by Dr. Tom Sullivan ’78

The faces of God’s people in this beautiful country will forever be etched in my memory to remind me that we are born to serve Him…. Great day of rest today, back at it tomorrow ….

by Dr. Tom Sullivan ’78

Day # 2 of Treatment… gotta say today was one of the most difficult and tiring… but at the same time most rewarding days I’ve ever spent here… Long climb into the mountain reveals the most beautiful views of Honduras … To the remote village in Santa Domingo… I’ll try to get some pictures from the others on the team and share them later…

Today’s patients were great !! … But their teeth were stubborn and difficult… My thoughts for today center on the Honduran team members who act as our interpreters and “assistants”, and the college students who spend their spring break here with us instead of on a beach with their friends…

First, meet Samuel and Mario from Honduras… Nice selfies !!! These guys are vitally important to our work… They communicate instructions, treatment and help triage their people with incredible passion and compassion ! And they try to teach me how to speak their language … Good luck with that !!!

And the “Gator Girls” have been able and willing to jump into becoming awesome assistants….. Whether it’s retracting a cheek, clearing a bleeding socket, cutting a suture, drying a tear or just holding a hand, we are a better team because of their work!
More team members to follow in next posts…!!

Tomorrow we take a break and reorganize for the last two days… Keep us on the prayer list…

by Dr. Tom Sullivan ’78

Day One of clinic… Sure didn’t look like Illinois weather here today !! Picture perfect 70’s temp, blue sky and cool wind… We overcame a few obstacles early in the day as we were setting up the clinic… Electricity went out … And the generator had leaked gas… But, a couple of the men in the village went down the mountain and got enough gasoline to finish our day.. ( that was no easy task)..

This was Dr. Mike’s first experience extracting teeth in this type of setting..( by the way, he’s an Endodontist !!)… He was awesome !! Didn’t skip a beat… The Florida Gator girls proved they were up to the task… Sterilization, assisting and language interpretation was seamless !!! I think we may have switched their medical careers to dentistry !!! We’ll see… Anyway, the little ones tears turned to smiles ( eventually ).. And we cleaned up a lot of infected mouths… My take on today centers around two virtues: Faith and Hope… Our team has been to this village each of the last three years, and I have witnessed first hand the new construction, and the Faith these people have to build their community… On top of a mountain in the middle of nowhere !!!

What we can give them in the form of medical treatment is Hope… Hope for a better tomorrow without pain, without an itch, without a cough, without lice, whatever… Even if it’s just short lived…Their Faith and their Hope are what drives me
to forget any of my aches or pains and just “man-up”…. Tomorrow we return to a special village in one of the most picturesque places in these mountains… Be well…

by Linda (Jones) Berl (Dr. Seth Berl’s ’78 wife and Larry Jones ’75 sister and Gamma Zeta Little Sister

Honduras – Sunday
Today was our sleep late & preparation day. We have to basically unpack & then repack all our meds so we’ll have equal amounts for our 4 different villages this week. Tomorrow we’ll be at El Cerron which is where we’ve done VBS for 5 years. Because more of the roads are paved now it should only take us an hour and 15 minutes to get there. In the old days, it was three hours! we are expecting to be extremely busy there because we usually go 2 days traveling back-and-forth, but this year we are only going one day.
I wanted to write the update tonight because of two separate experiences I had today. Continue reading→

by Dr. Tom Sullivan ’78

Our small but mighty team has landed safely in this beautiful land ready to make a small dent in the health care needs of the Honduran people.

Travel day went very well… We’ve reconnected with our missionary hosts TR and Rhonda… Today was sort medication and dental supplies day. It’s the first chance we have to bond as a team. It’s long and tedious work, but necessary to be as efficient as possible. Generator fired up, autoclaves tested, instruments inventoried… We are a well oiled machine!! Each year my life is enhanced by meeting and interacting with the new “kids”, and rekindling the relationships of friends from the previous years.

Although many miles from home… Here I feel “home”… I’m blessed to be a part of this wonderful group… OK… I’ve got a date with a few Motrin, a little rest and an early morning wake up call for day #1… Let’s do it…