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Delivering Results
All these programs have been developed and
implemented by CAMO. All of these statistics show work done by Honduran
medical professionals on a daily basis, not by American medical teams.
We make sure they have the
German's Recovery and Return Home As many of you will recall, our April 2000 newsletter featured the story of a courageous man named German Maldonado. German was struck by a truck while saving his wife's life in December of 1998. The accident left him with multiple broken  bones
in his legs, unable to work, or even to walk. Eleven months later German
was introduced to the CAMO team, then working at the Hospital San Felipe
in Tegucigalpa, through Honduran First Lady Mary de Flores. The team took
x-rays of German's still unhealed legs and sent them to orthopedic surgeon
Dona Alvarez. From November 1999 until March of this year, Dr. Alvarez's
team and many generous donors worked to collect several thousand dollars
worth of donated orthopedic materials and equipment to prepare for a complicated,
lengthy surgery. On March 7, the CAMO team, led by Dr. Alvarez and her
Honduran counterpart Dr. Marco Antonio Bones, successfully completed a
grueling, seven-hour surgery. Then the waiting game began, while everyone
hoped and prayed that German's legs would resist infection and begin to
heal. Six days later German and his wife were delivered to their home outside
of San Pedro Sula with no sign of complications. That was just the beginning
of the story for German and his family.
Three months after the surgery CAMO staff arranged for German to be transported back to Santa Rosa. German had spent twelve weeks, with his infinitely patient personality, in a wheelchair, doing small leg and ankle exercises. Now the hard part would start: intensive physical therapy at Teleton, a local rehabilitation center. Here was a man in his late forties who virtually had to relearn to walk. German worked diligently for three months, strengthening his leg muscles and joints which were very weak after over a year and a half of total non-use. He was told to drink milk and eat other dairy products to boost his calcium intake. He didn't want to make trouble for anyone. So, despite the fact that he was lactose intolerant, he drank milk and ate cheese dutifully. After several days of illness he finally came forward to admit that he had stopped drinking milk, and why. German laughed with relief when he was told that CAMO would provide him with calcium tablets. His only complaint, during what had to be a painful and often frustrating experience, was that he missed his wife and children. German has returned to his home to be with his family. He will return to Teleton in Santa Rosa to resume physical therapy in December.
Hospital de Occidente Laundry Dedication Held September 22, 2000  After two
years of planning, designing and fundraising, the much-needed industrial
laundry facility at the Hospital de Occidente is finally complete! The
new $90,000 facility replaces the dungeon-like laundry where four women
have washed 800 pounds of hospital linens by hand each day, as women have
since the hospital's opening in 1902. The soon-to-be vacated old laundry
is a shocking sight to behold: cracked concrete floors, no lighting, one
old washer and one old dryer are the only equipment still working. The
four women wrap themselves in plastic aprons, wear rubber gloves, and try
to avoid as much of the contaminated linens and wash water as possible
as they scrub out patient sheets, surgical linens and gowns by hand and
with plastic-bristled brooms. But the gloves wear out,  the
aprons tear and the women's shoes don't keep out the diseases carried by
the hospital linens. During the rainy season, which lasts from July through
December, linens don't dry on the lines and instead mold and rot. Surgeries
are canceled due to lack of linens. Sick patients lay without sheets or
blankets in cold, wet weather.
But thanks to the combined efforts of CAMO, Rotary Clubs on both sides of the border, and the Women of Saint Paul, a Honduran service group, all this will soon be a thing of the past. Together, CAMO staff and volunteers, Hospital de Occidente staff and representatives of the above-mentioned volunteer organizations celebrated the culmination of the two-year project with music, food, sharing and speeches. Hospital administration will now be respon-sible for the maintenance of the 62' x 76' industrial laundry, and the local military police have promised to care for the grounds. The new laundry facility includes three new industrial washers, four new industrial dryers, linen carts for both soiled and clean linens, new irons and new sewing machines. A large cistern will provide the laundry with unlimited water and there is space for hand washing as well. There are countless individuals, groups and churches that we'd like to take the opportunity to thank for the completion of this difficult project which will benefit patients of all ages and walks of life. With your help and continued support, the dream has become reality! Editorial: Words from the Executive Director Built simultaneously with the laundry construction, the new nurses' and medical interns' library and conference facility is nearing completion. Thanks to a generous grant from the International Foundation, the new facility will serve as an education center for  the
nursing and intern staff. Why was this program such a pressing need? One
of the greatest assets to any organization or company is its people. Individuals
who are given opportunities to grow and learn professionally become major
contributors in the successes of organizations. CAMO's investment in the
education of public health medical professionals is directly responsible
for many successful, sustainable programs. It's a win-win situation: people
are empowered to take ownership of programs and feel pride in their work,
and needy patients benefit. With this in mind, CAMO focuses on fostering
long-term counterparting relationships between U.S. and Honduran medical
professionals. We need to look at sustainable programs not as a single
thread, but as a complete fabric. The greatest investment in sustainable
development is in personal, caring relationships and education of the people
involved. Once individuals realize their full potential and are encouraged
to utilize their new skills, this will create a positive change in their
attitudes. In doing our projects we find many public medical workers despondent
and unmotivated. They receive no encouragement or continuing education
and when they are given the gift of tools from a well-meaning organization,
nine times out of ten, it's broken or inappropriate. CAMO's development
goal is not only placing the tool in the hands of the medical professionals,
it is sharing education in the correct place at the correct time with the
appropriate research. The end result is that the poor are being treated
with dignity and with improved medical care. Our program as a prototype
can change the world.
