I participated on a mission trip to Honduras on July 31^st of 2016. Here are some of the highlights from my trip:  

The first day we actually did work was on a Monday, and that morning Todd Taylor had the medical clinic open inside the mission we were staying at. There was a man outside who Todd told us would come to the clinic almost every day and inform Todd that he needed to be seen because he was “dying”; however, there was usually nothing wrong with him. But this day he actually was dying. He was standing on the deck waiting for Todd, and you could see patches of his skin falling off and he was very sick. After further questioning, Todd concluded the man had eaten poisonous barracuda (a native fish). With some medicine he would be okay--just sick for a few days. Larry and Sheila later told us that many people eat this fish. To check if it is poisonous or not you cut the head off and throw it on the ant hills. If the ants eat it, then it's safe; if they don't, then it's poisonous. This man had obviously skipped this vital step.

Wednesday was our only “non-typical” day. In the early morning hours a hurricane hit the island. We mainly got the outside of the hurricane, which was a lot of wind and rain; however, it was enough to keep us inside all day, although some of the island kids braved the wind and rain to come play games on the covered deck with us. Most of the islanders’ homes are built on stilts in the ocean with decks leading to their homes, and the main damage done was the waves’ destruction of the docks.

The hurricane approaches 

The hurricane from our upper deck 

On Thursday morning I went along with Todd to do his medical rounds. We had to walk to the opposite side of the island to take a women her medicine and supplies for her diabetes. Todd had told me that she had a hole in her foot due to the extremeness of her condition. When we got there he unwrapped her foot, and as soon as I saw it my head started spinning and I passed out. That was the day I decided I could never be a nurse. 

On Friday night we went out into the community and ate traditional meals with some of the families instead of having a community night at the mission. The night we ate in the community my dad was served fish and when he was done eating it, he asked what kind it was. They told my dad the fish was barracuda; however, this time it was not poisonous. I was also served fish with the head attached and all. It looked like it was just smiling up at me.

My authentic cuisine (thankfully, not Barracuda) 

Sunday was different than the weekdays because on Sunday we went to church and just hung around the mission. Sunday afternoon we walked to the opposite side of the island to go swimming at the coral reefs. We also took the island children along, even though they wouldn't get in the water because they informed us that around the time we were there was when the sharks would feed. On our way back to the mission from swimming we got caught in a huge storm and had to have the rest of the team come pick us up in the mission’s boat.

Our group before our swim to the reef

The main thing I learned from my experience was that even though the islanders have so little, they are the happiest people that you will ever meet. On a daily basis they live with no water, electricity, and sometimes no food, but they would literally hand you the shirt off their backs if you asked for it. It was one of the greatest and most humbling experiences of my life.