Hi Meg,

Thanks for the great info about the book. I will pass it on to the group!

I have a great suggestion. How would you like to come along on the trip? It
would be a fantastic way to test out your book to see it in use plus you would
have a fanatastic experience in working with the people of Honduras. Also,
could you pass on the word to others that we have a HUGE need for translators
for the trip.

Please, consider going.

Below is a letter I wrote a radio guy. It has a LOT of info about the trip.
You can pass that on, too if you like. You may want to print it out to read.

See you there?

John Kirckof
IHS BOD
320-634-4386

*****
Info letter about IHS (International Health Services)

- this letter was originally written for a radio guy a couple years ago and it
is still very applicable and informative, so I still use it to give people an
idea of the mission.

Since we finished our recent medical mission to Honduras the end of February,
many amazing events are still fresh in our minds! Paul, K9PEP, was our radio
net controller and once again he was in the thick of things. We had a medical
emergency where several ham radio operators helped to get a severe burn patient
out of the remote village of Auka and into a burn center in Tegucigalpa. That
was in the middle of seeing the thousands of patients we see on a ‘normal’
basis.

This year Bill, N4JPG, and I were providing radio and engineering support for
a medical and dental team in the remote village of Uhi. We set up an Icom
IC-706 radio for HF voice communications on the 40 meter band plus pactor
messages and e-mails via a laptop and Kamtronics controller. Next year we will
upgrade to SCS controllers. I also connected a Ringo Ranger antenna for 2 meter
ops to other nearby IHS village teams and Puerto Lempira. We got up and running
just in time for patient referrals and other critical messages.

One of the first mornings a woman showed up in a wheelbarrow because she could
not walk on her own. This is not surprising since there are no roads or
vehicles in this village (to get here we must travel by boat or use a small
plane). We did not have any adaptive devices on hand, so Jim, our doctor,
advised her to return the following week. We called in on the 2 meter radio to
see if a walker could be brought by our small airplane. When the woman came
back several days later, we had a walker waiting for her. We cleared out the
waiting room and waited to witness this great event. Dr. Jim helped her out of
the wheelbarrow and tremendous joy spread over her face and all of ours as she
began to walk!! It was the greatest feeling in the world knowing that we made a
big difference in her life.

Another time, a girl about 9 years old was brought into the clinic with a
fever of 104 and was shaking terribly. She had been vomiting, had a poor
appetite, and was not drinking anything. We immediately sprung into action, with
Dr. Jim making a consult radio call to another IHS team doctor in another
village. Dr. Jim determined she had malaria. Malaria is not very common here
but it does happen on rare occasions. Jack, our pharmacist, gave the young girl
a combination of chloroquine and primidone for the malaria. She was given
liquid Tylenol and placed in a back room with cool wet towels to reduce her
fever. Dr. Jim also started an IV to keep the girl well hydrated. In a few
hours she was improving. The next day we made a house call to the hut she lived
in and she was amazingly better. Her fever had gone down, she was drinking
water, and even eating a little. It is a good thing we can take chloroquine as
a preventative.
About the same time we saw the girl, we also had a middle-aged woman come to
the clinic with a deep cut on her forehead. She said it was from a large stick
but it looked more like a machete cut to us. Dr. Jim did a great job of
cleaning the wound and stitching her up but the lady must have been tough as
nails. She hardly flinched through the entire procedure.

Manuel was our team dentist. He is from LaCeiba, Honduras and has come with
our Uhi team for 3 years now, due to our shortage of U.S. dentists signing up.
He did great, pulling many teeth during our 10 days of work in the village.
That is about all he had time to do since there is no dental care available in
the village. The one village nurse (who is the entire medical care for the
village) has her hands full delivering babies and all the other medical care
needed. I also ended up being Manuel’s dental assistant when a squirming kid
needed to be held still plus I helped to sterilize his equipment. The kids had
no idea what was happening when Manuel came with the lidocaine needle.
Occasionally, some teams may do fillings when time permits. This year we even
had a dentist who made a few dentures on the Yocon team.

