Editor’s note: This is the third in a series about local participants in medical missions trips by the Central American Medical Outreach (CAMO), which is headquartered in Orrville.

It started with the story of a vulture on the cross in the courtyard of the hospital in Honduras. This vulture would await his meal of human tissue being discarded behind the hospital after that day’s surgery.

This story was shared in 2005 with Dr. Arun Masih, the chief of staff of Wooster Community Hospital. As a pathologist, Dr. Masih was intrigued. This was the beginning of his 12-year journey with CAMO.

Dr. Masih has been the champion, along with Susan Borocz, a histotechnologist, in the development of the first pathology lab in the western region of Honduras.

It would seem like an easy journey by stateside standards.

Here it is not. Just one or two pathologists graduate per year. Few labs exist, and those who own the pathology system in Honduras maintain a monopoly with a mafia-like attitude. So every year we work together, building and equipping the lab and training the staff. Seems easy? Not so!

There is no formal education in Honduras for cytotechnologists or histotechologists.

So CAMO created a curriculum and this year three students will graduate.

This past week, Dr. Masih, along with the CAMO educational development team and staff, met with leadership of two of the three major universities in Honduras. We are sharing the curriculum to start the process of developing the first programs to train licensed professionals in cytotechnology, as well as respiratory therapy, neither of which exists in Honduras.

Meanwhile, in Santa Rosa de Copan, the CAMO pathology lab is functioning well. We process approximately 2,000 pap smears and 140 biopsies per month.

In this second week of CAMO teams, Dr. Masih and Susan are part of a larger team of professionals in the areas of emergency medicine, critical care, nutrition, literacy, respiratory therapy, and biomedical engineering, who continue to work with their Honduran professional partners.

From this small community of Wooster, Dr. Masih and Susan Borocz are two more members of the community who have made, and continue to make, a tremendous impact.

The 12 years of arduous development of our pathology lab and staff has paid off. The processing and interpretation of pap smears by our trained professionals provides early detection and treatment of cervical cancer and has saved many lives. Last year in just one region covered by this lab, 43 women had early diagnosis and treatment.

Dedicated people can make the difference, but it takes time and it is not for the weak hearted.

Editor’s note: This is the second in an occasional series about local participants in medical missions trips by the Central American Medical Outreach (CAMO), which is headquartered in Orrville.

Wayne County has been described as an island. Some people say it is hard to be part of the island, but from what we see at CAMO it is a wonderful caring place where people think beyond themselves.

Recently I spoke with the three people on the dental team who are from this Island of Wayne County. Dr. Nick Relle, DDS, second-year volunteer, and Cindy Mullet, a 17-year volunteer, both from Wooster. Loretta Erb is an 18-year volunteer from Dalton. What keeps them coming back to Honduras to serve on the dental team? One word would summarize this for them — relationships.

Their shared attitude toward service is deeply embedded within them as they walk side by side through an undeniable journey of faith. Remarkably, all of them recall the one individual that brought them together.

At different times, Dr. Mark Gustafson, DDS, had reached out to each one and invited them to join the dental team, most recently Nick. So even though Gustafson has moved on after more than 23 years of service with CAMO, he is with us in spirit as we go out to the villages.

Is it easy? No. Nick shared that he normally has no problem sleeping. But after his second day out in the villages, he became upset at the conditions, and tossed and turned through the early hours of the morning, thinking about what possible solution there might be.

He imagined getting rid of the Puperias, the small make-shift mom and pop stores in front rooms of adobe houses that sell basic staples, but also lots of sugar candies. Maybe if these candies were no longer around, the teeth of the children would not be rotting. But, eliminate one problem, and you create another. Such problems have no simple answers.

So, despite the fact that development and environmental change are years behind, CAMO keeps moving forward. We have visions of a nutritionist joining the 64 dental brigades that reach out to rural villages. A nutrition program allows us to bring nutritional education to the families and children of these areas for the first time ever. This is just one step forward of many more to come.

Loretta and Cindy shared stories of their annual return, which now extends more than 17 years for each of them. Upon their return, those people who have known them for years are anxious to greet them with hugs and kisses.

Whether it is the women in the laundry who have received needed work gloves from them, children who have their picture taken by Cindy year after year, or children who get relief from toothaches, Cindy and Loretta find themselves embraced by old friends every time they return. Such relationships have no barriers due to culture, religion or political belief. All the pettiness of the world disappears in these moments of reunion.

The dental team includes others who are not from the Island of Wayne County, but are certainly part of the family brought together by this bond and love of service. They are Steve Fabry, DDS,, Grant Turner DDS, Linda Louttit, and Angie Stasik, all from different parts of Ohio; Kathy Brynes is from Massachusetts; and Barbara Mckee from Kansas. They are joined by six dentists and CAMO staff from Honduras.

This dental team is one of seven specialty teams this week. Together they care for and provide resources to the CAMO Honduras Dental Staff, so that week after week they can continue to treat more than 9,000 children per year. This week alone, the combined dental team will treat more than 600 children.

Editor’s Note: This the first in an occasional series about local participants in medical missions trips by the Central American Medical Outreach (CAMO), which is headquartered in Orrville.

The journey started Saturday morning at 3 a.m. with a trip to the Akron/Canton Airport, where local volunteers came together to board a flight to Atlanta. In Atlanta, they met up with other volunteers from around the country for a total of 21 people. The adventure continued with a quick run to make the gate to the final destination of Honduras. This was the easy part.

On arrival in Honduras, everyone waited patiently as the process through customs took two hours, but this gave everyone time in line to talk. CAMO staff was there to help them through the maze. Deb Miller and Nancy Likens from Wayne County communities boarded the bus with 21 other people.

Nancy Likens, a retired operating room nurse from Wooster Community Hospital is now serving her 18th trip with CAMO to Honduras. Deb Miller, also an OR nurse for the Wooster Eye Clinic, is serving her 11th trip with the plastics surgical team.

The long winding ride was longer than all the other years due to road repairs, single line traffic and pot holes in which you could easily lose an axle. A normal two-and-a-half hour trip turned into a four-hour voyage.

The next day, the plastic surgical team had no time off. Everyone woke up early to evaluate 58 people who had been waiting months and years for treatment of facial deformities.

After an eight-hour day of consults and difficult decisions, only 20 people would be selected.

On Monday, all teams were up by 5 a.m. The plastic team, led by Dr. Linda Camp, a plastic surgeon, includes Laurie Kemper RN and Dr. David Dycus an anesthesiologist from Indianapolis, as well as Jean Morgan and Era Fedak, nurse practitioners from Canton. They ended their day at 7 p.m., exhausted, but with smiles, because they had provided five patients repaired deformities and hope for a better future.

Over the next four days, the team hopes to bring more blessings and services to others.

I sat across from Deb and Nancy at breakfast and asked them how they felt about their return to Honduras and service with CAMO. They both look at each other and tears filled their eyes “Good luck Kathy putting this into words.”

It is the hugs we receive from the Honduran staff, as if no time has passed between the years, and the love that is felt for us and our Honduran counterparts. The gratitude of the patients and knowing that you have made a profound difference in someone’s life is indescribable. Only the look in the eyes of Nancy and Deb, the softening of their face, the melting of their heart and the tears in their eyes could capture the profound compassion they show for others.

CAMO is grateful for all of our volunteers and donors who have a part in making this world a better place. This work can only be done through empathy, communication, mutual respect, understanding and love for each other.

CAMO is blessed to be surrounded by such extraordinary people.