NY/HELP Honduras
August 2009 Mission Trip to Honduras
NY/HELP Honduras, an ecumenical project of the New York Conference of the United Church of Christ (UCC), has been working with the people of the indigenous communities on a rural mountains near Yoro, Honduras, since 1989.
During 2009, NY/HELP had two mission trips - one in February and one in August. The February group was quite large, with both medical and non-medical participants; this group ran several medical clinics, made house calls, and helped work on finishing the middle school.
The two-week NY/HELP mission trip in August mainly focused on the medical clinic. This group included family doctor Gordon Comstock from Arcade UCC and Nancy Savoy, a women's health nurse practitioner from Buffalo who has attended the Cleveland Heights Christian Church and the Riverside-Salem UCC on Grand Island. We were helped by Eileen Brittain of the Pioneer Christian Fellowship in Arcade, who speaks excellent Spanish and translated for us, and Hanna Zetterstrand-Robinson, a pre-med student from Geneseo State College.
In Honduras, we were joined by four Peace Corps Volunteers. One was Nancy's son, Andy Savoy-Burke, who brought his friends Gail Norton, Randy Harrington, and Emelina Choi. They surveyed the local communities' water systems and made recommendations to their respective water boards for improvements. In their spare time they gave great help in the clinic, translating Spanish and running the pharmacy.
The new Centro Educativo Básico (Middle School) was dedicated during this trip. This new school will enable many more children from these mountain communities to continue their education through 9th grade. Gordon had to make a speech (which Eileen made sure was in correct Spanish!).
After the ceremony, NY/HELP sponsored a soccer tournament, with prizes going to the winning teams (the most coveted prize was the soccer ball itself!).
NY/HELP's mission in Honduras is made possible by your prayers and your donations. The best support is yourself - think about accompanying us on a mission trip to Honduras! NY/HELP is planning a trip in February 2010, and one in Summer 2010 as well. For more information, contact Gordon or Ginger Comstock at gkcomstock@gmail.com or 585-492-2810.
Gordon F. Comstock, MD