Honduras: Fighting Malnutrition

After speaking with the mayor of Santa Lucia and several locals about Shoulder to Shoulder, it is evident that mis-communication between the locals and the non-profit has caused recent strife in the community.

Shoulder to Shoulder currently operates seven clinics throughout the southern region of Intibuca, six of which are primary health centers owned by the Honduran government. These centers run under the government's standardized healthcare system and charge five lempira per visit, the equivalent of 25 cents.

Working in the midst of a military coup brings unexpected hardships. The Honduran government has shut off power across the entire country on numerous occasions, trying to squelch any outgoing or incoming information on Manuel Zelaya, the ousted president. One power outage lasted nearly 24 hours, preceded by a series of five brief outages. Interestingly enough, as I sit here and write this, the power has once again been shut off.

Friday morning I headed out early with a team of health professionals to observe a community clinic. Many places are so rural in this part of Honduras that people rely on Shoulder to Shoulder health workers to travel to them every three months or so and set up makeshift clinics in schools and churches.

Santa Lucia is hidden deep in the mountain range of southwestern Honduras. I traveled for eight hours by car from the San Pedro Sula airport to Santa Lucia, a tiny community in the remote region of Intibuca. The gravel road hugged the mountainous terrain as we weaved up, around, and down. Pot holes and washed-out areas from torrential rains created a nearly impassable road. The recent 7.2 earthquake that struck Honduras crumbled many of the bridges, leaving only holes in its wake.