CURRENT NEWSLETTER: APRIL, 2002 in this issue:

The Return
          It was a typical busy day in Honduras with many patients waiting to be seen. Lines were everywhere; a controlled flurry of activity surrounded me. As I finally made it down the steps of the hospital that led to the CAMO office, I felt like I had already worked eight hours, but it was only 8:30 a.m.
          Then, the pleasantly unexpected happened. Running towards me came a short, healthy looking man. Within seconds, in disbelief, I realized it was German. I watched him come towards me with no limp, no gait problems, perfect balance - a miracle in human courage, two years to the date, running down the steps and calling my name.
          In March of 2001, one year after having broken both legs in an accident in which he risked his life to save his wife, German had come to us. The bones had never healed and he was bearing his weight with no union of the tibia or fibula in both legs. He was thin, pale and in great pain. Dr. Dona Alvarez of Oakland, Maryland, along with Dr. Marcos Bones of Santa Rosa de Copan, set out to perform a miracle at the Hospital Regional de Occidente: put together four broken bones after one year of non-union.
          In March of 2002, German did not walk slowly anymore. He ran into my arms, kissed me on the cheek and buried his tear-soaked eyes into my shoulder. My heart filled with joy and we stood there with tears, grateful for everything and everyone involved in this miracle. I hugged this man as 1 recalled his words the day after his surgery, "I will walk again, God wants me to walk again..."
          And today, German ran!
 

Synergy Good people make miracles happen. We are so blessed to have so many good people helping us a CAMO. In the past year I have seen synergy of excitement in several of our programs' counterparts in Honduras- I would like to share with you a few of these stories.

Blindness to Sight

It was a Sunday evening gathering of friends in Honduras. Dr. Hector Robles, the eye surgeon, started to talk about his work in the public hospital and what he has been able to do with equipment and tools given to him by CAMO. He began to talk calmly about the poor old woman who could only see light due to her cataracts. Then his voice filled with excitement- "I did cataract surgery on her on Thursday, Friday I removed the eye patches, and she could see! I love my work. Just a simple procedure gave this woman her sight back -- and I get to do this every day!" Hector handles over 240 cases per year. He looked at me and said, "Kathy, they need this in La Ceiba [which is five hours from Santa Rosa]." I smiled because he spoke to me with such great passion for his profession and his people. Then I realized he had found another Honduran eye surgeon with the same passion to help his people. Soon thereafter, I met Dr. Carla Campbell of La Ceiba. She began telling me of the poor, the need, and the unnecessary blindness of the population of her service area. Again, I sat back and my heart jumped with joy, for at that moment I knew that God had again blessed CAMO with another great asset, another willing Honduran human heart. It will take about $30,000 and a contract with the ministry of health, but that has never stopped us, nor will it this time. Properly equip the Honduran professionals and they will do the work every day of the week, not just one or two weeks a year.

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Hope brings action
          After a long week of education and working with his counterpart, Dr. Richard Dominquez sit across from me and smiled. Dr. Dominquez is in charge of the Gastric Research Program and is working with Dr. Douglas Morgan. I looked at him, intrigued, and asked, "What are you smiling at?" He responded, ''We have had some rough times professionally, but we have always remained friends." I nodded. This is true. He continued, "Through the work of CAMO you have shown me many things. In 1996 I was depressed and just passing time as a doctor. I had it all. A nice home, good family, good practice, but it wasn't enough because I had no hope of doing more for my patients. You have given me hope again." I returned the smile and knew in my heart that this program will continue with or without me. And that is what it is really all about.
         This program under Dr. Dominquez, using equipment donated by CAMO, is doing 1,000 ultrasounds per year and over l,00 endoscopies (examining the stomach and colon with a special video camera). Dr. Dominquez has presented the research at Central American Gastroenterology Conferences and is looking forward to research that will bring his people better care. Dr. Doug Morgan of Chapel Hill, NC presented the research at the World Conference of Gastric Cancer on May 2, 2001 in New York City
          Thanks to the efforts of Dr. Doug Morgan we have received a grant for continuation of this research. CAMO has also helped with the reconstruction of the Endoscopy suite at Hospital de Occidente and the reorganization of this work area. The service to is being given from this specialty is one of a kind in the area and serves a population of 600,000 people.           We will never run out of work.

