AHMEN is the Alabama Honduras Medical Educational
Network. We are a faith-based nonprofit organization working for the
benefit of the people of Honduras. Although faith based, we are not
affiliated with any particular religion or denomination. AHMEN has
been active in Honduras for about 17 years and has fielded a very large number
of teams to many different areas of the country. AHMEN now concentrates
efforts on the North coast of Honduras, eastward from the city of La Ceiba.
These are areas not usually attended by the many other mission groups
venturing to HN annually.
This will be our teams’ seventh annual medical mission
trip to locations in La Moskitia. La Moskitia is a term used to describe
this area which has been the historical home of the indigenous Miskito Indians.
The easternmost Department (State) of Gracias a Dios is far from any population
center of HN. Consequently, it is far from any of the meager support of
the Honduran government. We decided to bring medical clinics to La
Moskitia because we wanted to serve in an area that was just too remote for 99%
of missionaries to work in. In all honesty, we were all looking for a
little excitement and adventure also! This area has now become this
team’s focus.
There are several distinct groups of people living in
La Moskitia. Our patients include mostly Miskito and Pech Indians as well
as Garifuna and Ladinos. Almost everyone speaks Spanish in La Moskitia,
although youngsters and old people may only speak in their indigenous
languages. We can almost always get by with Spanish although sometimes it
does require more than one layer of translation.
The La Moskitia mission is longer than any other AHMEN
trip. The travel times and distances are greater than most. Once
we arrive in HN, it takes almost over a full day of travel in pickup trucks to
get to the end of any possible vehicular travel. You will get a good
view of this beautiful country, its mountains and forests, Caribbean seashore,
cities and small towns. At that point we board large powered canoes
for a two-hour river trip to our base of operations, and first clinic site, in
the Miskito village of Raista. Our next clinic village is Las Marias,
located about eight hours up the Río Plátano through the rainforest and jungle.
This area is part of the Río Plátano Biosphere Reserve, a UNESCO
protected area and the largest expanse of tropical rainforest outside the
Amazon.
We see hundreds of patients at our clinics.
Because of the skill levels of our medical staff, and the materials we
bring, we believe are able to really make a real difference in the health of
our patients. We do far more than just hand out Tylenol and vitamins.
We bring good medical care to the jungle.
Our team membership varies yearly, but there is a core
of “life-ers” that come every year. We have doctors, nurses, PAs, lab
techs, dentists, pastors, med students, social workers, translators even a CPA
on occasion. We also have had people with absolutely no medical experience. Everyone
has an important job with our team. Last year our team was composed
of volunteers from eight different US States and four different countries.
Several team members are retired. Our ages have ranged from the
late teens to the mid 70’s. I would say that better than 50% of our team
is over 55 years old.
The tuition or team fee is based on projected total
expenses for the trip. Once you arrive in HN the Team fee pays for all
transportation (4WD truck rentals, boats, boat drivers and guides), lodging, meals,
and the large amount of medicines and supplies we use during our clinics.
Leftover medication is donated to a free hospital serving the people in
the small Garifuna village of Ciriboya. Traditionally we do invite local
Honduran and Cuban healthcare workers to join us. They provide their time
and skills and we provide their food and lodging. None is paid for their
services. There is no profit for anyone, and we all equally share all the
expense.
We project the cost of this mission trip to be $1350,
not including your travel to HN. Everyone pays their own
way. We have no available monies set aside for scholarships.
We can assist you with successful methods to acquire your fees and
expenses. Many team members have been struggling students, retirees and
others who have received generous donations from their churches, family and
friends, even through crowd funding and local civic groups. There have
been cases in the past where team members have assisted another team member
financially. We are still almost five months away from the trip.
There is plenty of time to decide to join us. Expenses are, of
course, tax deductible as AHMEN is an IRS registered 501(c)(3) charitable
organization.
This is an exciting endeavor with a chance to continue
to make differences in the lives of neglected and disadvantaged
people. At the same time you will experience cultures and
environments which are sadly beginning to undergo the inevitable changes we are
seeing in our world.
Here’s a YouTube link to a slideshow of photos taken
on the last one or two trips into the jungle.
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