Day Five - Poverty Relief

Day five of the updates! We’ve already talked a bit about the spiritual and emotional needs in the past couple days, so today is more about the physical. The neighborhood of Los Pinos is an area with great physical need, entrenched in the cycle of poverty. In some cases, God may call me to pray for provision, but there are also times when He wills for the provision to come through me. That’s when listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit becomes key. Knowing when to step in, and knowing when to leave it to God. Certainly God does call us to give to those in need, provide for the orphan and widow, and be recklessly generous in our giving. Care also must be taken to ensure the giving is for the benefit of the family, not to create unhealthy dependence and certainly not to do something for them that they could do themselves. Keeping all this in mind, God has used me as He provides for His children in three different ways.

Nutrition

The longer I continue to serve in Los Pinos, the more seeing malnourished children, underdeveloped and tiny, becomes normal in my eyes. However, I realize that for many of you that is not normal (and it shouldn't be!). Normal in Los Pinos is one meal a day, if there is food. Normal is giving coffee to your baby to calm the hunger pangs. Normal is days without food or water because your job didn’t pay or the rains didn’t come.  Normal is perpetual sickness and weakness, due to drinking contaminated water and lacking vitamins to keep a healthy body going strong. During my time serving in this neighborhood, God has enabled me to install water filters in many homes in this neighborhood to cut down on water borne diseases and protect the health of everyone, especially children and the elderly. Even when there is no rain water and the only water available is runoff in the community or stagnant water from who knows where, these families can filter it and have healthy, clean water to drink.

I've also been able to provide Pediasure (vitamin-filled milk) for a severely malnourished toddler, vitamins for children, and food staples in various situations. I keep a donation pantry stocked with the basics – rice, beans, powdered milk, flour, oatmeal, etc – so that when the need arises and God says give, I am prepared to give. Unfortunately it’s not a rare scene for a mom to approach me, desperate, ashamed and tears in her eyes, to tell me that her kids at home haven’t eaten in days and she doesn’t know what to do. What an honor it is not only to be able to approach our God in prayer with her and pray for provision, but for Him to answer by enabling me to give.

Health

Another physical need in this community is healthcare. I can’t emphasize enough how lacking the healthcare is. While there are free health clinics in Honduras, they are generally out of medicines and unable to provide much to their patients. We just had a major problem with chikungunya, a virus similar to Dengue fever, that spread like wildfire through poor, mosquito filled areas such as Los Pinos. Many people died or are still feeling painful effects of this virus, and in the midst of the crisis, the health clinics ran out of the very basic Acetaminophen, leaving patients no way to lower dangerously high fevers, especially in children.  

(Sidenote, if you happen to be interested in Honduran politics, there have been numerous protests and marches lately demanding the resignation of the current President because there’s evidence that his campaign took money from the public health system, resulting in a lack of medicine and many unnecessary deaths.)

God has enabled me to be able to provide medicines in emergency situations, help with transportation to health centers, and provide basic health advice. Since most people never even completed the 6^th grade, you’d be shocked to hear some of the things I’ve been told about managing sicknesses, taking medicines, and general healthcare. I’ve considered taking nursing classes here in Honduras to be able to help more, but that’s still a bit in the future (I'm already getting excited about it!).

I’ve also been working with a private hospital here to try and set up a dental brigade to this area. Most doctors wont do it because it is such a dangerous area, but I’m hoping and praying that these leads I have will follow through and be able to bring some much needed dental care, hopefully on a semi-regular basis, to children and adults, many of whom have never been to a dentist.

Resources

Lastly, the longer I live in this country, the more I learn about the resources provided here for finding work, continuing studies, and taking trade classes to start small businesses.  Many of the systems are complicated, unknown to many, and generally require some sort of inside connection and a whole lot of bus money to get things done because in Honduras everything is more complicated. It’s a blessing to be able to share the connections I gain with people in need of work to provide for their families. There is an organization that provides free trade classes, as long as you have bus money to get there. The government helps connect workers with jobs, as long as you know where to go, how to write a resume, etc. I love being able to walk with these families as they take steps forward with confidence, moving into better jobs and are able to provide for their families.

Thanks for reading along this far – I know it’s a lot of information! Tomorrow I’ll be sharing a bit about my role as a foster parent for two young children – Asmin and Anderson!