Fundacion CAMO-Honduras Hires
Full-Time Administrator
.CAMO Continues Long-Term Efforts with National Hospital Maintenance Organization
Fall Teams in Santa Rosa, Tegucigalpa and Sensenti
Hospital Santa Barbara: A Study in Sustainable Development? CAMO received a request from the Hospital Santa Barbara, along with reports from local volunteer Delores Williams and CENAMA director Patricia Funes, for an x-ray unit that was urgently needed in that city. The hospital is responsible for basic health care for several thousand people in and around the city of Santa Barbara. Unfortunately, the hospital had no working x-ray equipment, other than a dental x-ray unit being used to take x-rays of small children's arms and legs. CAMO director Kathy Tschiegg interviewed hospital staff and acting director Dr. Reyes to find out the feasibility of donating a quality x-ray unit to the hospital. When asked if the hospital had an adequate space for the unit, as well as the electricity needed to run the unit, several people assured CAMO that all was ready. CAMO staff and volunteers readied a donated x-ray unit for shipment, sent the unit and subsequently made a site visit. Upon arrival, several details came to light: the room was not ready, the presence of an x-ray unit would expose passing patients and personnel to radiation, and the hospital's electrical system wasn't strong enough to support the machine. What would have happened if CAMO did not have the policy of making site visits before equipment installations? What if the equipment had been utilized for months, even years, without proper use or maintenance? Thanks to CAMO's sound planning and foresight, the x-ray unit will be installed in a safe room with the appropriate electrical system in place. It is extremely important to investigate, prevent and correct any potential problems before donating equipment of any kind. Please join us in the effort to ensure appropriate and responsible giving to developing countries. Upcoming Events November - January -- Team preparation (70 team members); Kathy Tschiegg ,Licensing Comissioning by her Church Conference; Shipment preparation January 15 -- Shipment to Honduras February 4-11 -- Teaching Teams February 12-17 -- Unpack Shipment & Distribution February 18-24 -- Surgical & Dental Programs February 24 - March 4 -- Hospital Teaching Teams March 4-11 -- Prosthetics, Wheelchair & Orthopedics CAMO Headquarters  The amount
of supplies coming into the warehouse can be overwhelming. We receive at
least 2 shipments per week from area hospitals and out of State hospitals
and clinics. To give you some idea, it takes an average of 88 volunteer
hours per week to keep the warehouse running smoothly. We are so blessed
to have volunteers with the skills that are required to do the sorting
and packing. These volunteers are the true soldiers doing God's work. Special
thanks to their dedication and hard work. Because of our many volunteers
both here and in Honduras, CAMO is successful.
Wayne County Fair — Wooster, Ohio — September 11-16, 2000 The Wayne County Fair is always a great way to meet new contacts, share stories with friends and  reunite
with present and past CAMO volunteers. This year's fair was no exception!
Many grateful thanks to all the volunteers who helped staff the CAMO booth,
sell raffle tickets and share their experiences with friends and interested
passers-by. Sharing personal experiences with members of our communities
is the most effective way of finding new and talented volunteers and of
generating support both financially and spiritually. As many of you know,
the Wayne County Fair is the venue for our yearly quilt raffle that raises
funds for CAMO's work. For the past six years the beautiful, hand-made
quilts have been donated by the Hearthside Quilt Shoppe of Kidron. This
year, they gave us a beautiful Mariner's Star, valued at $900.00. The quilt
raffle brought in over $1,600.00! The raffle's winner was Ray Mozden of
Wooster. Congratulations, Ray. Thanks to all the women who made the beautiful
quilt and helped bring in much needed funds for CAMO programs!
New CAMO Fund We have established a CAMO Fund with the Greater Wayne County Foundation (GWCF). To make donations to the Fund, make checks payable to the Greater Wayne County Foundation, please note in the memo area of your check: "Benefit of CAMO Fund". Please mail your checks to Greater Wayne County Foundation, P.O. Box 201, 133 S. Market Street, Wooster, OH 44691, For questions about this fund, feel free to call Diane Gordon at the GWCF 330-262-3877 or Kathy Tschiegg at the CAMO office.
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supplies,
tools and education. I wish you could see their enthusiasm about doing
their work and helping their own people. These are sustainable programs,
not Band-Aid feel good projects. This is the most responsible way of helping
individuals and communities: letting them do the work and allowing them
to have ownership. The above data should prove that.
CAMO-Honduras's
new administrator, Carmen Garcia. Carmen is a vital member of the team
already, using her many talents to organize teaching events, track inventory
and prepare monthly reports which are essential to the evaluation of CAMO
programs.
