HospiTal by Shep Willis

​IF YOU DON’T BELIEVE THAT GUANAJA, HONDURAS IS IN DESPERATE NEED FOR A HOSPITAL YOU NEED TO READ THIS.


SO TODAY WHEN I WOKE UP I WAS EXCITED. IT WAS THE DAY THAT WE WERE GOING INTO MANGROVE BIGHT (THE SMALL TOWN NEAR BY) TO SET UP ITS FIRST EVER HOSPITAL AND THE FIRST HOSPITAL ON THE ISLAND. THE WHOLE GROUP GOT UP AND WE WERE ALL REALLY EXCITED TO GO DO THIS BECAUSE IT WAS SORT OF WHAT WE HAD BEEN WAITING FOR ALL WEEK AND IT SEEMED LIKE AN OPPORTUNITY TO GO DO SOME REAL GOOD FOR THIS BEAUTIFUL ISLAND AND COMMUNITY. 


WHEN WE FIRST ARRIVED AT THE HOSPITAL WE WERE VERY SURPRISED. THE OUTSIDE LOOKED LIKE IT WAS SOMETHING FROM AMERICA. IN A TOWN THAT WAS BUILT OF 2X4’S THIS BUILDING LOOKED ALMOST IMMACULATE. THEN, WHEN WE GOT INSIDE WE WERE EVEN MORE IMPRESSED. ALL OF THE LIGHTS WORKED, THERE WERE AC UNITS AND FANS ALL OVER THE PLACE, THERE WAS EVEN A SMALL WAITING AREA ALREADY SET UP, AND TILE FLOORS. BUT AS WE STARTED TO WORK WE REALIZED THAT ACTUAL STATE OF THE PLACE. IT WAS COVERED IN DUST AND LOOKED LIKE IT HADN’T BEEN USED IN YEARS THE MORE YOU WENT THROUGH IT. OF THE SUPPLIES THAT HAD BEEN DONATED TO HELP START THE HOSPITAL, A LOT OF THEM WERE MISSING AND WHAT WAS THERE WAS HAPHAZARDLY STACKED IN CARDBOARD BOXES THAT LOOKED LIKE THEY HAD BEEN SOAKED IN THE RAIN. SO WE WENT TO WORK CLEANING THE BUILDING AND UNPACKING THE BOXES. WE HAD WORKED FOR ABOUT 45 MINUTES WHEN THE POWER WENT OUT TO THE BUILDING AND ALL OF MANGROVE BIGHT. SO WE STARTED WORKING IN THE DARK WITH THE FLASHLIGHTS ON OUR PHONES. AND AFTER ABOUT 20 OR 30 MINUTES OF THE POWER BEING OUT A CAR PULLS INTO THE HOSPITAL. PEOPLE COME POURING OUT OF THE CAR CARRYING A MAN ON A COT. I WAS ALREADY OUTSIDE AT THE TIME SO I SAW THE CAR PULL IN. AND THE MAN LOOKED LIKE HE HAD BURNED HIS HAND VERY BADLY. TO THE POINT THAT HE WOULD HAVE TO LOSE HIS HAND ALMOST. WE WERE LUCKY ENOUGH TO HAVE SOME FORMER NURSES AND A DOCTOR HELPING US SETUP THE HOSPITAL SO THEY WERE ABLE TO USE THEIR KNOWLEDGE TO HELP THIS MAN. 


WE FOUND OUT THAT THE MAN HAD BEEN WORKING ON THE POWER LINES AND HAD BEEN ELECTROCUTED. WE ALL SPRUNG INTO ACTION TO HELP THIS MAN AND WE HAD A FEW BASIC THINGS WE COULD DO. HE NEEDED GAUZE, TAPE, AND AN IV. A FEW OTHERS AND I WENT SEARCHING THROUGH THE BOXES TO TRY AND FIND THESE SUPPLIES AND IN THE HALF HOUR THE MAN WAS THERE WE COULD ONLY GET HIM AN IV. ( WE COULD NOT FIND THE TAPE OR THE GAUZE THIS MAN NEEDED AND WERE STILL NOT EVEN SURE IF WE HAD THOSE SUPPLIES. ) THEN THE MAN WAS TAKEN TO THE PORT ONTO THE BOAT THAT SERVED AS THE AMBULANCE SO HE COULD BE TAKEN TO ROATAN. WHICH IS THE CLOSEST PLACE WITH AN ACTUAL HOSPITAL. WE FOUND OUT LATER IN THE DAY THAT THE MAN HAD BEEN TAKEN TO HONDURAS’ CAPITAL CITY WHERE HE WAS STABLE. BUT HE HAD TO HAVE HIS HAND AMPUTATED AND MOST LIKELY HIS FOOT AS WELL. 


TODAY WE PROBABLY SAVED THAT MANS LIFE AND THIS WAS NOT EVEN THE FIRST DAY THE HOSPITAL WAS OFFICIALLY OPEN. IT WAS JUST THE FIRST DAY WE OPENED THE DOORS TO GET THE PLACE SET UP. 


THIS IS WHY WE SET THE GOAL TO BUY A GENERATOR FOR THE HOSPITAL SO EVEN IF THE POWER GOES OUT THE STAFF WILL STILL BE ABLE TO PROVIDE CARE.