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Value of development
CAMO is celebrating its 10-year anniversary. Looking back, we never dreamed we would be doing as much as we are. The first five-year plan sounded very aggressive to all of us, and after the meeting we agreed that if we accomplished 80% of our goals in five years we would be happy. We surpassed the first five-year plan in three years. Again, this pattern continues. You might ask, why? The response is simple: development. We look at everything and ask ourselves, "Will we be doing the same thing year after year with no long term results?" If the answer is yes, then it is not development and it is not for CAMO. We ask, "What leaders can be developed? What skills can be taught? When will the program be strong enough for us to move on?" When we can answer those questions, we know the program is worthwhile. Change is difficult, but every year we push our teams to look at lasting effects. Some people get it; some do not. But looking back on the past 10 years, we can see that much has been accomplished.
 

1993 Donated Supplies and Services $11,025.00 Activity  2 teams 1994 Donated Supplies and Services $338,638.00 Activity  2 teams 2 (48 foot containers)
1995 Donated Supplies and Services $618,987.00 Activity  2 teams  (48 foot containers)  2 physicians trained in USA Eye Program - ongoing Mammography Program - ongoing Audiometry Program - ongoing Orphanage Support - ongoing
1996 Donated Supplies and Services $609,293.00 Activity 6 weeks of teams 2 (48 foot containers) 2 Physicians trained in USA Gastro Program - ongoing Arthroscopy Program - ongoing Ultrasound Program - ongoing at 2 different locations
1997 Donated Supplies and Services $688,972.00 Activity 6 weeks of teams 3 (48 foot containers) 4 Physicians trained in the USA Cystoscopy Program - ongoing Wheelchair Program - ongoing Fundacion CAMO Honduras Development - at present has grown to 7 employees
1998 Donated Supplies and Services $979,966.00 Activity 6 weeks of teams 8 (48 foot containers) Hurricane Mitch 12 month Cleanup - Dec 98-99 Kitchen completed (1000 meals/day)
1999 Donated Supplies and Services $1,654,010.00 Activity 8 weeks of teams 4 (48 foot containers) Prosthetic Program - ongoing Hurricane Mitch Cleanup - completed Mobile Dental Vehicle - ongoing Feeding Center for Children - completed
2000 Donated Supplies and Services $1.795,693.00 Activity 6 weeks of teams 3 (48 foot containers) 3 Physicians trained in USA Fundacion CAMO one full time administrator Development of NRCH - ongoing Laundry built (800 lbs/day) completed
2001 Donated Supplies and Services $1,464,708.00 Activity 6 weeks teams 3 (48 foot containers) 6 Professionals trained in USA Cell Saver Program - ongoing Ultrasound Public Health - ongoing Library built - completed

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Cell Saver Program		79 newborns, 140 adults, 11 children saved by the respiratory program last year		Prosthetics 56 per year
Audiometry 1,700 per year		Wheelchair 150 per year		Dental 4,500 per year
Cystoscopy 150 per year		Arthroscopy 50 per year		Mammography 1,200 per year
Ophthalmology 750 per year		Endoscopy 100 per year		Ultrasounds 2,000 per year