We also had a young lady show up with her baby that was about a month old.
The baby was not feeding properly, causing malnourishment and was in very grave
condition. Bill immediately got on the radio and again talked to Jaime, AA5R,
our radio operator in Puerto Lempira to send the small airplane to get our
patient. Within a couple hours we had the mother and the struggling baby flown
to the hospital where she now has a chance at life. A special thanks goes to
Ruth our translator who is also a nurse and helped a lot to get the baby on to
the plane. She also did a ton of good work to talk with the locals plus she
helped a lot with other babies and children. Thanks Ruth !
By the end of the mission, we had flown about 10 referral surgery patients
from Uhi to Puerto Lempira to see Dr. Tim, our surgeon with the IHS surgical
team there. Other IHS village teams did the same. It is a good thing we have a
small plane available to do this and radios to make it happen. Dr.Tim performed
many surgeries while he was there and no doubt saved lives. That makes our
medical care in that part of Honduras able to handle most anything that we see
from simple cuts to important surgical care.
Near the end of the mission we had a radio call asking if we had any spare
reading glasses. We did so the small plane came in, got them, and took them to
another village where IHS had an Eye Glasses team. They saw many hundreds of
eye patients and distributed many prescription and reading glasses. It turns
out no one had ever been in that location before to give out glasses. We also
thank the Lions clubs that collect the many glasses for us!

…..I could go on and on with stories of our daily work but I must also tell
you about International Health Services, the great organization that makes all
this possible…..
Are you interested in volunteer medical work or translating for a team? Are
you looking for a worthy place to give support or to donate medical or radio
gear? If you are considering any of these, you certainly have come to the right
place. Joining our mission next February is easier than you think. We are
always in dire need of translators, dentists, doctors, anesthetists, nurses, eye
specialists, and pharmacists… anyone with medical skills. We also need radio
folks plus engineers and many helpers. Please consider this.

Obviously, this is an important decision for anyone who is considering going
and I want to give you as much info as needed so you can make an informed
decision. I have one warning, for most who go it is something you get hooked
on. Of those who sign up each year, half are repeat team members. Some will
bring along friends, spouse, and mature sons and daughters. I have gone to
Honduras a dozen times and another trip is planned. In the past I have taken my
wife, my brother, two of my nieces, a teen-age Spanish student, and friends.
IHS has been doing this for over 25 years so we are very organized and have many
trusted friends in Honduras to help us. That helps so there are not a lot of
unpleasant surprises along the way (relatively speaking). Since Honduras is the
poorest country in the Western hemisphere, it is very stable and safe, even when
we get out into the local villages.

What we do... about 100 volunteers will go to Honduras the last two weeks of
February. This year the dates are 15 February through 2 March, 2008. We
usually have 2 surgery teams and about 6 or 7 medical/dental clinics. In
addition, we usually send 1 or 2 eyeglasses clinic teams. We would have more
teams if enough people signed up. The village clinic teams typically have one or
two doctors, one or two nurses, a pharmacist, a dentist, sometimes a dental
assistant, a ham radio operator, an engineer, 1 or 2 translators, and 2 or 3
general helpers. Depending on the qualifications of those who apply, sometimes
a person may do two positions. I am a ham radio operator but I usually do the
engineer job and some general helper tasks as well. The engineer work is just a
basic task of keeping the small generator full of gasoline and other basic
handy-man tasks. In that capacity I have repaired many things including door
handles, installed shower curtains, put up a clothes
lines, repaired LP cooksets, and other basic fix-it tasks besides keeping my
own gear in good repair. For the general helpers and others there is a LOT of
miscellaneous work to do to assist the doctors, dentists, and pharmacists to
keep them going in a busy day. So, if you have someone who wants to go with you
(spouse/friend) they can usually fit on to the same team as you. Once we get to
a village, we all tend to share the work so we all get a hand in doing many
different things. Each village is different but generally we will have a
medical clinic open for about 10 full days plus at most sites we will also have
a dental clinic. Most years we will also have two surgery sites. At those
locations we will have one or two surgeons, two O.R. nurses, an anesthetist, a
radio person, one or two general helpers and in some locations, an engineer.
For radio operators plus the doctors, nurses, and other medical folks, we do
need to have copies of licenses in advance to give
to officials in Honduras to get everyone certified for operations there.
Normally, copies get sent in with applications and when the October logistics
team travels to LaCeiba, Honduras, all the papers are filed. That is good, all
we do is turn in the paperwork and the rest is taken care of. We also need many
helpers so you do not have to have a license to go. We also need many helpers
so you do not have to have any license to go.

