Olancho, Honduras
Providing Quality Care for Twenty Years
The woman sitting on the examination table has tears in her eyes as Dr. Gerardo gently pushes different areas of her pregnant belly. In his gentlest voice, he asks her a variety of questions. She either nods or shakes her head, not trusting her voice to speak. At his command, she lies back on the pillow and pulls her shirt up over her belly. He prepares the ultrasound machine and places it on her abdomen. He points to various places on the television screen, showing the mother her unborn baby.
The tears begin to fall as she hopes that she will one day hold this little one in her arms. Her last baby was stillborn. The tone in Dr. Gerardo’s voice is hopeful, but not confident. She knows the risks.
Dr. Gerardo switches off the ultrasound and wipes the jelly off her stomach. He helps her into a sitting position, and with one hand on her belly, he asks if he may pray for her. Her chin quivers and she nods. “Dear Lord Jesus,” he prays, “be with this baby. You know this baby by name. You formed this baby in his mother’s womb. We pray for the health of this baby, Lord. We pray for the health of this mother too. Jesus, bring this baby into this world. Amen.”
Even though the El Buen Pastor waiting room is always full – literally from dawn to dusk – the quality of the medical care is never compromised. Each patient is treated with respect and concern.
The nurse guides the small boy to an exam table and asks him to sit and wait. A few minutes later, Dr. Nestor Salavarria greets the boy and sits next to him on the table. The boy explains that last week he had a sharp pain in his ear. His mother wouldn’t take him to the clinic, so he came by himself. He says the nurses gave him some medicine, which helped for awhile, but the pain was back. Dr. Nestor stands, taking an instrument from the wall rack. He places the instrument in the boy’s ear, looking deep inside. The boy clenches the bed, but does not show any pain.
Dr. Nestor helps the boy off the bed and tells him to sit in a chair. Nestor sits opposite him, and for several minutes, the boy explains when the pain in his ear began. Nearly a half hour goes by, and Nestor is still listening to the boy. They are no longer talking about the pain in his ear, but his family situation. Nestor listens carefully, nodding and asking more questions.
Later, the boy stands at the pharmacy and is handed his medication. Nestor opens the door, and the boy walks out onto the dirt street. Both are smiling.
This year marks the 20th year of the Luke Society working in the Honduran province of Olancho. The ministry began under the leadership of Dr. Bryn Jones, the son of a missionary couple, who was trained in medicine in Honduras. When Dr. Jones returned to the United States, Dr. Nestor Salavarria took leadership of the ministry, and he continues to direct the staff in the clinic and the community health volunteers that work in the rural villages. Even though the province of Olancho is the largest in Honduras, the Luke Society has reached many of its corners, touching the lives of many indigenous people.
Many of the staff in the clinic have been there since it started. Maria Lopez is the lab technician. Dr. Salavarria recognized her as someone with potential. He trained her for a year, then entrusted her with the laboratory duties. She is thankful for the opportunity he has given her and can’t imagine where she would be without her training.
Yadira Umanzor was also trained by Dr. Salavarria to be a nurse. She also is grateful for the investment he made in her. Yadira helps manage the patient files, which are found in manila folders, stacked in a bookcase that lines an entire wall. There are over 12,000 files with family files in each one. “Some files have up to 15 people in them,” she said. Patients are given a number, which is the number found on the file. They hope one day to have the patients in a computer system, but for now, the project is too large and the clinic is too busy.
Dr. Gerardo Flores has been on staff for 15 years. “Since I’ve been on staff, the ministry has changed 200 percent,” he says. “I’ve changed little by little.” Dr. Flores was happy to be working in a Christian clinic with a ministry for the poor, but he was unsure about his role. He tells this story about one of his first days on the job. “I saw a lady in the clinic with ulcers on her leg. She was seen by another doctor on staff and was on her way out of the clinic. Nestor saw her and wasn’t satisfied with her care. He took her into a room, washed her ulcers, put lotion on them, and bandaged them. Because he knew she was poor, he told her to leave the clinic without paying. Nestor didn’t know, but I was watching him.”
After having worked at the clinic only a month, Dr. Flores was touched by the interaction. “It inspired me to keep working here,” he said. “Nestor is a great example to the staff because he has told us that the most important thing to do at the clinic is serving the poorest and sickest, no matter the cost.”
In the past 15 years, Nestor has his share of stories of how Dr. Flores has touched his heart. “I have been very impressed with him,” Nestor says. “He has a great attitude about serving. We have almost a father/son relationship after working 15 years together.”
As Dr. Flores worked in the clinic for many years, he found that his call to serve the poor has extended past the doors of the clinic into the rural villages. The Pech Indians are an indigenous Honduran people that live in the Olancho province. When the Luke Society began reaching out to this tribe, they found a poor but thriving community. The work among the people has been successful, and the relationship is strong.
Vallecito is a small community of 30 families. With the help of the Luke Society, the community has grown, now boasting a school, a church and a health care center. The health care center is used by volunteers who come from many miles away to be trained. There are beds and kitchens at the center to accommodate their needs. The newest addition to the village is a community garden. The garden is maintained by community volunteers and is a model for family gardens.
Subivan is another community that has thrived under Luke Society guidance. Their newest project is a large bread oven built behind the church. Recently, women came from the towns to teach the Pech women how to make dough and cook it in the oven built from mud. The Pech women are now dedicated to making bread each Sunday for the worshipers.
The Luke Society staff is excited to watch the growth in the Pech communities. The church in Subivan is steadily growing under the leadership of their young pastor, Roberto Escobar, who is only 24. During the past two years, the church has grown to 45 adults and 50 children members.
For Nestor Salavarria to step back and look at what God has done in the Olancho province through him, he is amazed at the progress. “Even after 20 years,” he says, “I am still very busy.” As we leave, he is teaching a volunteer community health class. “You are working for God, not yourself,” he tells them. “You will be working in these villages alone, but you will always have the support of the doctors here at El Buen Pastor.”
Laura Eisenga