilantro, or some of the wild flowers that are disturbed as one walks by. It makes for a pleasant walk. In La Laguna there is the smell of the vegetation around the clinic, the animals that wander onto the clinic grounds (dogs, cows, horses, pigs), the smells in the pharmacy associated with some of the liquid medicines dispensed, and the wonderful smells that come from the kitchen as the cooks prepare meals for the volunteers.

Sounds

In San Pedro Sula there are the usual sounds of any large city – traffic, car horns (only here the horn is used in short, quick bursts more to say "I am here" rather than most American cities where the horn is used to say "hurry up" or "get out of my way" It really does have a different sound to it. Other sounds are vendors or money changers wanting your business. There is also music. It comes out of shops; it's on public buses; it seems it's everywhere – Latin music with a beat, mixed with some older American songs as well at times.

Up in the mountains the sounds are different, of course. Children playing in and around the clinic is a joyful sound, the cooks talking and joking with each other as they prepare meals, the various animals chiming in now and then. Of course there are the ever-present (and seemingly never sleeping) roosters. Contrary to popular belief, the rooster does not wait until dawn to crow, rather crows at any and every time of day or night, depending perhaps on how he feels about it. There are other bird sounds too, some seem familiar, others distinctly different, but pleasant. Whenever the sound of a truck coming up the hill is heard, it brings people out to greet it. There is virtually no traffic in the village.

Sights, smells, and sounds all come together to paint a picture of Honduras in my mind.

Ginger Comstock, July 2008

2008-08-12T21:56:00.009-04:00

NY/HELP Honduras
July 2008 Mission Trip to Honduras

NY/HELP is a Project of the New York Conference, United Church of Christ

NY/HELP's July 2008 mission trip to Honduras was a great success: again, we were able to show our faith by our acts! Eight NY/HELPers participated, from churches in Honeoye, Livonia, West Seneca, and Arcade: Javi Makepeace and his college friend Jonah Brill (both fluent in Spanish) and Amanda McCormick (whose Spanish improved rapidly!) helped with communications, pre-med student Kelly Beers assisted in the clinic, Allyson Brown reminded us daily to think of what we were thankful for, and math teacher Doug Young applied the Pythagorean theorem to building houses. Dr Gordon Comstock worked in the clinics, as usual, helped immensely by his wife Ginger.

Our mission group worked on several projects. The new Centro Basico (middle school) we are helping the community construct in near-by Mataderos is progressing nicely. The 9th grade classroom (begun by the February 2008 mission group) was painted by our group and is almost ready for use. Work on a library room has begun. (We also bought a set of encyclopedias for the library!) A fifth work-room for teachers is planned. The people of the community have been working on the school, and are determined to complete this project. New roofs were provided for eight of the poorest people's houses (these new roofs not only make the house much more weatherproof, but reduce the incidence of Chagas disease, spread by insects that live in the old thatch roofs). Six new, fuel-efficient "Lorena" stoves (with chimneys to take the smoke outside) were constructed. And almost 200 patients were seen in the clinic in La Laguna and in "mobile clinics" in the much more remote towns of Agua Blanca and Mezcales, where we went for a couple days to work on projects there, staying in the Agua Blanca school or in homes in Mezcales. As part of the clinic mission, funds were provided for some of the poorest people to go to specialists for needed surgery.

These projects were not completed in a vacuum: Much planning and organization for the projects was done by Yovany Munguía, Honduras director of Sustainable Harvest International, who really made it possible to accomplish all that we did. Much assistance was given by La Laguna residents Elio, who supervised the roof projects, and Rigoberto, who worked on the stoves. SHI's Jacobo Suarez provided transportation with a pickup truck, getting us and supplies around, while Selvin made sure that we got back to San Pedro Sula safely. The clinic could not have functioned without the skilled assistance of our NY/HELP nurse there, Mirtila Garcia, who also came along on the "mobile clinics". Many people from the various communities worked on each project, alongside the NY/HELPers.

One tragedy occurred: a firearm accident took the eye of one of our vigilantes (guards) in Agua Blanca. We gave emergency care that night, then took him to the local hospital in Yoro, where he was referred to the eye specialists in the capital city of Tegucigalpa. He lost the eye, but had no other injuries, fortunately. NY/HELP provided money for him to go to the eye specialists. As an extra burden, he has a son with cerebral palsy who also needs specialist care.

We had fun, too: there was the traditional NY/HELP soccer tournament in Mataderos, where Javi and Jonah played on the La Laguna team, and we attended the Lempira Day school fiesta (Lempira Day honors Lempira, an Indian chief who stood up to the Spanish conquistadors in 1536.) And on Thursday July 24, the boys headed for the beach, the girls went with Selvin to the famous Mayan ruins at Copán, and Gordon and Ginger went with Yovany to meet with the people of two small communities near Sulaco (about 1.5 hours away on a dirt road). There Gordon had a chance reunion with Victor Castro, the Honduran dentist who had worked with NY/HELP in La Laguna 15 years ago! He also was asked some hard questions, such as "what are NY/HELP's criteria for working with other villages" (a new topic for us!).

We give thanks to God for all the good people of New York who have helped sustain this project over the past 19 years. This has made this project special to all who have worked with NY/HELP.

Gordon F. Comstock, MD Medical Advisor, NY/HELP Honduras