41/46 daily Lenten blog…

One of my first patients this morning was a friendly chap from an area of Honduras called La Moskitia.  Sometimes I think that we live in a remote area of the world because it takes 1 1/2 hours to drive to a city, and we don’t have stores or restaurants anywhere nearby (the closest Starbucks is in El Salvador, a 12 hour and 22 minute drive away).  But then I consider the folks living out in La Moskitia.  This fellow, Ned (not his real name) first took a boat ride down a tortuous river for 6 hours, and then drove another 12 hours just to come see us. I’m going to leave his medical problem out of the blog since he graciously said I could post his photo and share with y’all.  Suffice it to say, It wasn’t anything to do with his junk, so don’t worry.

He is a sweet man, and a pastor out in this isolated area.  He said he ministers to the native people that populate this northeastern region (Native Americans—Central Americans).  It was busy this AM but I couldn’t help but want to hear his account of working there.  He said they had a strong Christian Church.  They had occasional run-in’s with Witches (Brujas) but reported these folks were mostly coming and going transiently from Nicaragua.  He said Nicaraguans would often drift up into Honduras from across the border.  I asked him if there’s a ‘wall’ between Honduras and Nicaragua in his area.  He laughed and said “no, just a river that people pop across all the time;  one minute you’re in Honduras, the next you’re in Nicaragua.”

They mainly eat fish, He shared, along with platanos (more of a savory banana) but not a lot of vegetables.  They don’t speak Spanish, but a mixed language that has some English influence, simply called ‘Moskito.’

He shared that they are a good people, not involved with the drug trafficking, but that this is definitely a pathway by which drugs are moved  (For a crazy story involving La Moskitia, and our hospital, check out this account by Dr. Jeff Mckenney.  This is a seriously good read).  He also said that the area is so remote and dense that there are many areas that ‘no man has set foot.’  Crazy in this day and age that there is still unexplored pockets.  I may have to dust off my bull whip and fedora…

I asked him how we could pray for them, and his main concerns were regarding access to health care.  It sounds like their options are very limited, and most people there treat any infirmity with ‘homemade herbs.’  Maybe I need to make a house call…

Photo of the Day:

Me and Ned…

6 days til’ Easter