Where do we go... we have a variety of locations in Honduras. We have a
couple medical/dental clinic teams that go to the mountain areas of central
Honduras. There, it is semi-modern (relatively speaking) usually with local
electricity available some of the day. Other clinic teams are in small remote
villages in the eastern ‘LaMosquitia’ region where there are very few roads and
usually no phones or local electricity. In these places we bring our own
generator and a radio for communications. We do use a few trucks and buses but
our transportation is mostly by large and small airplanes. The Wings of Hope
and other organizations donate the use of their small planes during the days of
our mission. Because of this, we can bring all the supplies we need such as our
food, gear, personal items, and medical supplies. We have been doing this for
25 years so we have a good idea what we need. We send out detailed Orientation
information to give you a lot of detailed info
including what IHS provides each team and each team member.

Radio operations… while each of us are with our team in a village we mostly
use basic HF voice operations on 40 meters to contact our local net three times
a day. We will also have e-mail capability in most of the villages through our
radio. We will use the e-mail for IHS work and for personal e-mails back home
to family and friends. IHS has a 2 Icom IC-706 transceivers plus all the needed
antennas, power supplies, and miscellaneous gear for all teams. Since about 8
or 9 sites require a radio, most operators choose to bring their own HF
transceiver along. We try to keep the amount of gear that has to be brought
with us from the U.S. to a minimum but still enough to handle all our needs.
Each team will get a Comm box issued to them that has all the basic radio gear
needed for HF voice ops except the transceiver. We also provide generators to
all team sites that will need them. Each team will also get an Engineering box
which is stocked with many common hand tools
plus commonly needed supplies of nails, wire, rope, extension cords, water
purifier kit, and the like. Sometimes, first time hams go as the second radio
person on a team. Officially, they will be assigned to an Engineer or Helper
position but there is plenty of radio tasks to do so their help is needed and it
is a good prep for a future mission. This past year we had many teams with two
radio operators. One ‘officially’ was designated as the Radio Operator and the
other was assigned as the team Engineer who basically does a lot of handy man
work.

A typical day has the radio voice net operate once in the morning, once at
noon and once around 5:00 p.m. to pass along general info on how the team is
doing and to receive news and information from our net control. Our village
teams also use the radio to call when we get a very serious patient that needs
to get to our surgery site. In between those three net times, radio operators
will help out others in doing whatever needs to be done. Since we talk on the
radio just to other IHS teams, knowing Spanish is not necessary for the radio
part of the work. If you do know some Spanish, that is nice for doing some of
the other helper work.

In some ways the radio work has similarities to ‘Field Day’ and from this
perspective we will put a less experienced person on a team with someone with a
lot of HF voice expertise (when we have more radio people apply then the number
of teams that need them). The past few years nearly all the teams also brought
some Pactor gear and they were able to send and receive e-mail messages for all
their team members. That helped us stay in touch with families back home. It
even helped when there was a medical emergency back in the U.S. Our net control
in LaCeiba has radio and telephone contact with the U.S. but for team members in
a village, getting and sending e-mails a few times sure is nice when you are
away from home. We have a lot of interest in ham folks signing up to go but we
do try to get at least one ham with Pactor e-mail/messaging capability on each
team and they usually (but not always) get assigned the team radio operator
position.

