CURE Honduras Benefit Show!

We are very excited to announce the fundraiser that Hands On Learning is doing with us here at CURE Honduras! The performance on June 12th will be a benefit for CURE- they are giving our hospital $5.00 for every ticket that is purchased. If you would like to purchase a ticket which will be given to one of our patients (who otherwise could not attend the show), you can make a check out to Pauline Bridgeman with "Shrek" in the memo line, and it will be forwarded directly to our hospital to help our patients. Checks can be mailed to the following address.

Jen Bushman

25 Maple Avenue

Hershey, PA 17033.

Pictures will be posted of our patients who attend the show!

This is Cesar.

Meet my little buddy Cesar. Cesar Cipriano. This is a picture of him from a few days ago, quite a different child from when I met him a few months ago.

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This is a picture that I took of Cesar the first day that he came to our clinic. He had bilateral clubfeet, but that didn't stop him from being able to run around. And run he did. He was probably the most out of control patient I have seen since being here for almost a year. He refused to take his hand out of his mouth, to look at anyone in the face, to smile, to come to his mother when she called him... he was totally doing his own thing, not wanting to be pinned down to have big uncomfortable casts put on him.

And really, that's understandable. It's scary and painful, and geez, if I can run around without any problem in my mind, why do I want to be immobilized? Cesar left that day not too happy. The poor little guy didn't understand what was happening, but he would soon find out, and it would change more than just his feet.

In the weeks that followed, he continued with his casting but was clearly not thrilled with the idea.

The first time that I remember seeing a smile on Cesar's face is when he was sitting on the bed in the ward with is mother the morning of his surgery. Something was changing, and I think he was beginning to realize what was happening to him. 

 

He toughed it through his surgery and recovery, and I was amazed to see him the next afternoon before he left, sitting outside happily playing with a toy truck and actually smiling when he saw me. He no longer had a temperament of anger but one of happiness and calm.

 

This is Cesar now. He is walking almost normally with two straight feet, and here he is showing us the special shoes that are connected with a bar that he wears at night to maintain the good position.

The stark contrast of his personality from the time he first came to now is shocking to me, and it still amazes me that this sweet boy is the same Cesar that I met just months ago. Healing is changing him from the inside out!

When Gabriel Comes Into Clinic....

My day gets a thousand times better!

living.

"Life is too deep for words, so don't try to describe it, just live it."

-C. S. Lewis

...So I will leave you with the few simple words that these days have been busy with lots of ups and downs as we seek to care for the children of Honduras in the best way, and I've been more than blessed to be a part of it at this time. Through the happy days as well as the really hard ones, it's comforting to have a solid group of friends who are all about fun but most importantly, God's glory.

I do want to share about my latest adventures outside of Honduras- last week during Semana Santa (Holy Week), our hospital was closed because basically all of Central America closes down during this week and heads to the beach. I was able to go a bit more south to Nicaragua and meet up with my dad and our friends (the Buzbee family who I visited a couple of months ago for the wedding of Melissa). It was great to spend time with just my dad as well as catch up with friends- around the pool, in the waves of the Pacific, and in rocking chairs on the back porch at night. Our days and nights there are never without immense amounts of laughter and very encouraging words. I can definitely say I would not be the person that I am (and am becoming) without their friendship.
While there I also visited Casa Havilah (their rescue home for girls) and it was great to see all the house improvements that are happening! The new tiles floors were just getting finished when I was there and it's looking beautiful. The girls that are still there since my last visit about three years ago are getting more and more beautiful, and there are now some new faces as well!
A fun surprise that I was got to be a part of was a celebration day for the boys at Casa Robles (boys' rescue home). Some of them were have trouble in school and behavioral problems, but they received their report cards the day before I left and they all had excellence!!! A lot of hard work and prayer went into this, and this was a sure reason to celebrate. So I was a part of the big celebration to Pizza Hut and the movies to see The Lorax. Our group took up two rows in the movie theater, and it was great to see so many happy faces! :)
Dad and I and Mr. Buzbee also met up with one of the Young Life Nicaragua leaders and it was amazing to see how this ministry is exploding in this country! We are really excited to see how we can partner with them as they grow and expand to other Central American countries and beyond. Dad and I first learned about Young Life in Africa when we were in Ethiopia, and I've been nothing but super impressed with the passionate and excited leaders as they train up strong young men and women of Christ.

