As the proverb goes, “Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.” Hondurans know how to fish, but they want and need skills in health care. MEDICO volunteers are uniquely equipped to provide that education. MEDICO has provided a variety of educational opportunities in public health, oral hygiene, personal health and hygiene, and medical training for hospital staff and firefighters.
Public Health
In hospital settings, MEDICO volunteers have trained physicians in cardiac and emergency care. We have taught emergency room nurses advanced skills. In prehospital settings, paramedics and firefighters with MEDICO have trained their counterparts in Honduras in emergency medical care and advanced rescue techniques.
In the villages, MEDICO volunteers work with the local community nurses to improve their skills. We work with the local school teachers and community health providers to offer classes on public health topics.
Recently, WHO called for menstrual health to be recognized, framed and addressed as a health and human rights issue not a hygiene issue. (https://www.who.int/news/item/22-06-2022-who-statement-on-menstrual-health-and-rights) MEDICO is pleased to have a long-standing partnership with Days For Girls to teach menstrual health and provide sustainable menstrual products in the rural villages. These community classes (for both girls and boys) are extremely popular and remain in demand wherever we go.
Firefighter Training
MEDICO’s mission sometimes reaches beyond its general medical brigades. MEDICO is about making lives better in big and small ways. MEDICO is about saving lives. Read about MEDICO’s recent mission of training firefighters whose goal is to provide protection for their community.
A POWERFUL TEAM OF TWO (and one interpreter)
As written by volunteer/trainer Mike DeLeo
