Trip Reports

Medical Delegation 2004

Eight second-year physician assistant students, an instructor, two physicians, a hospital administrator, and a medical school applicant made up a medical delegation to León, Nicaragua in July. This was PML’s second medical delegation in recent years. PML hopes to expand their involvement in health care in León as more Minnesota medical people become involved.

The delegation’s goal was to identify needs within the medical system in León, and start the process of forming relationships with groups in Minnesota. Although relationships are a primary goal, the needs in León and surrounding communities are great. Nicaragua is the second poorest country in the western hemisphere with no signs of economic relief in sight. The hospital where the delegation spent most of its time, Hospital Escuela Oscar Danilo Rosales Arguello (HEODRA), is a teaching hospital that receives referrals from all over Nicaragua. With its 420-bed capacity, HEODRA currently operates on the same budget as it did in 1969, with only 200 beds. Much of the equipment in the hospital is broken and obsolete. Emphasis at HEODRA is placed on serving the most vulnerable populations.

United Baptist Church Delegation 2003

I came back with much more than I expected from this summer's UBC trip to Nicaragua. For one thing, I returned with a new sister. Isabel Lanzas was my homestay hostess in Leon. We share much in common. We're the same age, each of us is the sole adult in her household, we each care for a young child much of the time. We are both active in peace-and-justice Baptist churches. We are teachers who love teaching. We enjoy singing and are capable of being very, very silly. (I have a photo of Isabel in a clown wig to prove it!) We even wear identical Teva sandals.