Giving support... this can be done easily and fills a vital need of support
for our mission. Many folks realize the true value of the work we do.
Unfortunately, some can not actually go, so they help out those that can in
several ways. Whether it is financial support or vitally needed donated
equipment, you can contact us at the addresses at the bottom of this letter. I
also have an official address for you to send financial support to. All
appropriate medical and radio gear can be sent to IHS but call or write me first
to see where is best. For radio gear, we are mostly in need of laptops, portable
HF transceivers, and pactor controllers (SCS pactor III preferred) and we sure
can use a lot of other support items as well. Since we are a bonafied charitable
organization, all donations are tax deductible and donators will get a nice
thank you letter with the official tax deduction information. More importantly,
you will be helping your fellow medical and radio folks to
give quality medical and dental care to people who desperately need it and
appreciate it. Just check out their smiling faces on the web site or CD
mentioned below.

Costs... the project fee is about $500. This is actually a bargain since this
is less than half of the total average cost to IHS to send someone. With that
fee, and many large and small donations from organizations (Lions, Rotary,
churches) and friends, we are able to take care of nearly all of your basic
needs for the entire two weeks you are on the mission. It also helps us to buy
needed medical and pharmacy supplies. It is only logical to bring the necessary
medications to treat what the doctors find with the patients they see. On the
average, each of the clinic teams will receive over $4500 in medical supplies.
From your project fee, you receive a lot. From the time you arrive in LaCeiba,
all food, transportation, and basic housing are taken care of. When in small
villages, it is obviously NOT in a Raddison Hotel but it is in a clean facility
of some type. For example, many choose to stay with a host family while we are
in LaCeiba. They are VERY nice homes
and are close to the Hotel Paris, our headquarters and radio net control during
the mission. The other expense to participants of the mission is transportation
from our homes in the U.S (or wherever you live), to LaCeiba, Honduras and
return. Some people choose to make their own plans because there are many great
sites to see and places to go before or after the mission. Diving or checking
the beach on Roatan Island, visiting the Copan Mayan ruins, visiting a rain
forest park, white water rafting, sightseeing in the mountains, or just shopping
for bargains are some things people do. 90% of the IHS people do some little
venture, usually after the mission. Obviously our main purpose is not to just
go and have fun, we have very important work to do in the villages, etc.
However, after 2 weeks of work it is nice to take a day or two and relax. We do
have a group travel plan that has various arrival and departure dates to
accommodate some of these side adventures. It
usually goes from Minneapolis through Houston to San Pedro Sula, Honduras and
return on Continental Airlines. Donna Bench, our agent, can also connect other
cities through Houston. Also note that flights to San Pedro Sula can go on
Delta via Atlanta and on American via Miami so you have some options as to days
to travel and getting a good price. I do have a handy letter that describes how
to get your airline tickets to and from Honduras.… just let me know if you want
it and I can e-mail that to you. Karen and I lived in England for four years
and did a lot of travelling, but I can honestly say, this is the best two week
trip we ever do for the price, even though it is work.
What is happening right now. We are actively seeking applications right now.
We would like to have all applications for a February mission by mid September
due to our need to collect names of applicants and then complete a roster of
team assignments before our October planning team leaves for Honduras. From
that schedule many things get done prior to February on a time line that is
important to get all our gear, supplies, and participants to Honduras and get
everyone well informed about the mission. Later applications get accepted, too,
but then it is to fill in spots on teams where they still need people. Besides
our need for experienced medical folks and radio operators, we are currently
looking for medical and radio equipment. With a very tight budget, we can not
afford to purchase a lot of new and expensive gear yet we do want to provide
good team support.

