One year after the Coup d'Etat

Last year on June 28th, president Mel Zelaya was ousted from Honduras in his pajamas and dropped on the tarmac in Costa Rica. A year later, Honduras is calm and seemingly unaffected. After much turmoil and protesting, hardly any evidence of the past years struggles remain. Today was a normal day. There was some worry that the year anniversary would bring up unrest and angry sentiments, but nothing of the sort could be seen in Tegucigalpa. I woke up this morning at 4:30 am and made my way to the public hospital. In my morning commute I encountered no signs of unrest or protest.

June Highlights-

Allie and Andrews Wedding: The past three weeks have been a whirlwind. I spent a week in the States the second week of June and returned to Honduras on the 13th. My best friend Allie got married on June 11th and I stood up in the wedding. It was a strange kind of culture shock to be thrown from Honduras straight into a full week of wedding preparations, but none the less, I had a great time seeing family and friends. Although I was in Fort Wayne, Indiana, I managed to carry a bit of Honduras with me. Unfortunately I carried it in my bowel system. Honduran parasites plagued me from Tuesday night of my trip home and are unfortunely still making themselves known every so often. The worst of it was on Thursday when I nearly fainted twice during the wedding rehearsal. Late Thursday night my dear friend Rachel to whom I will forever be indebted, drove me to the ER. After a few bags of IV fluid and some high doses IV medication I was back on my feet and ready for the wedding. Despite my unwelcome friends, Allie and Andrew's wedding was absolutely beautiful and I was so happy to be apart of it! The good news is I didn't faint during the ceremony or soil my dress! Ask and you shall recieve!

The World Cup: This year Honduras made to the World Cup! Although we were all aware that our little developing nation didn't really stand a chance against the big guys like Spain, Germany, etc. the entire country was still overwhelmed with pride that we actually made it to the "Mundial." Government employees did not have to go to work on game days, businesses were closed, and the kids here at the Ranch got of school early to watch the matches. The entire country was covered in blue and white. In a country where soccer is virtually regligion, the World Cup might just be the best thing that has happened in years. Actually, I am not convinced that people did not act up today, on the anniversary of the coup, becasue they didn't want to inconvinience their viewing of the world cup. Even though Honduras is out the enthusiasm is still there. Regardless of how we played, it was so much fun to watch the matches with the kids. They painted their faces blue and white and sported Honduran jerseys. There was a good amount of trash talking which even the youngest of the kids participated in.

Scarlet: The newest and youngest child at the Ranch arrived two weeks ago. Her name is Scarlet and she is probably about 5 months old. She has no official birth certificate. She came to us because her mother was selling her in the street for 500 lempiras (roughly 25 USD) and the authorities picked her up. She officially became a ward of the State and then of NPH. She is a great baby, and absolutely adorable. When kids first come to the Ranch they spend their first week in the clinic so I had plenty of time to hang with her. I spent a few nights caring for her which definitely gave me an appreciation for mothers of infants everywhere. One night she woke up at 3 am covered in diarrhea from her neck to her toes. Regardless of delightful surprises such as this, Scarlet has been so fun to take care of.

Casa Suyapa: You may be tired of hearing about the Casa Suyapans, but everyday they do something that completely cracks me up. I know that I have become like one of those moms or aunts that continuously talks about their kids and sends too many photos that all look the same. But alas, I love them and I only have 5 weeks left to bore people with stories of my honduran orphans! The questions they ask, the things they get excited about, their innocence and/or their malevolence, never ceases to amaze me. My favorite questions that I have been asked in the past week are as follows (Translated into English of course):

" You are from the United? I thought you were Honduran!" - Its only been a year kids. Plus I am tall, white and speak Spanish with an accent!

"Ana Blauw, what was Casa Suyapa like when you lived here?" - Yasmin, the little girl who asked this was stunned and amazed when I informed her that I in fact, did not grow up on the ranch,

" Scarlet can't talk, but she's not stupid right. She is going to normal right? She'll talk next week right?" They were quite concerned when I told them that no, a 5 month old is not supposed talk.

Also, yesterday I spent a solid 45 minutes dancing to the same song, " Celos" by Fanny Lu, over and over with 9 children under the age of three. They've got moves you've never seen. Its simple and silly things like this that I will miss when I am back in the States for good!