After our time in Nica, Dad and I headed up a little north to Sanibel, Florida, where the rest of our family was and also some of my very best friends. The night that we arrived was my dad's 61st birthday, so we got to celebrate in Nica in the morning and then that night in Sanibel! I must say that although there were a lot of GREAT parts about that day, the best part was seeing my sister Emily after TEN MONTHS of separation! I never imagined that I would ever go that long without seeing her, but then again I don't imagine much of what happens to me anymore. Dad and I ended up going straight from the airport to an event of our friends' organization (the rockin' awesome Sanibel Sea School), where Mom and Emily were, so I tried to not make a scene as I hugged Emily and tried to hold back my tears and screams of joy. That week she caught me up on life in Rwanda and I filled her in on life in Honduras. My best friends from Pennsylvania were visiting as well as my best friends from Virginia, so there was lots of catching up to do and of course not enough hours in the day. There were lots of pool days and beach days and wave running and boat riding and bike riding and tennis playing and "soccer" playing (more like violent rugby) and children flying and picture taking and hammock swinging and playing with babies and reality TV show making... it was simply beautiful, but times like these seem to pass before I've had the chance to really take them in.
When our friends left after a full week flew by, my three oldest siblings arrived, bringing with them my seven nieces and nephews! I must say that these precious children are some of the biggest joys in my life. My whole family got to spend a beautiful Easter together and few days of great fun. Much to my own surprise and due to God's grace in our lives, I have to say it was one of if not the best family vacation that I've had yet.

Easter 2012. My family together.

And now that I am back in Honduras, I am simply thankful. I am happier now and than ever to be here and and am forever grateful to be here for such a time as this.
I will leave you with a precious picture that I took two days ago of one of our clubfoot patients, Angel Jose. He lights up with smiles when he sees the camera- I just love him!

Watch & Share

KONY 2012 from INVISIBLE CHILDREN.

Because where you live shouldn't determine whether you live...

beginning a new year

I've been back in San Pedro now for almost a month, So I figured I should give a little update! Despite the inevitable bumps along the road that life always brings, the year is off to a great start for CURE Honduras.

-a visit home.
I got back on January 4th from the being in the US for Christmas and New Years. The break was just beautiful and relaxing in almost every way. I got to ride my horse (and my sister's) and I got my fill of nieces and nephews (well I'm not sure if it's possible to ever get my fill but at least I got to spend time with them and see all of them growing so big and preciously as they are). I could go into so much detail about a fun-filled two weeks at home with family and dear friends, but I will just say it's just what I needed- to spend time with some of the people closest to me.

-cure.
The first couple of days back at the hospital were exciting, well for one, just to see everyone again, and two, we had a lot of new patients coming in so it was exciting for us. We love seeing returning patients and seeing their progress, and it's great to also see our numbers growing and more new kids coming in!
It is super exciting to see the CUREkids program continue to grow and to see more and more kids' surgeries being funded. Seeing people really desiring to reach out and help others with what God has given them is very inspiring.
Translating in clinic for Dr. Jay continues to be fun, and there is normally always something to laugh about afterwards. There are the occasional stressful moments when I can't for the life of me communicate a word (recently it was "MRI") and Jozzeth (x-ray technician) who speaks a lot of English wasn't understanding me either. Finally Dr. Jay just wrote the prescription for it and told the patient's parents which hospital and doctor they needed to see for this. After clinic Jozzeth asked me to explain it to him again, and when I wrote it out and said, "See, M-R-I," the light bulb lit up! He thought I was saying MRI as one word like "emarreye." Ok... finally got that one figured out. Learning new things every day!
Last week we had one of our clubfoot patients come back, walking almost completely normally! It's been a long and sometimes very painful journey for Gerardo, making many trips here, but he is nearly DONE and it's awesome to see the change in his life and what the result of all that long and hard process produced!