When to apply…. We receive the bulk of our applications in July through
September for a February mission although a person can apply anytime before then
if they know they will be available. After September, applications will get
taken to fill empty team positions. Actually, we prefer early applications so
we can pass on a lot of information. We also want to work with people to get
them up to speed on our particular routine of doing things and getting them
familiar with specific places and such. Each place has a unique work situation
and good preparation makes for a great mission with few surprises… there are no
Radio Shack or other stores in those remote villages! Each village has its own
unique medical needs as well. On the application form, there is a place where
you can put down the names of someone you may want to be on a team with. So,
you need to fill that in if you want to be with someone you know. Getting
assigned to one of the many teams mostly depends on
how well qualified you are to handle the job you are applying for. Most people
who contact me about radio jobs will put on their application that they are
willing to be a radio operator or an engineer or a general helper. Applying for
all positions a person is qualified helps if certain jobs are filled early. For
example, this past mission had 7 radio operators but we also had many other
“extra” hams assigned other positions on the team (mostly engineers and general
helpers). So, applying for several positions is obviously beneficial to go on
the mission. Another consideration is which team location you want to get
assigned to. Some teams take a boat up a river, many teams use a small plane to
get to their remote village, some travel into the mountains by bus. Obviously
surgical teams will be in less primitive conditions since they need to be at an
adequate facility to do their work. In my opinion all locations are good.
Obviously, later applicants (after
October) will have less selection of places to go and job positions since they
will be assigned to the teams that are missing certain positions, if there are
any. If you need an application, a good place to get one is from our IHS web
site (IHSOFMN mentioned below). Just click on “newsletter” and download the
most recent NewsBreak. It has many good things in it including a VERY
informative map and an application. If you have trouble with that, I can mail
or e-mail you one.

Radio personnel - We SOMETIMES have a large number of IHS hams who go. At those
times we fill many of the team radio operator and other positions. One benefit
for a newcomer to be a team radio operator is if they have pactor/Winlink
experience and gear but that is an option we can work on. If you are a ham and
you get assigned on a team with another radio person, you will actually share
the radio work and other tasks regardless of which title you have on the
paperwork.

Shipping items to Honduras….. yes we can. Dole Fruit graciously lets us use
several of their containers to send down our gear, personal items, purchased
medical supplies, food, and lots of medical equipment (for hospitals and
clinics). We will send down our IHS radios plus any donated and other
replacement gear. Larry, our shipping guy, buys a lot of the food for each
team. He will buy soups, and a lot of dehydrated type things that actually cook
up pretty good, at least it is better than beans and rice every day. Most of
that is shipped in the container although some beans and rice, plus a lot of
other fruits and vegetables get purchased in LaCeiba on the first day down
there. Each year we also get generators and such things purchased or donated
and they get shipped as well. So, if you want to send some clothes or whatever,
so you have less to drag through the airport, that is fine. Your personal box
or tub needs to be sent to our collection point in Minneapolis
by the end of December. We have a simple inventory sheet to do this. Many
people send clothes and other items that they just give to the local people when
they leave, so their suitcase stays light coming home, too.

More info... IHS has a web site with some basic info for all applicants, it
is: www.IHSOFMN.org I suggest looking at the Newsbreak newsletters for a lot of
personal info and stories of past experiences. They also have VERY HANDY maps
that shows the locations and types of teams we send. This helps to for things
to make sense to a first time particiapnt. They also contain an application.
Our IHS radio group also has some info (especially radio items) on a Yahoo site.
The link to that site is: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IHSradio/ You can see
several things there but I recommend going to the left side of the site’s home
page and clicking on PHOTO. From there you will see some of our people in
action. Also, the FILES area has a LOT of items related to the radio work of a
mission plus other things. These two sites should give you a lot of extra info
plus application forms. I also have many materials for you including a great
computer CD with lots of info on it.
The photos (hundreds of them) and journals on the CD show typical
medical/dental teams in villages plus eye care and surgery teams. The CD is
packed with other info including several super Power Point presentations that
give a lot of detail in our work. I often use the CD as orientation materials
for group presentations and for first time applicants. If you want any of these
items, just let me know what to send and where to mail them and I will send them
to you right away.

