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Aug 11, 2014 | Rachael Riley

Helping Honduras

[Killeen Daily Herald] For 15 years, Dr. Donald and Bobbi Hopkins, members of St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church in Killeen, traveled with the Honduras Good Works medical mission.

 

The married couple and the mission group recently returned from an eight-day trip to Honduras.

 

When the Hopkinses visited Honduras in 1999, the devastation of Hurricane Mitch was still in evidence. Though parts of Honduras have recovered, there is still a need, Don Hopkins said.

 

“When we started, it was apparent in some of the towns ... there wasn’t a need,” Hopkins said. “So we evolved into little villages that are up in the mountains with no access to anything.”

 

Honduras Good Works partners with the Episcopal Diocese in Honduras.

 

The Honduras church provides the group with names and villages they are needed in, he said.

 

Mission groups, consisting of a medical and support team, now bring the villagers a bag containing Tylenol, vitamins, cough syrup, toothbrushes, soap and shampoo for preventive care.

 

People with ongoing health issues, such as high blood pressure or diabetes, also are provided with 400 days worth of medicine until the group comes back the next year.

 

If someone needs prolonged care, each village has a pastor who sees the needs are met, Hopkins said.

 

This year, 15 rented trucks and a bus took six teams to the areas.

 

The four medical teams saw a total of 2,763 patients, and two teams helped build and paint churches, Hopkins said.

 

In 1999, there were 34 volunteers. This year, it included 89 Americans, a couple of Honduran dentists, a Honduran physician, and bilingual Honduran university students serving as translators — making the total 106.

 

Most of the volunteers on the mission finance their own way, Hopkins said. “Our lifeblood is really our volunteers.”

 

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