Friends of Bolivia

Honduras

2010-04-06T08:55:00.004-05:00

The location for the next mission has been firmly set for Tocoa, Honudras. The team will depart from OKC on May 29th and arrive on the same day in San Padro Sula, Honduras. Upon arrival we will travel 3 hours by bus to the town of Tocoa, were our hotel is located. The hospital that we will work at is located 8 miles away from Tocoa in Zamora.

The mission will run from May 30 - June 3.

On the morning of June 4th, the group will travel to Tela Mar for a little R&R.

We will fly out of San Padro Sula on the morning of June 6 and return to OKC on the same day.

So far, the group consists of:

Rafael

Dominic

Ruby

Daniel

William

Judi

Ellen

Pam

Sonny

Brac

Wallace

We are still looking for a couple of more doctors and nurses. If you or someone you know would be interested, please contact us ASAP.

You can reach us at fobmission@gmail.com

Don't forget the Spaghetti Dinner is this weekend!!!!!

Meeting Minutes - 2/25/10

2010-02-26T10:36:00.003-06:00

Agenda

February 25, 2010

1. Introductions

2. Next Medical Mission
a) San Lucas Toliman, Guatemala

View Larger Map

b) Mission Dates - May 29 - June 6, 2010

3. Help Needed

a) Doctors, Nurses, Pharmacy, Eyes, Runners & Translators

4) Important Dates

March 25 - Meeting

Spaghetti Dinner @ St. Eugenes - April 10

April 15 - Meeting

May 6 - Meeting

Pack - May 22

All meetings (with the exception of packing) will start at 7 pm in the St. Eugenes School Library

5) Q&A

Important Dates for 2010

2010-02-07T10:34:00.002-06:00

Meetings for the 2010 Mission Trip are:

Feb. 25th

March 25

April 15

May 6

All meetings will be held in the St. Eugene's School Library at 7 p.m.

Packing for the mission will be on May 22nd and the actual mission will be from May 28 - June 6.

A location hasn't been selected for this years trip, however, Rafael will let us know one at the first meeting.

Correction

2009-03-31T16:55:00.001-05:00

My correct E-mail address is sonnywilkinson@gmail.com .Sorry. Let me know if you need the password and username for the Web site.

Updated Info

2009-03-31T14:43:00.005-05:00

All of the information under the "Mission Participants" part of the Web site has been updated with info for San Cosme. I have posted pictures of the mission site, an itinerary and other important stuff. If you forgot the login username and password please email at sonnywilkison@gmail.com so I can send it to you. See you all soon.

Some more info....

2009-02-20T16:37:00.005-06:00

Lets start with the exciting news.....

Rafael heard from Pablo yesterday and he wanted to let us all know that he and has wife have had a baby boy. His name is Pablito.
Now for the boring stuff. These are the dates for the remaining meetings before the mission:

March 26th
April 23rd
May 7th
May 12th

All of the meetings will be at 7 p.m.

We will pack on May 16th at 9 a.m. in Fellowship Hall. More details about that as that day approaches.

Rafael will also have information about San Cosme to post within the next couple of days. Stay tuned.

1st Meeting Scheduled

2009-01-25T22:30:00.003-06:00

Our first informational meeting has been scheduled for Thursday, January 29th @ 7pm in the St. Eugenes School Library. If for some reason you thought this meeting was scheduled for a different date, you are correct. It has been moved because of the impending ice storm that is arriving sometime on Monday or Tuesday.

It is very important that all those interested in participating in the 16th Medical Mission Trip attend this meeting. For the first time in the history of Friends of Bolivia, we will be traveling to a country other than Bolivia. The location for this years trip is San Cosme, Mexico at the Pan American Medical Foundation's clinic. Our mission trip will take place between May 23-31st, 2009.

Here are some important dates to keep in mind:

January 29 - First meeting @ 7pm in the school library
February 7 - Friend's of Bolivia Auction at St. Eugenes @ 6pm in the Fellowship Hall
May 23-31 - The Mission Trip

p.s. If you attended one of our prior mission trips and would like to share your pictures on our private Web site, please let Sonny know so he can send you the instructions on how to post them.

The Mission Team has safely returned from Samaipata.

2008-06-24T10:48:00.002-05:00

The Mission Team has safely returned from Samaipata.

