LEAH GRAZIANO
Special to The Leader
Over winter break, Fredonia students went to Honduras to host medical brigades for the people that live there.
These students took a class through the science department called “Health in Latin America,” a prerequisite for the trip.
“It was really rewarding. You had such a rewarding feeling of helping everybody that you can,” said Lena Cambron, a senior biology major.
This is the first time Fredonia students conducted these medical brigades. The trip was organized by Dr. Ted Lee, a biology professor.
The students were in Honduras from Jan. 5 to Jan. 12.
To afford supplies to bring, the group held fundraisers prior to the trip. One of the biggest fundraisers was an art raffle fundraiser.
“We did a bunch of fundraising to pay for the medicines we brought down there. We brought 18 suitcases down full of medicine,” said Kathryn Fink, a senior chemistry major.
During the medical brigades, there were many different tasks the students could do.
Some were assigned to vitals, which involved finding basic measurements of essential parts of the body.
“I was doing vitals one morning. There was a woman who was terrified to have her finger pricked for this blood-glucose test,” said Terron Brown, a junior biology major. “It’s the tiniest little prick, and I said ‘es facil’ or ‘it’s easy’ and she just cried laughing when I said that and when she started laughing, I pricked her finger, and she didn’t even notice.”
Other tasks included intake, shadowing, “kid duty” and pharmacy.
The group was accompanied by a physician assistant and two doctors from Honduras who worked as translators between the students and the locals.
The major take-away from this trip was not only the medical knowledge, but also unforgettable memories.
“There was this one woman, and I was taking her blood pressure. It was really high, so I asked her if she had high blood pressure history, and she told me that her husband just left her the day before,” said Cambron. “She mentioned she has three kids and she’s been struggling really hard. I told her she was a strong woman, and she gave me a kiss on the forehead, told me ‘God bless,’ and I started tearing. She started crying, and I gave her a hug. It was the last day of the brigade, so it was a nice ending.”
“It’s an experience like no other. It’s not your typical study abroad trip where you’re gone and you go to a university, or anything like that,” said Brown. “It’s interacting with people all day. You’re just having a totally different experience.”
The students who visited Honduras over winter break will be giving a presentation and sharing their stories.
It will be held on Friday, Feb. 15. at 3 p.m. in The Kelly Auditorium.
Admission is free.