When you sign up and are put on a team, you will receive a large amount of
information, usually in later November. There is a ton of handy information on
what clothes, gear, and other items to bring plus many other tips. Also, this
information will have very comprehensive Orientation information. It will give
lots of info on how to prepare for the mission and what to expect during the
trip. It also talks about health care issues, such as what vaccinations to
have, etc. Most importantly, you will get the name of your Team Leader who is a
veteran going to your team location who can tell you all about the village you
are going to and other details. I am available to answer any questions that
relate to the general mission and to the radio work that goes with it. If you
have any questions related to other jobs on a team, let me know and I will pass
on the info or I will get you in touch with another Director or someone who can
get you all the latest info for that job.

Early applicants have a very good chance of going, especially if they are
flexible in what work position on the team they are willing to take. I do ask
that whether or not this mission works for you, consider passing the word along…
we can always use a few extra folks and support to help us out. If it is not
this year, we can plan ahead for next time. This is especially true for doctors,
nurses, translators, dentists, and other medical folks who we have a tougher job
in recruiting.

Most new folks have called me directly, before signing up for a mission. I
highly recommend that you do that to start with. My phone number is:
320-634-4386. I am home most of the time and some on weekends. You have my
e-mail address, so write whatever questions you have, if you prefer that over a
phone call.

I and the very poor of Honduras thank you so much for an interest in this very
wonderful and rewarding work!

Best regards,

John Kirckof
JMKKEK@...
Phone: 320-634-4386
IHS Board Of Directors

"m.h.graham@..." <m.h.graham@...> wrote:
Dear John,

I'm an author/Spanish teacher just finishing up a pocket-size guide to help
medical personnel communicate with Spanish speaking patients. This guide will be
pocketsized, 4 X 6, approx 200 pages, all phontic easy Spanish. It is NOT meant
to replace an interpreter/translator but to offer comfort, converation etc. This
book "Ahora Hablo Medical Edition, $9.95, is the 2nd in a series I'm wriitng to
make Spanish eaiser for English speakers. The first book in the series ( for
travelers) has been very well received. See reviews on my website at
www.ahorahablo.com. ( I offer discounts to large groups)

Thanks!

Meg Graham


John Kirckof wrote: Many of you have heard of the critical need for medical
people in Honduras for the planned upcoming medical mission. IHS (International
Health Services) is sending many medical teams in Feb and they will go to remote
places where the only medical care they will get is from our teams.

I have heard from several inquirers with several questions. Great! The interest
is good and we have a couple new docs and nurses who are planning to sign up.
Several IHS veterans are planning to go, too. However… with about 7 sites where
we will want two doctors and two nurses (RN & LPN) at each, we still have an
urgent need for several more. With about 100 folks needed in all, we certainly
are seeking many medical, dental, and eye care professionals along with support
and helper people, too. Each site has varying medical needs so most will qualify
to help somewhere. We often use EMT and other trained persons where needed. We
even have some helpers who are interested in going to help the teams. There is a
LOT for them to do so that is great!

In addition to clinic teams, we are hoping to get medical folks to send 2
surgical teams and 2 eye glasses teams. How many of these teams depends on who
we get to go.

We are hoping to get a list of committed names for all the docs, nurses,
surgeions, dentists, pharmacists, translators, eye care professionsals, and
other medical folks by 1 October so IHS can start buying all the supplies
(pharmacy, food, medical/dental supplies, plus radio and engineering gear). They
will send all this in a container shipment about the end of December. They will
also select sites based on the skills of those signed up so each applicant will
know where they will go by the end of November.

If you have any questions for info on how to go or how to help out, call or
e-mail John Kirckof at 320-634-4386 right away. A phone call may be the best.
There is a tiny IHS web site at: www.IHSOFMN.org It does have some good general
info in their “newsletter”.

NOTE – I have attached a couple articles written from the last mission trip IHS
did last Feb.

I sure hope you can help !! Either way, do pass the word on to others who may be
interested in this rewarding work. The very poor of Honduras do need our help.

John Kirckof
IHS BOD
320-634-4386

---------------------------------
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Meg H. Graham
Megusta Publishing
P.O. Box 26274
Wauwatosa, WI 53226
414-331-7178
www.ahorahablo.com

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