Passports and MEDICO

With the advent of the new government policies regarding securing passport and their usage in travel we have found the need to prompt all volunteers with these guidelines.

1. Ensure you have applied for your passport in ample time to participate on a field team. Estimates are now at 3 to 4 months to await receipt of one’s passport. This applies to replacement passports as well.
2. Carefully examine your passport expiration date to ensure you have at least 6 months left on your passport upon return from your trip. The Honduran government will not allow you to travel back to your country of origin without a minimum number of months left on your passport and we would prefer to ere on the side of caution.
3. Paying extra to expedite a passport is a possibility to assure getting it in a timely manner. Given the government's response time for passports this can sometimes be a prudent plan of action.
   

MEDICO, as well as all international organizations serving outside the US has been confronted with rules and regulations that have made traveling a bit more complicated. These rules and regulations are not insurmountable obstacles but are merely policies that ensure the safety of those traveling. In order to provide the smoothest effort in travel, please be sure to follow our MEDICO guidelines. If you have any questions please be sure and give our Director of Volunteers a call at 512-930-1893.

Central America and you...

It's hard to imagine that 2 of the top 3 poorest countries in Central America are Honduras and Nicaragua. Over 12.5 million people, half of which live at or below poverty level. Imagine living in this destitute region of the world and living in such a remote area that there is no trained doctor, much less a dentist or optometrist. Now imagine awaking one morning with a cough or an ache, maybe you've got a tooth that is falling out or perhaps you've had headaches from straining your eyes. What are your options? The reality reminds you that there are very few options available to you. You can try to hike to the nearest town or city but that might be a full day's journey one way and, no doubt, it will be on foot as you haven't had the funds to purchase a vehicle, much less manage the maintenance. You might risk waiting until the symptoms pass but what if the symptoms become worse? Would it be too late at that point to try to find help for your medical issue?

This scenario plagues the residents living throughout Honduras and Nicaragua. They live on a precipice between sufficient health to provide for their families needs and catastrophic health concerns brought on by simple, chronic health issues. Concerns that jeopardize the life of a family particularly if the health concerns affect head of household. Many solutions to the health crises facing these residents are simple by comparison - consumable water, vitamin supplements, prenatal care, a pair of glasses, the pulling of a fragmented tooth. These solutions and others are the foundation of service MEDICO provides.

Each year MEDICO sends field teams into these regions of the world, six to eight times annually, providing solutions through short-term medical missions. Thus far we've impacted the lives of over 150,000 patients through medical, eye and dental clinics provided through the care of over 2000 volunteers participating world-wide.

How can we advance this mission? With your help we can move forward in Central America and around the world providing a comprehensive medical solution to a global predicament. MEDICO's strength is found in the people that participate, through field team volunteers, to the warehouse volunteers at our world headquarters in Texas, to the philanthropic visionaries providing financial resources to see our strategic goals are reached.

In a remote village tucked high in the mountainous area of western Honduras a family anticipates the arrival of help for a family member who is ill. Join us in our effort to respond.