Caring for Those in Need

What do you do when you are so poor that you can barely feed your family and then get sick?  Health care is a major topic of conversation in the US, and my views on that aside, it is extremely rare for Honduran people in the country side to get to see a doctor.  My particular nightmare is to have major dental problems here.  But what if I were Honduranian and poor and no dentist to see-EVER?    A dentist that was here with the group for 5 days found out what most people here do-suffer in agony until a dentist comes into the village for a day or two.  Stand in line (very patiently, I might add) for a few hours, then go to see the dentist in a room set aside in a house being "remodeled.":   The patient sits in a plastic yard chair, opens his/her mouth and gets a shot of novocaine.  (Yes, the dentist very thoughtfully brought enough from the US to alleviate pain as he pulled teeth.)  A 90 year old man, with hardly a tooth in his head came in to see the doctor Sunday.  He said he had never seen a doctor before in his whole life.  He was a delightful man, with a battered hat set at a very jaunty angle.  He had a twinkle in his eye and he had a soft gentle voice.  An hour or so later he left, with one less tooth, a pair of red plastic sunglasses.and a baggie full of giveaways, such as Tylenol, tooth brush and tooth paste (yes, even though he had few or no teeth left) and assorted other first aid type of supplies.  His story was all too typical.  Mothers came in with children complaining of asthma like symptoms, several sore throats and earaches.  Many came just to have a tooth pulled.  The medical team could only give simple antibiotics or pain relievers, cough drops, topical ointment, and the dentist, of course had many toothbrushes and tubes of toothpaste to give away.  I overheard the pediatrician saying clearly to a young mother-no more soda.  His teeth are rotting out and he will have no teeth left at all at this rate.  Knowing that the supply of clean drinking water is hard to come by, I wondered what alternative the young mother had.  I think the soda here is cheaper than drinking water.  There is something not right in that scenario.  On the way out, the children received a small bean bag stuffed animal, a coloring book and a small version of the Bible.  Several people came in with faces that seemed to be worried or in pain, but many had smiles as they left, glad for a chance to see a doctor that  cared enough to come a long way from home to provide some comfort for a difficult life.  I loved to see the doctors and young people with them as they cared for the patients who came by foot so they could have this one opportunity to see a doctor.  They worked all day long tirelessly giving what aid and comfort they could as lovingly as one can imagine.  The words of Jesus keep coming to me here:  "What ever you do for others, you for me."  What an opportunity and such a blessing to be a part of this mission.