2013 Calendar

We have designed and published the “2013 Pettengills In Honduras Calendar.” The calendar includes 36 photographs of our family serving the people of Honduras. It contains important dates for our ministry and both U.S. and Honduran holidays. You will also find monthly prayer topics that are timely for our ministry. The calendar is high quality and very attractive. It is perfect for your home or office and is an ideal daily reminder to pray for our family and the people of Honduras. It would make a wonderful Christmas gift for your friends, family and members of your church. To purchase your copy of the “2013 Pettengills In Honduras Calendar” go HERE. It only costs $20.00 and all proceeds go towards our work in Honduras.

Dr. Roger

I would like to have a formal introduction of our new doctor.  His name is Roger Guillen.  A little bit about him. 

I'm actively looking for monthly supporters for his salary.  As a part-time employee (30 hours a week), I will need to pay him $1400 a month.  The easiest way is to click ON THIS LINK to give electronically - it's SO easy.  So - if you have ever wanted to be a part of the ministry, and wasn't sure where to be involved - this is a great opportunity to become involved.  

First-degree Specialist in Pediatrics. Training in Intensive Care Unit. University Pediatric Hospital "William Soler". Havana, Cuba.

First-degree Specialist in General Medicine. Faculty of Medical Sciences of East Havana, Havana Province, Cuba.

Doctor in Medicine. Faculty of Medical Sciences "Dr. Salvador Allende. " Latin American School of Medicine. Havana, Cuba.

Dr. Roger, Mike our lawyer and I all met yesterday to work out some of the details of his work with us.  He is a Honduran, and did his study in Cuba.  He has volunteer worked with us 3 times at our mobile clinic in Armenia, and will continue to do so until the clinic is open and we raise his pay.  I've seen him at work and he is extremely professional, very knowledgeable, and best of all?!  He's from Armenia!!!!  He received scholarships to attend medical school - and he wants to give back to his community.  Just last week we had a kid come in and he diagnosed him with pneumonia.  In the past I would have given him oral antibiotics and told him to return in a week.  However, as Dr. Roger lives in the community, he saw him every day and gave him daily antibiotic injections - which makes for better health and recovery so much quicker!  How cool is that?!?!  


I have thoroughly enjoyed working with him and can't wait to work with him in an "official" capacity at the new clinic.  But it can't happen without YOU!!!  Please consider giving toward his salary - a monthly pledge would be incredible, but a one-time donation is awesome as well!

It Takes a Village

And in this case - that means YOU!  As you can imagine, getting a clinic started is NOT the easiest of things to do.  It takes the physical building, the overwhelming paperwork through the government, interviewing a doctor, then hiring said doctor - but of course that can't be done without funding.  Then the inside of the clinic.  I may have a shell, but what about all the equipment and basic needs of the inside of that clinic?  Picture in your mind when you go to your doctors office.  The front reception desk, the intake area, and the exam room itself.  Then there are the patient charts, and supplies and medications!  I'm almost exhausted just thinking about it!  Through some incredible people some of those things are happening.  Our sweet friend Tom DeKleer who is an active part of Team Honduras, will be sending me 4 exam tables!  Woah!  Then through a foundation (Vitamin Angels) I have all my children's vitamin needs covered for a year!  Medical Brigades have come, and doctor friends like Greg Moore (who is also an integral part of Team Honduras) my meds to start the clinic are covered.  Ah but then there's the "rest" of everything else.

Here's how you can help.  One of two way.

First and foremost - I have to pay my doctor :-)  I work for free...my husband collects our paycheck - but a doctor can't work that way.  Here's how you can contribute - click HERE   Helping with a one-time donation is great, but I'm just going to ask - because if I don't, you won't know - an on-going monthly contribution is really what I'm looking for.  And also, because I know you want to know - a monthly salary for a part-time doctor is $1400 - so in total - that's what I'm going to need :-) (profile of our doc coming soon....)

The other way you can help is in setting up the clinic - here is a link to my Amazon wish-list - in it you will see things for as little as $3.20, to $260 (auto clave) all the way up to $1500 (defibrillator and centrifuge) - I really want to be an all-inclusive clinic.  Click HERE to browse the list. The shipping address will depend on when you purchase it.  We have short-term teams and individuals coming down a lot - so we can have it shipped there.  If it's a high-ticket item, or a heavy item, we do have a shipping company that has a U.S. address, then it gets shipped to us in La Ceiba.

Let me know if you have any questions, I am excited to be going through this process together!  You and me baby - we ARE a village :-)

The Clinic is coming...the clinic is coming

One if by land...two if by sea....well - I guess the British aren't coming, but the clinic is.  We are hoping to have it completed by the first of the year, and in the meantime I'm starting to support raise for a doc.  Take a peek at this 2:20 video for a better idea of what is to come.

Fox in Socks and Baby in Box

Sounds like a Dr. Seuss book - Fox in Socks and baby in box...but it's not unreal - it's the state of things here in Honduras.  It's frustrating...there are incredible doctors here in Honduras - don't get me wrong - there are folks here who are striving to make a difference.  However, when you don't have anything to work with, no resources, limited infrastructure, you are left with conditions that are barely tolerable.

Babies in a neo-natal ward in a hospital here in Honduras - in laundry baskets and boxes...

 Postpartum moms lying on the floor in a completely overcrowded ward...

It truly hurts my heart.  I speak to women all the time in my prenatal class and my mobile clinic who are SO fearful to go to the hospital to have a baby because of what the "norms" are there.  So I press on - trying to take care of things before people get to the hospital - education and preventative care being such a HIGH priority for me.  Nutrition, vitamins, clean water, parasite meds - ANYTHING I can do to keep people healthy!  Please pray for the people of Honduras, for the doctors with so little in the way of resources.  I've often been inundated by people desperate - bringing their prescriptions to me because the hospital is out of meds...Pray that funds can be raised QUICKLY to pay for a doctor, and my clinic finished so I can provide even more to those I have come to serve.

Skin and Bones and Beautiful

Aisa - this little one came to see me today...

 Today I had clinic in the community of La Fe.  I have a mobile clinic there every two weeks.  This community has about 1,000 people.  So you would think in the almost year I've been holding clinic there I would have seen about everyone.  However, today a mother of 18years old came in with her one year old son and his sibling.  I saw the 1 year old first.  The weather had changed here, so tons of kiddos coming in with "gripe" (a cold).  Trying to explain to parents that this is a viral infection, and there is no "magic cure" gives me a lot of looks from parents with grumpy looks.  The average doctor here gives antibiotics like they are candy, so when they come to my clinic and clearly don't need any they at times can get very angry.  Anyway - this little guy was basically okay.

Then his sister arrived.  I'll give you a second to try and guess how old she is......

Aisa peeking in our tent - waiting to be seen...

 I took one look at her with her huge belly and red-tinged hair I couldn't believe she was 2 1/2.  She weighed in at 8.8kg (19.36 pounds).  Just to give you an idea, the average 2 1/2 year old in the U.S. weighs in at 12.8kg (28.16 pounds) or the WHO (World Health Organization) states children in Latin America of her age should be about 12.2kg (26.84 pounds) - this little one didn't even show up on the chart she was so underweight. I need to find out where she lives so I can follow up with her and try and bring her some serious nutrition.  Clearly her 18 year old mother is struggling to care for her

And finally, at the end of the day, this little guy came to visit us.  He was quite cute, but of course, being the nurse - my first thought went to the huge puddles of water around the area we were in (it POURED today) and the stool that was in the puddle - and the hookworm that comes along with it.  This is someone's Christmas dinner...