This was an exciting year with the return of brigades to Manos Amigas after 2-1/2 years of not being able to safely send volunteers. Our brigades work closely with the Manos Amigas staff, strengthening the partnership between Serving at the Crossroads and the Manos Amigas Clinic. We also significantly upgraded our blood analysis capability and hired a director for the lab.

Today, we honor the three physicians who work every day at the Manos Amigas clinic as well as the many physicians who have volunteered on brigades. Meet our heroes!

Today is National Dentist’s Day when we show appreciation and thanks for our dentists. Thank you to the gifted and talented dentists at the Manos Amigas clinic. And, thank you to the retired dentists on our board of directors and those dentists who have volunteered on brigades.

COVID-19 has hit developing countries like Honduras particularly hard. Many Hondurans live off of only what they can sell each day in a roadside stand. For those that have a steady job, most have been laid off and those who are still working are receiving only half-pay.

The team from West Chester hiked to the top of the mountain where they found numerous clusters of small, low-profile dwellings.

Cindy Knisely of Westminster Presbyterian Church hosted a creative table and work space where children could be segregated from parents, freeing up more space for patients inside the clinic, both at the Trinidad and La Entrada locations.

November is election time in Honduras too—not only for political office, but for the Board of Directors of Manos Amigas as well. Roberto Hernandez, the incumbent mayor and local businessman, is running for re-election in La Entrada. Prior to holding elective office, Roberto was the president of the Board of Directors for Manos Amigas.

The Manos Amigas Clinic joined in with other institutions around the world and marked World AIDS Day, a time to remember the critical fight against HIV and AIDS. Doing its part, clinic staff designed and erected a massive poster-board display in the patient reception area to call attention to the event on December 1, 2012.

The staff at the clinic work long hours. They start at 7:30 a.m. and work until almost sunset, six and a half days per week. By law, the physicians, however, work an abbreviated 6-hour day. This can be difficult at times because some of our patients start out from their homes at day break and walk for hours down mountain trails to come to the clinic.

The Manos Amigas clinic is located along Honduras’ International Highway approximately three miles outside of La Entrada on the way to San Pedro Sula. It is still a rural area and security is always a consideration. And so, over the past year, a modern house was built to provide a home for our security guard and his family.

If crowds are any indicator of something “afoot” in the area, then the clinic will have to be judged as a huge success.