50th Anniversary of our Children’s Nutritional Rehabilitation Center

Dr Youngberg and His Wife Verlene in Front of the Nutritional Hospital in the 60’s

On this day, February 3rd, fifty years ago, Dr. Stephen Youngberg and his wife, Verlene Youngberg, RN opened their Clinic up to three severely malnourished children in critical condition, to give them special care. On that day February 3, 1965 in an old military tent serving as the first facility the Nutritional Rehabilitation Hospital was brought into existence. Of those three critically ill children only one survived the crisis produced by their lack of nourishing food. Sadly help arrived too late for two of the children who died in the first day of treatment. Too weak to continue their fight, the loss of their lives was a grim reminder of the importance of good food and the urgency of working on the prevention of the deadly illness produced by hunger. Fifty years have passed since that first Admission Day in 1965, and thousands of lives being stalked by hunger have been saved from a sure death.Today, February 3, 2015 our Nutritional Rehabilitation Center has 15 little children in various stages of recovery from malnutrition – children who have been given a second chance in life – whose joy and smiles foretell a bright and promising future for the country of Honduras. As we look back at our first 50 years of serving children, and as we stop to count the multitude of blessings we have received in transforming many lives, we appreciate the fact that this has been a team effort between Pan American Health Service, the Providence of our Divine Creator, and the support and trust of thousands of people who donate for our mission. Today, with joy and thanksgiving we celebrate an important milestone in our history, the 50th Anniversary of the Children’s Nutritional Rehabilitation Center. Thank you for being part of our success!

A Girl Named Dilia

Dilia and her mother, the day she came to the Casita Feliz

La Casita Feliz – the heart of the Pan American Health Service Nutritional Rehab Center – is decorated for Christmas. On the wall is a mural where Santa Claus is pulling a sleigh filled with presents… except these presents are the photo of each of the 32 children who are patients receiving nutritious foodand tender loving care. What a precious gift each childis!

This Christmas is a particularly special one for Dilia – the most fragile patient to be admitted to Nutrition Center in 2013 – it will be her first away from her family however it will be a happy one regardless, for she has received the gift of life and restoration of health. In her short 13 years this very small teenager has experienced the extreme effects of hunger in ways that few can survive. Dilia arrived at la Casita Feliz on October 31, 2013 having been referred to the PAHS program by another nutritional rehab program in the city of San Pedro Sula.

Dilia’s medical treatment had begun sometime in late September when she was admitted to the acute care government hospital in the city with third degree malnutrition – extremely swollen and bloated by the protein deficiency in her body. Additionally she was profoundly anemic and presented with a parasite infestation. Worst of all the nutrient deficiency had an effect on her neurological health and she had cerebral atrophy and the motor and verbal skills of a one-year-old baby. The medical personnel knew she would need long-term care and they eventually found placement at PAHS.

The irony is that Dilia’s struggle for survival was waged on the fringes of the most prosperous city in Honduras – its industrial capital, San Pedro Sula – on the edges of the river where thousands of families, seeking a way out of extreme poverty, gather in hopes of finding a better life for themselves and where in many cases their misery grows instead of dissipating.  Such is the story of Dilia’s mother, a woman who collects plastic bottles and aluminum cans from the garbage to sell in order to have money to feed her three daughters. She relates that many days she would return home empty-handed and experience the pain of watching her children suffer hunger pangs just like herself.

To make matters worse Dilia suffered from a speech impediment and although she had been referred to therapy which was free of charge her mother could not manage the logistics of transportation when she could barely feed her children.

Dilia smiling after two weeks in our Campus

One month after her arrival at the PAHS Nutritional Rehab Center in Peña Blanca, Dilia – who had been getting around in a wheelchair – took her first steps unaided. The love, good food and motivation received from her caretakers have made a profound difference in her life. Her mother came to visit shortly after Dilia started walking. Hardly able to believe what she was seeing her eyes filled with tears as she repeated: “She’s walking”.

Dilia’s speedy recovery is miraculous and a joy to behold. Perhaps soon she will be able to be more self-sufficient and be able to enjoy a childhood which hunger has stolen from her.

“Mommy”

“Mommy, I want a baleada,” (the Honduran version of a “burrito.”)“Mommy, I want to jump on the trampoline.”“Mommy, I want juice. Mommy, I want candy.”I looked down into the faces of 6 little girls surrounding me at their school Open House. Instead of feeling annoyed at the whining sounds directed at me, I felt pure joy!

Our family was just finishing up a month of volunteer work supervising children’s activities at the PAHS campus. We had become acquainted with the children when we came as part of a volunteer building team months before. Why was their whining sweet to me? Because you cannot whine with that intensity at someone you don’t love, someone you are not 100% sure loves you back unconditionally. Their whines meant one thing to me -- they truly meant “Mommy” when they called me that! People ask me, “What do you do in Honduras?”They want to hear about some amazing building project, a medical/dental clinic that helps hundreds of people a day, or at the very least an energetic vacation bible school in the evenings. These important activities God has called others to do.