Fr. Jacobi left Samaipata on Thursday, Becky and Lisa Mannel left on Friday, the Bolivian Doctors departed on Saturday and the Oklahomans left on Sunday. We traveled from Samaipata to Santa Cruz on Sunday afternoon in preparation for our 11 pm flight to Miami. Of course there was just a little time between the time we arrived at the airport in Santa Cruz until we could check in. So, to take advantage of our time most took taxis into Santa Cruz to Los Tajibos Resort Hotel to have supper. It was such a relaxing evening in the open air restaurant after a bit of a hard journey from Samaipata. The mountain roads are very narrow and, to add just a little excitement, the damp, rainy weather made them just a little slick. Bolivian buses are a bit of a mystery. What they lack in creature comforts they make up for in the skill of the driver. Ours was great and very patient.
The flight to Miami was smooth. We saw the beautiful ribbon of the tangerine sunrise breaking on the horizon as we landed in Miami. Again, never to loose a moment, most of the group made great use of the 5 hour lay over. Breakfast on the outdoor veranda of the beach side Ritz Carlton followed by a stroll along the beach were just what the weary group needed! The mini-trip was a success and the return trip to the airport was made in plenty of time for departure to Dallas. A quick change of planes brought everyone home to Oklahoma City.

But let's back up - the time spent in Samaipata was filled with every joy of helping those less fortunate. The clinic was set up in the hospital and was in good running order by mid-day on Sunday. (Our late arrival in Samaipata on Saturday prohibited the usual Saturday set up.) The hospital was smaller than usual, but every need of our team was met. Our clinic opened at 8 am everyday and closed late in the day, with the last people leaving after 7 pm. We saw our last patients on Thursday. We packed after the clinic closed that day. It is always a mixed feeling of having succeeded in helping some very sweet people and the sadness of knowing that there are so many more left to help.

Every morning we ate breakfast together in the dining area of the "hotel" - really a series of cabanas. The hotel wasn't set up for dinners for 25, but the ladies in charge did a marvelous job. Usually we had scrambled eggs with ham, flat biscuits and, sometimes slices of ham. The team was in place in the hospital by 8am and there were already lines and lines of people. Sr. Marco kept everyone under control in the multiple lines and befriended everyone. The people were taken first to Triage where Christine, Curtis and Pedro patiently asked them where they hurt and who they wanted to see. With triage paper in hand, each patient left to go form yet another line to wait to be seen by the appropriate physician, dentist or eye lady. Greg was the "man about campus", helping all. Daniel, Sonny and Linda kept the medications flowing in an organized manner from the pharmacy. Lauren sweetly aided in the pediatrics area; Lisa C did an amazing job with the lab - and anything else she was asked to do! Dana helped in the OB/GYN area and, at times, with eyes. Pam, Lisa M, Mary and Judi listened intently for the word "clarito" to designate that perfect pair of glasses. Steve, Beverly, Lisa S and Chris gave much needed dental care. Becky was organizer, trouble shooter, and a part of everything that went on. Dominick carefully and patiently complied all the data from all of those triage sheets. And Jefe Rafael, well, he was everywhere, working his magic and keeping everything under control. The Bolivian doctors worked side by side with the Oklahomans to give medical relief in over 2500 consults. Lots and lots of triage papers!) Really remarkable when the weather is taken into consideration. It is winter there and the town is at about the same altitude as Denver. A cold front came through early in the week. It brought temperatures in the 40's and 50's, wind and rain. It broke our hearts to see the lines of people waiting in such miserable conditions. Even though we were pretty cold and damp the hole time - not even the hotel rooms had heat -, we always realized that we had a bus to take us home and that there was food and warm blankets waiting. Many of the Bolivians had walked 3 hours just to make it to the clinic. It was usually near dark by the time they were able to return home - walking 3 more hours in the cold and rain to homes that had less than adequate protection from the weather.

Many, many stories can be told about our trip. Too many to include here. Samaipata was a beautiful place to be both in reference to the incredible flowers in bloom everywhere, and mostly about the beautiful people we served. It was a very successful trip and, with the grace of God we will be able to return to Bolivia next year.

Thank you for the many ways we have been supported financially and through prayer. God bless you one and all.

The Med Mission Team

New Website, New Communication Tools

2008-04-23T12:37:00.003-05:00

Friends of Bolivia is pleased to unveil its new website. This newly redesigned site will in the near future allow participants access to pictures and movies of the trips. Most of the past trips are up with the most recent ones still to come. They should be online shortly (there were a few unexpected problems). I encourage everyone to explore the new website (http://www.friendsofbolivia.org) and let me know what you think.

Also, this blog will serve as the new communication tool with family and friends while we are on the mission, replacing the old Yahoo! email account. Please encourage your family and friends to read this blog while we are in Bolivia and too leave us comments about what is going on back home and their response to what we are doing in Bolivia. The one thing I need to point out about this blog is that if they need to leave a private comment for a participant they need to email it to fobmission@gmail.com. All comments left here will be visible to any who visits the site and everyone on the trip.

If you have any questions email me at sonny@ou.edu.