Holy Family Surgery Center Medical Brigade at NPH Honduras

Doctors, nurses, medical students, along with various people from many other walks of life traveled to NPH Honduras from April 12-19th to drastically change the lives of hundreds of people by providing necessary medical support for both the children on the Ranch and the outside community that otherwise would be left neglected. The Holy Family Surgery Center is a godsend for the poorest of the poor in Honduras because they are not only provided with access to healthcare, but they are also treated with the dignity that they, as humans, deserve. Stepping inside Hospital Escuela, the public hospital in Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras, gives a sense of how desperately this is needed. The chaotic, dangerous, and underfunded hospital cannot provide efficient or even effective support to those most in need. If someone needed any type of surgery—after arriving at Hospital Escuela, they would first be required to go across the street and purchase the proper equipment. To those struggling, this is an extra burden and often impossibility. 


Kate Clitheroe, the coordinator for the Holy Family Surgery Center that volunteers at NPH Honduras wrote the following, “During the April Medical Brigade, a group of more than 40 medical professionals came here to the NPH home in Honduras. These specialists (orthopedics, gynecology, ENT, and general surgery) gave consults to over 700 patients and preformed 94 surgeries. Many of these consults were for members of the NPH family and at least 10 surgeries were performed on NPH children and employees. The community members here, our neighbors, give thanks to the physicians, the Daly Family, and everyone who helped during this medical brigade.” 


Here is a brief interview with one woman’s whose life and family were drastically impacted by this wonderful work.

This experience not only impacts the lives of those in Honduras, but it also touches those who participate. Below are reflections from two of the participants from the April Brigade: 


I think this was my 6th or 7th brigade to the Holy Family Surgery Center at the NPH site in Honduras. Each trip brings its own unique challenges and rewards. It’s amazing how far we’ve come from those first brigades when only a few surgical cases were performed. On our latest brigade we performed nearly 100 surgeries and saw 800 patients in clinic, truly staggering numbers. It’s remarkable to witness how people come together over the course of the week to become an effective, efficient team. Folks with no medical background pitch in to become valuable team members, students contribute their youth and enthusiasm, and the long-term volunteers inspire us all with their dedication. Importantly, all this surgical/medical activity is set against the backdrop of the “Ranch:” 300+ children at once smiling, crying, laughing, failing, and succeeding. Each child has their own story to share and inspire us in turn. It’s these children that continue to motivate me to be better, try harder, and return time after time. 


-Michael Forseth, MD 


The Blue Flame 
Traveling the world as a missionary evangelist, my partner was a gifted minister & very successful businessman. We always kept an eye out for people, causes, & missions to support that could qualify as "blue flamers" - called such because that’s the cleanest, most efficient part of a gas fueled flame. Ministries that qualify are surprisingly hard to find. 


So to experience NPH Honduras - the ranch, and surgery center - was a revelation. A self-sufficient ranch, using resources wisely, a home for orphans that is their family rather than a holding tank for adoption. 


Children receiving an academic education as well as being offered not just the spoken word of God, but His love in action. 


A surgery center that is doing more than healing individuals, it is building community. 


Biggest blue flame I've ever seen! 


I went as a volunteer, came home a supporter.


XO, Randy Cleary