What He called our family to do is very simple and may seem unimpressive….to model and provide the love of family and a home for these beautiful children who are separated from their own parents and homes for a variety of reasons.No, it is not impressive. It is not the type of calling that fills one with pride in the re-telling of mission stories when returning home, but it is a calling of deep joy and immense satisfaction: I am called here to be “Mommy.”Our days are filled with homework, applying band-aids accompanied by hugs and kisses, attending school functions, fixing healthy snacks, playing -- and just plain being there. We have had many children sitting around our table at night, learning (hopefully) manners and how a family functions in a home. We have been able to enjoy the normalcy of life…baking a cake to take to a class party, watching “our kids” play soccer, seeing “our kids” in the school program, talking to the teachers to know what is happening at school and how the grades are going.

No, it is nothing extraordinary, but it is the very “ordinary-ness” of it that makes it so special. Sometimes God’s greatest gifts come in very simple packages….and that is what He has given us here in our Honduras home.“As far as lies in your power, make a home for the homeless,” Ellen White reminds us. “Let everyone stand ready to act a part in helping forward this work. The Lord said to Peter, ’Feed my lambs.’ This command is to us, and by opening our homes for the orphans we aid in its fulfillment. Let not Jesus be disappointed in you.”I am honored that God has called us to serve by just being a family.

I am honored to be called “Mommy”. 

Alicia's first Christmas

Alica, 7 years-old, has been in recovery from malnutrition for two months. When she came to the Nutrition Rehabilitation Program she was ill, tired and sad. Little did she imagine anything like Christmas on October 28. That day she was merely fighting to survive her hunger and the sickness it had brought her. Food was probably all she could dream of. Toys, Santa Claus and angels singing songs were not even a possibility.Now imagine her delight at the sounds, smells and sights of Christmas!Fresh-cut poinsettias, pine branches, candles and lights decorated the PAHS Chapel on Christmas Eve. The teens and staff of the PAHS Home had prepared an original Christmas program to tell the Story of Jesus’ birth. An angel choir sang, shepherds with live lambs appeared to see a real “Baby Jesus” played by Elizabeth, 16 months old, a patient from the Casita Feliz, who quietly peered first at “Mary” then at “Joseph” then at the angels, shepherds and wise men, peacefully taking in all the sights and sounds.On Aileen’s lap sat Alicia who, not knowing any of the songs the choir was performing, joined in singing at the top of her lungs in sweet sounds only she understands. What a joyful sound it was! What a delight to see this precious child, who just nine weeks ago was suffering Third Degree Malnutrition, joining enthusiastically in the festivities and throughly enjoying herself.“That is the most beautiful Christmas program I’ve ever seen. That was really special,” stated volunteer Rachel Pratt at the end of the Christmas program. How fitting that this is Alicia’s first Christmas celebration!On Christmas Day, Alicia got to sit on Santa’s lap and with a beaming smile received her gift. The sparkle in her eyes and the smile on her face were priceless.Alicia represents many children whose lives are touched by your generosity. Thank you for being part of the team that provided her with food, shelter, love, a Christmas sparkle in her eyes and the opportunity to keep on singing!Perhaps next Christmas she will know the words to the songs and she too will be dressed in a white angel’s robe in the choir; perhaps she will even know the alphabet by then. Thanks to you the possibilities are endless.

I Have No Food For My Children

In the Bible, Jesus asks: “ Which of you knowing your children are hungry and asking for bread would give them a stone instead?” He goes on to point out that if people who are imperfect know how to give good things to their children, then imagine how much more our Heavenly Father can give to those who ask Him. This is the only hope that the little Muñoz siblings have as the conditions in which they have been living are far from what would be considered appropriate.

Six of the seven children in this family were admitted to the Nutritional Rehabilitation Hospital. Maryuri and Xiomara, the two youngest ones were admitted on Friday with a diagnosis of Third Degree Malnutrition. Doctor Maldonado had to count their teeth in order to determine which one was the oldest sister. Later the family returned to the Nutrition Hospital with the four older children who were also admitted for treatment of their malnutrition. Their parents were accompanied by the pastor from their community church in Yojoa, 50 kilometers from Peña Blanca. This good man had provided the desperately poor family with a humble amount of food and a place to stay, and in spite of the charity of the pastor, the situation for the family remained disheartening: an unemployed father, a mother caring for a newborn, without food or a roof of their own.

All these circumstances have reduced these parents to a painful existence of watching powerlessly as their children grow weak and ill as a result of the scarcity. Mahatma Gandhi once said: “There are people in this world who are so hungry that God can only appear to them as a loaf of bread”.  Indeed this seems to be the situation for this particular family. In spite of the extreme poverty from where these siblings have come, it is admirable to witness the protective instinct these little ones have for each other. In their short stay, we have noted that Maria, 9, the oldest sister, automatically takes charge of the two youngest ones. It is evident that she has been the right-hand helper of her mother, and one can imagine what she has endured in her short life. Shortly after her arrival Maria picked up both little sisters, one in each arm, and did not want to put them down. One of our Staff Nannies came close and said to her: “We will take care of them now. You can go play”.PLAY? That was not a word in Maria’s vocabulary... but now it is. There are so many new things to be experienced! Like the flavor of a warm bite of food, eating three meals a day, the feel of a new pencil between her fingers, and the ability to doodle on a piece of paper -- up until now she has never been to school -- the feel of a warm blanket on her skin on these cold and rainy nights. We are conscious of the fact that for these parents it has not been easy to leave their six small children with us.