Some days in Honduras are more action packed than others

Currently I am sitting at an internet cafe just outside the Tegucigalpa airport, killing time. I have three hours until my flight leaves, bound for Chicago and then to my best friend, Allie Markland´s wedding. My world here is so different that it is absolutely bizarre to think that in a few hours I will be in the land of the free and the brave. America : ) That is not what this blog is about though. Although America is fantastic, there is still so much to say about Honduras.


Yesterday began as a pretty typical day. I worked in the clinic and went to the primary school in La Venta to do some well child checks. This time we handed out antiparasite meds, multivitamins, and lice shampoo. For those that have read my previous blogs, you will know that I am a highly experienced lice shampooer! We saw 43 kids this time. Over all the morning was relaxed and smooth. Todo tranquilo.


Yesterday afternoon was a different story. It began as a typical afternoon. I started working in the clinic at 3, saw a few patients, patched up some scrapes, and then settled down to a lovely coffee break with the other nurses. It was at this time that the man at the front gate of the Ranch radioed the clinic to tell us that there had been an accident on the road right in front of the ranch. A car and a pick up collided, and at least 2 people had been thrown from the back of the truck. I had a few minutes to gather all necessary supplies and then they sent a car for Dr. Merlin and I to head down to the road. When we arrived, Manuel (a driver from the ranch) had already brought the ambulance. Overall there four people injured in the accient. Three of them were NPH employees that I know quite well. We checked everyones injuries, stabelized them an then took off in the ambulance to the hospital.

Two of the men, who work in the farm at NPH, had various cuts and scrapes, and also possible ankle and leg fractures. Another, the only one not employeed by NPH, had a dislocated shoulder and a few other minor injuries. The fourth man had the most serious injuries. He had been thrown from the truck and landed a good distance away right in the middle of the road. He had various deep cuts on his face, a possible fractured skill, possible fractured ribs, a fractured pelvis, and maybe a fractured femur. We did what we could with the medications we had with us to calm the pain and stablize him until we arrived at the hospital. It took us about an hour and 15 minutes, flying through the rain at top speed, to arrive at the nearest hospital in Tegucigalpa. We took the three ranch employees to Hospital Seguro, the hospital for the insured, and the other man to Hospital Escuela. When we arrived at the Seguro I was amazed. I hadn´t been there before and I was astounded at how much nicer and more modern it is than the public hospitals. Even so, it is not up to par with American standards. Basic supplies still sometimes are lacking, and you have to sign the patients in to prove they have the universal employement insurance before any doctors or nurses will even touch them. It doesn´t matter how gravely you are injured, you still have to wait. We got all of the men signed in and informed the doctors and nurse about what had happened. We waited to make sure everyone was indeed being taken care of and stable and then we took off to take the other man to the public hospital, Hospital Escuela.



When we arrived at Hospital Escuela it was like a smack in the face back to reality. I knew that the Seguro hospital was too good to be true. The majority of Hondurans do not have the benefit of recieving the government insurance and therefor must use Hospital Escuela. The ER was packed with people laying on gurnees and stretchers, many on the floor. People were everywhere bleeding and vomiting with terrible terrible injuries. It was truly disgusting. I have spent quite a bit of time in the public hospitals here, but last night seemed particularly crowded and bad. I felt so badly that this man coming from the exact same town, circumstances, and accident did not have the right to recieve the same quality of care that the others did. One of the residents working in the ER recognized me from all of my previous visits to the hospital. A tall white girl tends to stick out in a sea of injured Hondurans. The resident came over and immediately attended to my patient. It was a great stroke of luck. If he hadn´t recognized me and been kind enough to help, the man could have easily spent over 8 hours waiting in the ER. As it was, the resident signed him in an sent him immediately back to orthopeadics.


It was about 8:30 pm when everyone was properly admitted to there respective hospitals and Merlin, Manuel, and I were ready to head back to the Ranch with the ambulance. We were all so relieved that everyone seemed to be doing well and no one was in a life threatening situation. We made a quick swing through the drive through at Pollo Campero (we were too dirty and bloody to make an enterance in a restaurant) and made our way back to the Ranch.