Gerardo, day 1


Gerardo, day 134

One of our missionary friends here, Tara, and her husband, Jorge, have a ministry called Reach Out Orphanage Ministries. Dr. Pauline (Dr. Jay's wife who is a pediatrician) went with Tara last week to one of the orphanages that they work with which has special needs children. We hope to be able to bring some of the kids who need treatment to CURE, and this new prospect of working with more orphanages in our area to help the poorest of Honduras is very exciting, so we appreciate your prayers as this unfolds! This weekend possibly after church we hope to visit the orphanage again (and bring a pediatric neurologist who is visiting) and make some progress with which children we will be able to help. It's very exciting for me personally to see CURE connecting more and more with orphan care!

-different worlds.
On the weekends I sometimes use the Bridgemans' car if I have places to go. I'm thankful that this is possible because they also have a van so it gives me a little freedom to do things without having to rely them or others for a ride. The first time I used it after being here again after the new year, I pulled into my driveway and dropped the keys in the cup holder, about to get out of the car and leave it unlocked with the keys in it- a sure sign that I still thought I was in Bear Creek for a second there.... in the recent days after I came back here from the US I was thinking about the oddness of having these almost two completely separate lives that in some ways could not be more polar opposites- cars just being one example! At home there, we leave the keys in the car. At home here, even with a locked car you STILL have to pray that no one breaks into it or steals it and make sure that nothing valuable is left in it. My next door neighbor Mario has told me several stories of his broken car windows and cell phones being stolen- he had a plastic bag with duct tape as the passenger seat window in his car for the first few weeks that I lived here. This is a minor story compared to many I've heard, so I continue to be wise to the best of my ability and trust the Lord to guide me and protect me according to His will, realizing that unfortunate events like this can really happen anywhere, although we see it a lot more here!
The other week I was reminded by a missionary friend, Kevin, who was passing through San Pedro from the states on his way back home to Gracias, southwest of San Pedro, of Psalm 23:5. The Lord will prepare a table for us in the presence of our enemies. No matter what happens, we having nothing to fear with the Lord on our side. And when you see the enemies begin to sit down and eat at the table with you, it's a beautiful thing.

-life outside of the hospital.
The weeks are filling up with more and more activities. I'm thankful San Pedro is full of fun friends to adventure with!
-Tuesday nights a small group of us from church have Bible study, and right now we are working through the book called "Not A Fan" by Kyle Idleman. In my opinion the book is great so far and has opened my eyes to ways that I am actually more of a fan, rather than a follower, of Jesus. It's not really about being totally one or the other, but about daily working towards following Him above all else and not just being a fan of him. We are still early on in this study and I look forward to how we will grow through this experience.

Frozen yoghurt at Toppings (my new favorite place) with Dr. Canales after Wednesday night swimming at Coligio Medico.

-muscial garage
There is this place very close to my house called the Musical Garage (mentioned above). After being here for about three months, I found out that every Saturday night they hold a worship service there. I decided to check it out, and it's seriously just about the coolest place ever. I quickly became friends with the guys in the band, and no later was I asked if I wanted to sing on their team because the band is comprised entirely of guys and they wanted a female voice. Well, they didn't realize that they are practically professionals and I just sing for fun. Although I do have some choir training, singing on this team was pretty intimidating, especially having to learn all the songs in Spanish! Most of it it Hillsong, Chris Tomlin, and other artists in which I already know the music, I just have to get the words translated into my head! The guys would not give up on asking me when I was coming to practice, so with all that "positive peer pressure" (as Dr. Jay put it) I went to practice and had a great time. We'll see how many Thursday nights I spend rehearsing with them before they let me actually sing on a Saturday night.... the true test of my skill :P

-football, not futbol
I was never a real fan of American football, although I grew up as an Eagles fan and cheered for them with the rest of my family. Since being in Honduras, though, I have enjoyed going to a futbol (Spanish for "soccer") game, and like cheering for our boys in blue and white.
When I game home from swimming one Sunday afternoon, Jay came yelling into the kitchen from the computer room "THE BRONCOS ARE BEATING THE STEELERS!" We then proceeded to crash our neighbors' house who have cable TV so that we could watch the second half of the game. Jay and I were going crazy- we hadn't had that much excitement since being here! Watching them win that game in overtime was a blast- I was already a fan of Tebow, and even though I'm still not officially a football fan, I'm now officially a fan of the Broncos.

watching the Broncs win!!

