Publication Date: 03-29-2005
Purdue students travel to Honduras to administer medication
By Mat Vross
Senior Writer
It was not a Spring Break trip from which the travelers returned feeling ashamed and hoping no one would talk about what happened.
Members of Purdue’s chapter of the Timmy Foundation spent the week of Spring Break in Honduras, staffing medical stations and administering to people who rarely receive any type of medical care. Through the course of the week, the students and medical professionals accompanying them treated over 1,500 people, more than was originally anticipated.
Every morning, the group went to a pre-selected village to set up a clinic, said Abby Carr, a junior in the College of Science. Because each village was different, every day had a unique feel and allowed for distinctive experiences.
"We set up the clinic in whichever building was available—schools, churches or town buildings. We carried in the medicine in luggage bags, set up the clinic and started to put people through the line," she said.
The jobs of the undergraduates, said Chelsey Patton, a junior in the College of Health Science and the president and founder of the Timmy Foundation at Purdue, were crowd management, directing patients from station to station and assisting the professionals.
By working with doctors and nurses, members of the group had the opportunity to learn from them. Patton saw the passion for helping people displayed by the doctors and Carr learned about patience and how to take the time to truly care about people.
The group not only learned from the doctors, they also learned from those they treated. Ike Fehrenbacher, a junior in the College of Health Science and vice president/treasurer of the club, reevaluated his life while in Honduras.
"It made me reevaluate where I am now and where I am headed and if I’m able to do what I want with my life," he said.
Patton said she will always remember the sense of hope and of family she felt in the Hondurans and learning that the things people in this country think are important really are not.
Carr said she will never forget the faces of people she helped and the help offered to the group by natives.
Fehrenbacher fondly remembers the group of students. "We only spent a week together, but it was something that we all share with only a few other people," he said.
One of Carr’s favorite memories from the trip was playing with children in the village where they stayed and at an orphanage in the capital.
"They latch on to you as soon as you walk in," she said, laughing. "They don’t have any pretenses about themselves and don’t care if you don’t speak Spanish. They smile at you and wait for you to say something."
The language barrier presented a bit of a problem, said Patton, but many students discovered that it is possible to communicate without spoken language.
"With just the universal signs of caring and love, we were able to communicate," she said.
Fehrenbacher said there were a number of locals available to help translate, but he found it possible to communicate a lot through a smile and a handshake.
The week ended when the last clinic was packed up and at that point, Fehrenbacher knew that everyone had a good experience and had fun. The group relaxed and danced to Honduran music, taking the time to be proud of their accomplishments.
"It was the perfect way to end," Carr and Patton said in unison.
Returning to the U.S. affected each member differently.
"It was difficult to come back to our reality because when you’re immersed in a world where possessions don’t matter, coming back to a world where they do is hard," Patton said.
Carr said when she left for Honduras she was excited and ready to adjust, but returning home was another matter.
"I wanted to stay because I feel like there’s so much to do. I came back and wondered ‘what am I supposed to do now?’ I didn’t come back as the same person and it’s hard to slip back into routine," she said.
Patton wants students to feel passionate about helping less fortunate people — those in the community and those abroad — all year long, and she urges students to visit web.ics.purdue.edu/~timmy for information about how to help.
"One experience inspired me to do more," said Carr, "I can wait to do more. I still want to make a difference, but I have to go to class, too."
Fehrenbacher was worried before his first medical mission trip, but he found it to be a life changing experience.
"I always wanted to do something; I just never got up and did it. Now I know I can do it and next year is another chance for students to have a life changing experience, too."
