Diabetes has become an epidemic in Honduras. Most cases are type 2 diabetes, which is closely associated with obesity. Over 21% of the adults in Honduras are obese. Untreated type 2 diabetes can eventually have serious impacts on the heart, blood vessels, eyes, kidneys, and nervous system. It often results in amputated toes, fingers, and other limbs—and death. In fact, diabetes is the tenth leading cause of death in Honduras. However, as in many other developing countries, the public health system in Honduras is oriented towards trauma and acute curative care—not on chronic care, which is needed to treat diabetes. As a result, most people in Honduras with diabetes do not get proper care.
Eight years ago, Professor Antonio Castellanos of Siguatepeque lost his son to diabetes. He saw the urgent need for a diabetes clinic, especially one that served the poor. So he started the Diabetes Association of Siguatepeque, and he began seeking funds to get it off the ground. The local Lion’s Club provided some initial funding, and they rented a building for the association to use as a clinic. Dr. Darling Perez was engaged to supervise the medical treatment of the patients. She works at a low salary as a ministry to the poor.
Many different civic and charitable organizations, pharmaceutical companies, government agencies, mission groups, and private doctors have provided medicines, supplies, and other aid during the past eight years. The clinic has tried to be as self-sustaining as possible, but it has always ultimately relied upon God’s provisions through the years.
At the clinic, a consultation costs only $5, and any donated medicines are provided free of charge. If the clinic has to purchase the medicines, then it provides them to the patients at cost. The vast majority of patients have type 2 diabetes. However, right now the clinic is treating 10 children who have type 1 diabetes. The required insulin for their treatment is brought in from Tegucigalpa, the capital, and it is also made available at cost.
One of the hardest parts of Dr. Perez’s job is patient education and training. She finds it very difficult to convince people that they must make the necessary dietary changes and maintain the exercise regimens given to them. Many diabetic people in Honduras do not understand the need to get medical care for staph infections in their feet, fingers, or other limbs. As a result, many patients do not come to the clinic until it is too late. Dr. Perez treated one diabetic man who had amputated some of his own toes with a machete.
Dr. Perez has learned a lot working with diabetic patients from Siguatepeque and its surrounding areas. She has learned mercy, forgiveness, and how to be very firm with patients who refuse to change their habits in order to improve their health and save their lives. It is a difficult job, but she says that God continues to provide her with the needed strength.
Sadly, two years ago, the Lions Club was no longer able to continue paying the rent for the building that housed the clinic. So the clinic was forced to move to a new location. Professor Castellanos has been donating the funds to rent some space on the second floor over a store. The space is cramped, and its location on the second floor makes it difficult for less mobile patients to reach the clinic. Not only that, but the building is located in an area that cannot be reached by public transportation.
So Professor Castellanos began seeking help to build a new clinic. The city of Siguatepeque donated the land for the new clinic. The land is situated in a location that will be easily accessible for the majority of people. A mission group donated limited funds and materials to build the clinic. Unfortunately, the foundation was laid without skilled supervision, and the project ran out of money. So until recently, the land has just sat there with grass growing over the remnants of the planned clinic.
This year, Professor Castellanos approached the Society of the Good Shepherd to see if we would be willing to build the needed clinic. The Diabetes Association of Siguatepeque had been able to raise $20,000 toward the clinic, and we agreed to provide the remaining $30,000. We have hired a skilled crew to repair the faulty foundation and to construct the new clinic. The construction project has already begun, and it will probably take six or seven months to complete. Once it is finished, it will open up diabetes treatment to many new patients. Through the years ahead, the clinic will undoubtedly save thousands of people from losing their eyesight or having limbs amputated—not to mention the many lives it will save.
Julie Nyhoff de Valladares
The Society of the Good Shepherd, P. O. Box 122, Amberson, PA 17210 • (717) 349-7033
Click on the following link if you would care to make a donation to the work in Honduras: Honduras Donations