-nica!
This past weekend was one of the best weekends I've had since living here, because I went to Nicaragua for my friend Melissa's wedding! It was wonderful to see her and her whole family after not seeing them for over two years! It was a beautiful wedding and fun-filled weekend. It went by way too quickly, but I'm so happy I was able to get down there. I'm super happy for Melissa and her new husband, Coburn, and all that their new life together with bring forth. I hope to be able to go back again before too long and see their new ranch and other exciting adventures they have going on there.
The only bummer of the weekend for me was that my camera was stolen so I don't have any pictures to share, but of course the trip was so worth it- cameras can be replaced, fun times like that cannot!

-success.
Today we had a great success- Pauline and I made the hour and a half treck UP the mountain with the three little girls (and Ace!) to the big Coca-Cola sign. This was our third time trying to make it to the top as it proves to be difficult with three kids in the heat. We made it up and played with some of the outdoor exercise equipment before making the hour treck back down. We met a nice guy at the top who decided to walk down with us, and while Pauline was praying the whole time that he wasn't with us just to steal her iPhone, I was enjoying making a new friend. Although I couldn't understand a lot of his "sloppy" Spanish, we managed to have a good time as we talked about our families and I taught him some English that he wanted to learn, such as "see you later, take care," and "I like to play soccer all day."

at the top! Part of the giant "C" from the Coca-Cola is visible behind us

a better view of the city behind us

-encouraged.
When I opened my suitcase after arriving back here, there was a letter sitting on top of all my stuff. I opened it and saw that it was a sweet letter from my sister Abby. All my younger siblings have been proving to be good example to me in various ways, and this letter was definitely an encouragement from her.
On the front of the card she wrote "Romans 12:2." Not recognizing the reference, I looked up the verse and found this:
"Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will."

That was a perfect word for me to read after just arriving home here and beginning a new year- to remember the need to daily renew my mind and to not conform to the ways of the world around me, but in each moment to live in God's will, not mine. This is a life-long journey, and I'm so for the people I am journeying with.

end it with a bang!

Yesterday was our last full day of work for 2011 at CURE Honduras.
We had a busy day of removing lots of casts and making new appointments for after the new year.
It's always a joy to see the finished result of our patients after a long journey of treatment. We had two of those today, Jasmin and Astrid. Jasmin had nerve damage in her neck and arm and before her surgery, her left arm was practically useless, and she wasn't able to move it from her side. Now you can see that she has strength and can lift it to her face!


Astrid was born with undeveloped hands, meaning all of her fingers were connected like a paddle. After multiple surgeries, she now has all of her fingers on both hands, and it was beautiful to watch her thank and hug Dr. Bridgeman for what he has given her. Seriously, that moment was just about the best Christmas gift I could ask for. There's nothing like the gift of healing!


Today, our last day of work for the year, we only had a few patients in the morning and we ended the day with a bang! We hit the 11,000 mark for how many patients we've seen with the two new babies that came in today, patient numbers 11,000 and 11,001!

This is little Akon, one of the new patients, an (extremely adorable) two month old who will be having surgery for his undeveloped hands.

This afternoon we celebrated Christmas and finishing another year of work with a great celebration. We had a big lunch feast and each department of the hospital (O.R, ward, clinic, administration) each put on a Christmas performance, and we had some pretty good LAUGHS! I think I work with the funnest and funnies people ever.


And now tomorrow I fly back to cold Pennsylvania to see the snow and my FAMILY! I've never ever been so excited to go back home before and see all my family. And I get to meet my new baby nephew, Levi! I'm also looking forward to seeing the snow, which I never thought would happen. Yes, I'm thankful that I can wear shorts and sandals all year round hear and that we decorate our palm trees with Christmas lights, but I'm ready to bundle up and see the snow for a bit. The only missing piece will be my sis Emily who will be staying in Rwanda :( But we know that there is a time and a place for everything, and I'm glad that she will have a great African celebration. As excited as I am to see my family and friends, there is still the slightest twinge of pain leaving everyone here. I would love to spend the holidays with my Honduran "family," but we can't be everywhere at once and we all have to enjoy each moment to fullest wherever we find ourselves.

Said goodbye to my dear hospital until next year...

I pray that the closing of this year brings back lots of good memories and lessons learned for all of you, and as we think about the new coming year that we will remember to live for what really matters most and for what has lasting impact.