Glory Days With St Norbert Medical Team 2025 in Honduras

Oh, how exciting to be back with the St Norbert Medical Mission team at the One World Surgery Clinic in Honduras! Our team’s elation is off the charts! It’s been twelve months since we visited the clinic at One World Surgery in the hills outside of Telanga, Honduras. The crisp, fresh air and beauty of this rugged terrain are so welcome and refreshing to all of us who left the frigid temperatures and snowstorm back home. 

And stepping into this sacred setting sets our souls afire! We are happy to shed our emotional baggage that we have accumulated this past year. Back home, the news constantly showcases war, greed, and tragedy. How refreshing to venture to a remote location and receive the gifts of peace, serenity and renewal. And to let go of our creature comforts for a while is rejuvenating. This is the simple life, but then again, its full of different kinds of hardships and struggles- the kind that go unnoticed by most people in developed nations- the kind that cause unnecessary suffering and pain. 

This week, I celebrate my 60th birthday! I cannot think of a better way to celebrate than to be doing the thing I most love and makes me so very happy, which is medical mission work! The team went out of their way to prepare a cake and sing to myself and the other recent birthdays. I am very touched by their thoughtfulness.

Here, in Honduras, the poor, who live on less than $1 per day have no access to medical care. They do not see specialists for their ailments, nor do they have access to health insurance so they cannot afford treatments. Even optometrists are a scarcity. So, these patients travel great distances to find access to free care and most wait for years for much needed surgeries and treatments.

But clinics like One World Surgery bring hope to patients. One World Surgery is a well staffed, well-run, and well-oiled machine with both primary and surgery care. Unlike other clinics in Honduras and most of Latin America, One World Surgery has comfortable accommodations on site for the volunteer medical mission teams. It’s more like glam camping. And it can support several mission teams simultaneously. 

I am here with the St Norbert primary care team which is composed of three internal medicine doctors, one physician’s assistant and one OB/GYN, a host of primary care nurses, a Deacon and several general volunteers. The clinic is spiffy and well-lit and comes with an onsite lab and well-stocked pharmacy and supply house. We certainly can’t complain about our resources while serving out this mission. 

Participating alongside of our team in the surgery center are four world renown orthopedic surgeons, two of which have written textbooks on certain orthopedic surgeries. And these surgeons are accompanied by expert teams of OR assistants and techs, PACU nurses and anesthesiologists. 

All are working in harmony this week, and it makes for a fully gratifying experience for all. The general volunteers, too, are having a blast. They have been invited to observe in ORs and are helping on the farm and in kitchen, the dental clinic and in the pharmacy. We treat +90 patients per day in primary care, clearing more than 100 persons for upcoming surgeries, and the surgery team performs +100 orthopedic procedures including rotator cuff and ACLs. This is a banner week of success for our team members as well as all the patients who travel several hours just to be seen. 

This week I am scribing for Dr Ralph Lanza, a phenomenal and super compassionate doctor of internal medicine and our team’s leader. He is changing the stars of his patients because he cares so very much. They are listening to him carefully as he explains their diseases and talks through their assessment plan. Diabetes, hypertension and hyperlipidemia are extremely prevalent here, and so these patients need to be on medicine routinely to maintain their health. Dr Ralph has implemented much needed nutrition counseling for these mostly illiterate and uneducated people.

We see Carmen, a 59-year-old mother of four who is here follow-up to diabetes and hypertension and for pre-op clearance to have surgery on her right knee which is ridden with arthritis. She and I are of similar age and feeling the same aches and pains of getting older. And for this reason, we bond. I whip out pictures of my new grandchild, and she is overjoyed. She tells me about her two daughters and three grandchildren. We spend time talking about how wonderful it is to see our daughters grow up to become mothers. Carmen calls me her friend and gives me her picture, which I now keep in my wallet. 

And finally, we see Alejandro, a sweet and humble, 73-year-old retired farmer with a nonerasable smile. He has brought in his recent CT scan for evaluation and complains of blood in his stool and pain in his abdomen. After thorough review the reports, Dr Ralph has the arduous task of telling Alejandro that he has colon cancer and must seek treatment right away. To support Alejandro in this delicate matter, we invite Alejandro’s granddaughter, who drove him to clinic, into the examination room. Dr Ralph delivers the diagnosis and explains what he should do next. Alejandro remains somber and is still smiling. I am unsure if he is processing all of this. Then, Alejandro shares that his daughter died of cancer just five months ago. All of us in the room begin to cry and weep for them. And Alejandro begins to try to comfort and console us. He is a man of deep faith and say he will seek the Lord to find comfort in Him. Our Deacon puts Alejandro on the prayer list, and we are praying for him and his family nonstop.  

Heartfelt gratitude to all volunteers who selflessly gave their time and talent to deliver quality healthcare to countless patients in dire need. Witnessing the overwhelming hugs and tears of gratitude from these humble individuals was a profoundly moving experience. And for this, we are changed for the better. Patients expressed their deepest thanks to the doctors and nurses for their compassion and expert care. I am forever grateful to all the volunteers who gave up their vacation times and creature comforts to travel to Honduras to make this incredible mission possible!