We have now been back for a few weeks from Honduras. It was
my first trip and the 8th trip since the beginning of this
partnership between ENLACE and Kaiser Napa-Solano Residency. In preparing for
the trip I didn’t quite know what to expect. We spent a year preparing under
Emily’s guidance – fundraising, learning and planning. Learning about many of
the challenges Honduras faces it is easy to feel overwhelmed. How can we
meaningfully engage in 1 short week? True – a week is so short. But returning
from that week now I am left with awe at the power of teamwork. It was truly a
wonderful team.
It was such a privilege to work with Dr. Sevilla, Dr.
Fabricio, Dra Floripe, Don Israel and the rest of the ENLACE team. There is
amazing work being done every day to improve the lives of those living in and
around Las Lajas and it was very cool to get to participate in that. Our group
came down brimming with enthusiasm and inspiration. Progress is made by a
series of small changes and I was struck by the ways improvements are being
made each trip. We set up clinics in the churches in Palmichel Carmen and El
Diviso and locals lined up each day to seek medical and dental care. The
clinics, which had many moving parts, ran smoothly with everyone assigned to a
position and implementing tools and building on lessons learned from prior
trips. The under 18 crowd (Symkowicks, Millers and Deborah’s son Finn) was
amazing! From running the pharmacy, to dental health education and fluoride
treatments, to slime production and entertainment for waiting kids we were
lucky to have such an inspired group of young folks. This year we were also excited
to have Kathleen Deegan PhD, RDN (Emily’s mom!) come down to lead nutrition
assessments. I got to be a part of this team and we conducted interviews to
gather information about dietary staples, this year focusing on women and risk
factors for anemia, but with plans to expand this project in the future.
Overall it was an amazing experience and I am so grateful
that our residency program has the opportunity to participate in global health
work. It was really special to go down with the entire class of residents,
faculty, families, and inspired community members. Huge thank you to our
incredible global health leaders Tessa Stecker and Emily Fisher!
Kaitlin Best PGY3
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