As we headed out to visit the last community for the week, we felt grateful for the opportunity we had this week to provide medical care and share in the love of God through the Honduran people. What a blessing!

Today (Friday) we visited the community of El Ocotal, the home of 50 families. A few of the homes have flushable toilets outside. If they need to go to a health center, they must travel 26 kilometers to the nearest city of Santa Cruz. 80% of the children have problems with parasite infections, which was a major repetitive complaint in the clinic today. Parasites, common in their environment consume 60% of the food an person eats. We educated these families on ways they can better purify their water, such as by boiling it before they drink it. We offered deworming for complete families ,for nearly every person seen by the clinic, The deworming process should be repeated every 6 months;  many of these families are not able to make it to a health center every 6 months for follow through, the reason our mission is so important. Each of the 25 villages the Foundation serves is seen every six months.

All of the houses in El Ocotal have clay stoves that use wood, sometimes inside their homes, making respiratory problems a persistent complaint. We educated these families about drinking a lot of water and gave every family 1, and many times 2 bottles of saline to use to get the dirt out of their nasal passages because this community is very dusty and dry which also contributes to  respiratory problems.

Only 2% of the births occur at the community health center, and those are generally emergency situations. The incidence of teenage pregnancy is very high in this community - 50% of the mothers are teenage mothers. Every girl of child bearing age up through women in their late 30's were given Prenatal Vitamins and advised to start taking them right away so that they can get the folic acid they need for a healthy baby in the event they get pregnant. Folic acid deficiency seems to be a major contributor in Honduras to for babies born with problems such as hydrocephalus, spina bifida, cleft lip and/or cleft palate and heart defects. Addressing the need for prenatal care is a priority of The Friends of Barnabas Foundation and results are evident in healthier babies and fewer problem births reported. Pascuala, the Foundation's public health nurse teaches human reproduction, sexuality and both prenatal and postnatal care in the communities between visits from Medical Mission teams. Education workshops are also held at the Barnabas House once a month.

Here are a few of the beautiful faces we saw today:

The following are the numbers from Friday:

Clinic - 127

Deworming - 125

Fluoride - 23

Dental - 23

Extractions - 33

Eye - 22

Referrals - 0

As you have read in past journals this week, we had "a cross in my pocket" that we handed out and we have shared some of those stories with you. Today we were given a different type of cross, special for our last day, a wooden cross on a black string made by a friend of Tonia's back home. We all wore these crosses around our neck today and when we met someone we felt needed to know the love of our mighty God, we took our necklace off and put it around their neck telling them that Jesus loves them no matter what and that He is the true healer of all things. I know that we will never forget the faces of those that we shared our wooden crosses with!

We embark on a new journey tomorrow as we travel back to the United States, returning to family and friends who made it possible for us to serve on this special trip! Thank you from the bottom of our hearts to those who support this Medical Mission through monetary donations, prayers and making it possible for us to to leave our other obligations behind at home so that we can serve the wonderful people of Honduras. Please pray for a safe trip home. We all feel so very blessed!

Adios Amigos!

Julie

Brooke

Hannah M.

Hannah B.

Tonia

Khadijah

Mark

Ben

Tina

Robin

Johanna

Teresa

Remmie

Janet