They have done so with a new faith in the God they are just getting acquainted with; a God who has now provided them with a new home, health care, and adequate living facilities for their children.

God sent us to get you

Alicia and Nellie

I entered the Casita Feliz on a special mission. A joyous place, filled with happy voices, smiling little faces and tiny hands reaching out to be squeezed, the “happy little house” is the new dwelling of Alicia, 7 years old,a waif brought to the Nutritional Rehabilitation Center four days before by a Medical Team from Central Texas Medical Center in San Marcos, Texas. I wanted to see how she was feeling today and assess the recovery progress she was making.

Having been a photographer for the Team on the last day of Field Clinic, I had developed a special bond with Alicia which started when I was asking her to stand closer to her mother for a picture while they waited to be seen by the doctor. My hand brushed her very taut belly and my eyes immediately fell to her feet to confirm what I suspected – Alicia was in a state of severe malnutrition - her feet barely visible because her long dress was swollen, peeling, and raw, the secondary effects of not having enough protein and vitamins in her food. My heart ached as I looked through the camera at her sad brown eyes. Her demeanor spoke of a life of pain, indeed the struggle to survive. My gut instincts told me this was the child we had come to the mountain village of Santa Rosa de Bacadilla to retrieve. She was the reason we were right here, right now. Reflexively I felt a deep gratitude and sent up a prayer to God for having sent us, for the privilege of being part of this Medical Team … today.

My heart quickened as I saw the family enter the humble little structure that usually serves as a one-room school but today was a one-room Clinic filled with Doctors, Nurses, Support staff, and Patients. I quickly followed knowing I would have an important role to play in the treatment of this particular family. My fluency with the language, my profession as a Registered Nurse and a lifetime living in these mountains and watching malnourished children recover give me a unique perspective and skill set that would come in handy. As they sat before Dr. Ivery - a pediatrician - and her translator, Paul, I hunched down next to the mother.

Then, for what seemed like an eternity but was probably a little less than an hour, we coxed and cajoled the mother to allow her malnourished seven-year-old daughter and three-year-old son to be admitted to the Nutrition Program at Pan American Health Service in Peña Blanca.  The father – who it turned out is Alicia’s stepfather – was convinced much sooner than her mother that this was a good idea. Her mother kept repeating, “I don’t want her to be brought back to me dead” and “I don’t want a dead child”, while all the time resisting her consent for her children to be treated and restored back to health. At some point, I glanced over at Dr. Ivery, a mother herself, who had tears streaming down her cheeks. With a lump in my throat, I said to the mother, “See, the doctor knows how seriously sick your little girl is and it makes her sad.  And she is a mother too and knows how hard it is to think of being apart from your children”. At this, I saw a ceding in the mother’s manner. Tears started to well in her eyes as she said: “Ok, but tell the doctor to stop crying”.  I breathed a sigh of relief as I knew Alicia was on her road to recovery.

Having the consent of Alicia’s mother for her and her little brother to be admitted to the Nutrition Rehab I stepped out of my role as translator/nurse and resumed my photography job.   The next time I looked back at Dr. Ivery and Paul’s medical station my heart was warmed to see Nellie, a nurse, and Karen, a respiratory therapist and the leader of this Medical Team gently washing Alicia’s swollen and peeling feet. After softly bandaging her feet up with Karen, Nellie scooped Alicia into her arms and tenderly carried her out of the one-room, make-shift Clinic, up the trail to the vehicle that would transport her to a new life.  I was transfixed as I snapped photo after photo, my mind reeling at the miracle I was witnessing, my heart full of a knowing that Alicia’s life will never be the same again.  I was struck by the symbolism as Nellie carried Alicia up the path … up and out of her life of pain.

Four days later, I am in the Casita Feliz on a mission. I am here to see how Alicia is feeling today. My heart leaps as she responds in a one-syllable chirp that sounds like a little bird: “Bien” (Good) to my question of “Como te sentis hoy?” (How do you feel today?).  I feel deep gratitude and great love for this child bubbling up in my chest and impulsively, without thought, I blurt out, “You know, God sent us to get you. Did you know that?” Instantly her face lit up, her eyes sparkled and joy radiated from one of the most beautiful smiles I have ever seen. That moment was a clear confirmation for what I knew in my gut when I first took her picture: God sent us to Santa Rosa de Bacadilla to get Alicia.

He puts poor people on their feet again; he rekindles burned-out lives with fresh hope, Restoring dignity and respect to their lives - a place in the sun! ~ 1 Samuel 2:8