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Volunteers Make It Happen!
The success of these programs depend upon many volunteer hours.
We would like to thank each volunteer for his or her time of service. There are three reasons CAMO is a success:
   1. Our Honduran counterparts work five days a week, all year long;
   2. Diligent state side volunteers work five days a week, all year long; and
   3. Specialty teams volunteers who travel to Honduras one to two weeks per year.
          Volunteers spend many hours picking up donated supplies, sorting these supplies, boxing or crating them and labeling everything usable m the warehouse in Orrville, Ohio, USA. Seven persons give of their time each week to accomplish these tasks. These persons are dedicated and have stepped forward to help at CAMO. If it were not for these persons we could not ship three semi-loads of supplies each year to Honduras.
          CAMO has BioMed professionals, four to five people, who clean, test and make certain the medical equipment is in working order before it is crated for shipment. Once it is shipped to Honduras it is very difficult to find parts for repair. An unusable machine is worthless when you are in a medical emergency.
          Most recently, Nanette Sprunger, RN is assisting Faye Beegle, RN with sorting of medical supplies brought to the warehouse. Under their supervision, Dick Kohler and Don Miller pack and tape boxes, which are moved to Germaine Gerber who labels them in both English and Spanish. When the skid is full of labeled boxes. Vernon Lehman and Ralph Winey place the boxes on shelves in the storage bay for loading onto a semi. Joe McIlvaine finds good used tractor/trailers and has helped us greatly over the years. Mort Curie along with Paul Beegle use their welding abilities in preparing the semi when the need arises. Aaron Hershberger helps in many ways, computing, crating, and labeling, as he is available. As an airline pilot he spends a lot of time in the air! We also call on Ellen Douglass to help as needed.
          The landscaping of the front steps of the warehouse with rocks and perennials give us aesthetic pleasure every time we arrive at the office. Salem Mennonite adult Sunday school class worked over the Memorial Day weekend 2001 to prepare and plant flowers. Robert Landis donates his time to mow the lawn throughout the spring and summer. Ted Crawford keeps bringing rocks and pine trees to help with the landscaping.
          We must mention the "mailing crew". They label and sort this publication so you are able to be current where CAMO has been, what CAMO has done and what our goals are for the future,
          Which brings us to another group; the nine Board member's who give their time and abilities to help with goals, regulations and activities of CAMO.
          CAMO is grateful to all who have helped us, presently or in the past.
          A GREAT THANK YOU TO ALL VOLUNTEERS!

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New Government, New Leadership, what does it mean to CAMO?
          God has His own plan- If you had asked me 3 months ago who would take political leadership roles in Honduras, 1 could have never dreamed of a team like the one that has been put into place. Truly, something remarkable has happened.
Dr. Marcos Bones who studied with CAMO for 6 weeks, is now the Director- of the Hospital. Dr. Waleska Cardona was an exchange student in Cincinnati, Ohio. We met her In 1999 in a small clinic, which CAMO gave assistance. She is the Regional Director. The congressman of the west of Honduras is Dr. Victor Hugo Bamica who also studied with CAMO in the USA for the Cystoscopy program. The mayor of Santa Rosa was reelected and is also the President of the Fundacion CAMO Honduras. The administrator of the Hospital is Victor Lopez. He was the administrator of the hospital when I was in Peace Corps 22 years ago. Three years ago, I approached Victor and asked him if the deterioration of the hospital made him sad and if he would ever consider becoming the administrator again. Victor at that time said no, that he was making more money and had fewer problems with his own business. Victor changed his mind, and the first thing he had on his agenda was to build a better relationship with CAMO.
          For the first time in the 10-year history of CAMO, the Minister of Health came to Santa Rosa to meet with us and hear a presentation. Ironically, the only place to meet in the Hospital was the new library we had built. He heard every department in the Hospital say they would not be what they are today without CAMO. It was interesting to watch it all unfold. As I did. great hope filled me as responsible professionals were fighting for the rights of the patients. I know without a doubt that God has a great plan for the next five years. We are looking forward to the new leadership and our continued friendships. 
          The possibilities are endless!

TOGETHER WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE Please continue to support us with your prayers and gifts. Please don't forget us. This newsletter is only being sent to supporters of Central American Medical Outreach. If you know of someone who would he interested in our projects please share this newsletter.

Calendar of events:
May 22 - Investigative group to Honduras
June 30 - Shipment to Honduras
July - Stateside Training Honduras Medical Professionals
August 10 - Second Annual Kidron Folk Festival (Proceeds to CAMO)
August - Small team to Honduras
September 6-12 - Wayne County Fair CAMO Booth
September 30 - Shipment to Honduras
October 6 -  Nov. 10 - Teams to Honduras 
 

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