Honduras Orphanage Update October, 2005
Annie Kautza, daughter of
parishioner’s Lisa and Tim Kautza, is volunteering for 13 months in Honduras at
an orphanage. Annie is a nurse for both the on-site medical clinic at NPH
orphanage and an external clinic in the city of Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
Hey everybody! It's about that time again (past time) for another Honduras
update.
The first weekend of the month, one of the abuelos (grandfathers) that lives on
the Ranch, passed away. He was suffering from a number of health problems, and
passed away in his sleep. I quickly learned that the clinic folk are expected
to prepare the bodies for burial. I was actually looking forward to helping,
but I never got the call on the radio saying they were ready to do it. That day
they had a very nice service (like a visitation/prayer service) in the house the
abuelos live in, and the following morning we had the funeral and burial.
Following the hurricane in the states, gas prices in Honduras shot up by over
$1, which is a lot of money for the people here. As a result, there was a
gas-strike all across Honduras. All of the streets in the large cities were
blocked off by the buses and taxis, and the cities were surrounded by the
military, which meant nobody was able to get through the cities at all, unless
it was by foot. A few of our kids had appointments at the hospital in Teguc the
day everything was closed down…so they had to walk several miles down into the
valley, and then back up again, just to make it there (for those of you that
have been here, that's walking from Cerro Grande, down into Teguc, past the
center and back up again). None of the volunteers were “allowed” to leave the
ranch for about a week, because of previous problems foreigners have had in
Teguc during strikes such as this one. But, within a few days things had
settled down in the city, and life continues as before, with lowered gas prices.
A couple weeks ago, the man that made it all possible for the children of NPH,
Padre Wasson (the priest that founded NPH in the 50´s in Mexico), came for a
brief visit. The entire Ranch was shut down, including the clinics, which
RARELY happens, so we could all celebrate mass with him. It was great to see
him interacting with the children, and to see the respect the children have for
him. After all, if it weren't for him, who knows where these kids would be
today. Following mass, we took our “family” photo…including all employees, all
of our kids that are living in Teguc for high school or university, and all of
the volunteers (well over 600 people).
At the beginning of the month, a doctor from Maine came down with her family
(husband and two sons – 7 and 11 years old) to volunteer for 13 months. We were
all looking forward to her arrival, and after working with her for a month, I'm
even happier she's here. She has a lot of motivation, and I think with her help
we can get a lot of things accomplished in the clinics. The entire family is
just a great group of people…the kids are adorable!
One of the major problems with the clinics here are how easily things slip
through the cracks, especially since we don't have a coordinator to keep an eye
on everything. Our most recent dilemma that developed happened with one of our
HIV + boys. We just recently did a resistance test on him, and discovered he is
resistant to one of the antiretroviral medications he's been taking. The doctor
in Teguc told us we needed to change his drugs, and that we could just pick one
of the two drugs she suggested. It just so happens that neither of these drugs
are available in Honduras, so we would have to search elsewhere, and we needed
them within 2 weeks. Somehow this rather tedious chore got put off until I was
ready to leave the clinic last Friday for my free weekend, when I asked one of
the employees of the clinic if they had figured anything out for this boy.
Needless to say, I spent much of my free time that weekend searching for a
solution, and the medications got here just in time.
A couple Saturdays ago, I got to bring 13 of our HIV + children to the infect
logy department at the hospital in Teguc, to celebrate Children's Day. A group
of Martial Arts students from Teguc came in to show the kids some of their
moves, which turned out to be a little dangerous when some of the kids started
using the moves on each other! They also brought cakes, piñatas, and other
goodies that the kids just loved. It was fun to be able to celebrate with
them…especially with the kids from my hogar (the youngest ones). I've grown
pretty close to them throughout the past several months, and they were super
excited when I told them I was going with them. This same weekend, we had two 15
year old boys come into the clinic who were injured by falling tree trunks. One
had his leg crushed and cut up pretty badly, and the other one had a crushed and
split foot. Both were pretty nasty situations, but they’re both fine now.
A couple weeks ago, a doctor from Minneapolis came down to volunteer in our
clinics for two weeks (turns out his brother-in-law was my anatomy and
physiology professor at St. Kate's..small world!) He worked with us mostly in
the external clinic, and then on some other random assignments. I helped him
remove two cysts…one from the forehead that was attached to the skull (not
pretty), and then another one that was on an ear. We took the opportunity while
he was here to go on a little trip into the other side of Teguc, to a place
called “Reina del Cielo” (Queen of the Heavens) to do physicals on the children
there.
