In the back, Brenci Patiño, Chris Deuel, and Sarah Junco pose with students from a school in Siguatepeque, Honduras. The one-room school with grades 1-6 was built by the parents.

Pre-med students travel to Honduras

For 23 years, Dr. Bill Campaigne, adjunct professor of biology and Seguin veterinarian, has worked with the Veterinary and Public Health Honduras Mission Team, making mission trips to Honduras with Seguin’s St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church.

This year, thanks to the W.J. and Lela Budwine Foundation, four pre-med students and a language professor from Texas Lutheran made the medical mission trip with him.

“Public health is a huge problem in underdeveloped countries,” Campaigne said. “They struggle with contaminated water, no sewage system, and limited education. So over the years we’ve been able to go into the school system to do a public health program, mainly working with children. But one continuing problem is communication – many of our volunteers don’t speak Spanish.”

TLU pre-med students Chris Deuel, Jeremy Drollinger, Sarah Junco, and Valerie Rios helped solve that problem since they are all fluent in Spanish. The four, along with faculty adviser Dr. Brenci Patiño, traveled to Siguatepeque, Honduras, May 16-22.

The Veterinary and Public Health Honduras Mission Team included volunteers from Michigan State University, Texas A&M University, Texas State University, and the University of North Carolina, as well as TLU.

From left, Valerie Rios, Chris Deuel, Brenci Patiño (front), Sarah Junco, and Jeremy Dollinger at Lake Yojoa, the largest lake in Central America.

As part of the public health team, TLU volunteers presented information on oral health, rabies, and dehydration in rural communities in Siguatepeque.

“We traveled to the mountains each morning to visit disadvantaged schools, and each team presented the program to two schools per day,” Patiño said. At the end of the presentations, the team gave a toothbrush and school supplies to each child and supplies such as chalk, maps, and erasers to the teacher. Each night the students shared stories about what they had learned from the children and the impact each community they visited had upon them.

“I believe this was an invaluable opportunity for our students. Their commitment to help others was strengthened after interacting with Honduran children and their parents living in remote communities that, in many cases, lack even basic services such as electricity and running water,” Patiño said. “I was very pleased with our students’ respect for and appreciation of Honduran culture.”

The mission trip was the beginning of a partnership with the Budwine Foundation, St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, the TLU Center for Servant Leadership, and the science and modern languages departments at TLU. ♦