“Children die one at a time.” I’m not sure who said that, but it’s the truth, and we’re seeing it happen. I’m not trying to be dramatic, just tell you the facts. The children suffer just as much, and the parents are just as sorrowful, as any child or parent in the United States. I hope you will read this letter from Shawn Plowman, a dietitian from San Diego, about her last trip to Honduras in September. But get out your handkerchiefs.

Excerpt from letter of Shawn Plowman, October 17, 2007:

Every time I go I get stretched. I saw some very hard things in the hospital. I was with two moms who had severely malnourished babies. The child of one mother had already died from malnutrition and another was very sick. Isabel, the head nurse asked me to talk to the mom so we don’t get more of her kids in the hospital with malnutrition. When I got there, the baby was already dead. Nutrition was the last thing on my mind. I didn’t know what to say. I prayed with her and gave her some money so she could get back to her other three kids.

That same day, I talked to another mom with a malnourished and dying baby.

I spent an afternoon with a little boy named Juan. He was 11 years old and weighed about 25 pounds. He had both liver and kidney cancer. We tried to give him his medicine, but he refused all food, including ice cream. We got him diapers and toilet paper. When Jose picked us up, I told him I needed a pastor for a little boy. Jose prayed with the mom and wept over her son. Juan died two days later.

The cancer rate keeps climbing and at least half the kids in VBS had leukemia. When we were there in March, I spent a lot of time talking to Isabel, and she explained that there were three clusters of leukemia in Honduras and that all these kids are getting one certain type. Six months later, there are 5 clusters and an even higher cancer rate. During my first trip in March, 2006, there was one new case of pediatric cancer per week; it is now one per day…

(Shawn hopes to find a cancer research specialist who will travel to Honduras with her next March.)

Every trip to Central America arouses in us a desire to do more, and we are beginning to make a difference. Shawn, who is one of our team leaders, first came to Honduras with Professionals to the World. She was so touched by the plight of the children that she started her own project to provide nutritious snacks for the kids in the San Pedro hospital. Amazingly, she has been raising the money, for over a year, and has found a new career as well. Students from the university take the meals and visit with kids each day. Doctors say that some of the children recover and go home because of the extra food.

Here are some excerpts from my reply. Please read it and think about how you can help.

Hi Shawn,
…There are two sides to this issue. On the one side is what you are doing, seeing the need, using your skills and resources to make a difference. On the other side is changing the hearts of leaders so that these issues will be addressed by the people in their own countries. In reality, we, from the United States can only do a little. The future leaders of the Central American countries will come from their universities.

The objective of Professionals to the World is to develop leaders who will change their world. Your work in the hospital may be an opportunity to make this happen. Shawn, you are doing a great work and I want to encourage you. I also want to give you a bigger vision for changing the world. I am convinced that it will happen as we motivate students to do the work in their own countries, rather than us doing it. In the long run, that is what will make the lasting impact.

We are making plans to mobilize Honduran university students to begin projects that will help the hospital. I don’t anticipate a time when there are no hospitals, but I do see a time when children do not go to the hospital to die. I know it can be done! But we need your help. Currently, Professionals to the World is supporting seven different workers on the campus on a monthly basis. To continue this, and to increase our involvement, we need your prayers and financial support. We also need professionals to teach students in Honduras. If we had ten times the current support in people and money, we could do ten times as much. Already, the impacts have been dramatic, as a former Communist university in extreme turmoil has been returned to a place of learning. There is no reason why this transformation couldn’t take place in the hospitals, the government, and society in general.

Thanks for caring,

John