This is a home for girls that come from families that can't support them any
longer. It was described to me by the Honduran doctor on the ranch as a home
for poor children, so I wasn't expecting anything like what we saw. While we
were inside, I nearly forgot I was in Honduras. This building was made of brick
and cement (fancy!), and was large enough to house 100 girls. Inside there is
also a school for the children, plus living quarters for the nuns that run the
show. The girls there are extremely well mannered…when we poked our heads into
the classrooms, every girl stood up in unison, put their hands behind their
backs, and greeted us by saying “good morning” and “welcome”. I was shocked…it
almost was like they were brain-washed, they were so well behaved. After we did
the physicals, all of the girls got together and sang about five songs for us
before we had to leave. They were absolutely adorable.
Rita (the other volunteer nurse) and I have recently started going to La Venta,
which is a nearby village, to help care for the sister-in-law of one of the tios
that works in one of the boys´ houses. She is dying of cancer, so the tio asked
us if there was anything we could do to help support her until she passes away,
because she can no longer make the long, uncomfortable trips into the hospital
in Teguc every week. We've gone 2 times so far, and it's been a great
experience. The woman is so incredibly sweet, as is the rest of the family.
Last time we went they invited us to a glass of Coke and to watch the end of
Karate Kid with them, and who can pass that up.
For my birthday on Sunday, Michelle (one of the other volunteers) and I went
into Teguc to a TGI Friday´s in the mall to watch the Green Bay Packers, and to
spoil ourselves with good food and drink. Unfortunately, we couldn't get the
Packer game on, so we just enjoyed our potato skins and margaritas and continued
on our way. On the way back to the ranch in the back of a pickup truck, we
encountered a man wandering in the middle of the highway, naked (nothing
on). He appeared to have some type of mental disability…he nearly got hit by
cars coming from both directions. Once finally on the ranch, I had to go up to
the clinic. I was quickly informed that a guy (Ivan, a 24 years old) that used
to live on the ranch (he left several years ago) had committed suicide, and that
his body was being transported from Teguc to the ranch, and that we were going
to have to prepare it. A couple guys on the ranch have told me they had not too
long ago seen Ivan living on the streets in Teguc (with his wife and son) and at
that time he appeared to be using drugs. The only family he had was an older
brother who is currently in jail, and a younger brother that is also living in
Teguc. Another one of his brothers passed away several years ago here on the
Ranch of HIV. Ivan also had HIV…it's a tragic story…nobody knows exactly what
led him to committing suicide, but it sounds like he was living a pretty tough
life. This obviously isn't the typical story you would here about the kids that
are living here…most of them take full advantage of the opportunities they are
provided with here, and end up leading pretty successful lives once leaving the
ranch.
On a lighter note, a few of the older kids from my hogar had been talking about
making cakes for my birthday for weeks. Since they have no access to baking in
their hogar, I thought it would be fun to have some of them over to the
volunteer house that Saturday, to make cakes for all of Casa Suyapa. The boys
from first grade (five 8-9 year olds) came over around one, we got the cakes in
the oven, then went to the kitchen for lunch. It's always fun when you can find
some free time to just hang out with the kids like that (especially when cake is
involved!).
I'm taking off on Thursday for Guatemala for a week-long vacation. I'll be
traveling with another volunteer, and as of now we're planning on hitting
Antigua, the lake, and Rio Dulce. I hope you all are doing well, and as always,
I'd love to hear from you! Peace, Annie
November 2005:
Dear parishioners of St. Mary/Holy Cross, I just wanted to send a small note of
thanks to all of you who have supported me so far during my time here in
Honduras. I truly appreciate all of your prayers, and every other way you've
shown your support. It means a lot to me, knowing there are so many people back
home thinking about me, our kids at NPH, and the communities we serve outside
the Ranch. Thanks to those of you who sent birthday cards or emails as well!
Its always nice to receive those! May God Bless you all! —
Annie Kautza
For more information about this orphanage, their
website is www.nphamigos.org Annie enjoys hearing from people,
but cannot respond to all she receives; she will try to answer questions in
upcoming bulletins.
Annie’s email
address is
kauch61@hotmail.com if you would like to contact her.