Vida Nueva United Methodist Church began sending a yearly Medical Caravan to Honduras in 1999 as a response to the devastation of Hurricane Mitch. Over the years, the Medical Caravan has seen 24,251 patients and distributed 17,500 pounds of food in some of the poorest communities in Latin America.

Mountainous Honduras is a constitutional democracy bounded by Nicaragua, El Salvador and Guatemala. In 2005 the GDP per capita was $2,900.

There are people in grave need of medical care in the remote villages of the mountains and in the inner city of Tegucigalpa.  The Vida Nueva Medical Caravans go to these locations to serve people where they live.

The 2009 Caravan continued to work closely with Iglesia Central Evangelica de Santidad, the host church in Tegucigalpa, Honduras.  The team was based at the Humuya Inn in Tegucigalpa. 

2009 Caravan Activities included:

Clinic Days - 8

Clinic Sites – La Venta, El Portillo, Yaguacire, Tutule, Oojona, and El Porvenier

Patients served – 2,424

Prescriptions filled - 7,300

First Aid Kits prepared for village schools – 6

First Aid Kit prepared for Yaguacire Orphanage – 1

Teeth pulled by 2 local assisting orthodontic surgeons – 100 on 1 day

OTC Reading Eye Glasses distributed - 200

Beans and Rice distributed – 3,500 pounds to 750 families

School Supplies distributed - 6 very large boxes (1 to each village school)

Dates of 2009 Caravan:  January 27 through February 6, 2009

Contact person:  David Peñalva--pastor of Vida Nueva United Methodist Church. 

(317) 638-0796 or davidpenalva@vidanuevaumc.org

A News Article on the 2008 trip can be found here