On Thursday, January 9^th, 17 adults and 1 high school student left LeMars, Iowa for the 5^th in a series of adult and students trips into Honduras.  They would be joined in Houston, Texas, Thursday evening by 2 more missioners. This years team was medical and construction and consisted of Dr. Tom Duncan-LeMars M.D., Dr. Larry Ryan-Phoenix, Arizona M.D., Dr. Chuck Keenan-LeMars Podiatrist, Dr. Peggy McGinty-Ponca, Nebraska-Dentist, Dr. Jerry Shey-Algona Veterinarian, nurse Pat Boudreau-Sioux City, nurse Molly Ryan-North Liberty, pharmacist Tom Ryan-LeMars, team leader Francis Seivert-Elkton, S.D., pharmacy assistant Phil Ryan-LeMars, general medical assistants: Karmen Betsworth-LeMars, Lisa Sitzmann-LeMars, LuAnn Langel-LeMars, Erin Rae Sitzmann-LeMars, translators Geralynn Fjeldheim-Sioux City, Omar Aleman-LeMars, Missy Langel, Cedar Falls, construction workers: Norbert Janning-LeMars, Wayne Wittkop-LeMars, and Tom Henrich-LeMars. The team like all previous ones has located in El Guante with 2 Roman Catholic Sisters, Valerie Knoche and Barb Zimmer, both Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary out of  Monroe, Michigan. Sister Val has been a missionary sister for 30 years and Sister Barb for 20.
The Sunday before they left, January 5^th,  Fr. Jim Tigges, Pastor of St. James in LeMars said a special mission Mass for the group. The group then packed all medicines and equipment for the journey to Honduras. Prior to leaving on Thursday, Fr. Andrew Hoffman, Pastor of St. Joseph's in LeMars, gave the team a final blessing in the lobby area of Gehlen Catholic. The group left Omaha's airport Thursday afternoon, overnighted in Houston, Texas, and landed in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, Friday noon. After a 2 ½ hour trip to El Guante the team got ready for their first day of mission work. 
The construction team worked for 6 days on the clinic that is being built in El Guante, Honduras, with donated money from the not-for-profit organization known as Mission Honduras LeMars, and Gehlen Catholic Mission Honduras Changing Lives. The team of Wayne Wittkop, Norb Janning, and Tom Henrich assisted in the digging and construction of the sanitary system that will be a part of the clinic. They moved tons of dirt, sifted tons of sand for concrete - all by shovel, and helped in many general ways with various projects of the clinic construction. The clinic construction is progressing nicely and most of the Gehlen team estimate it will be complete in 8-10 weeks. Gehlen Catholic has received a copy of the contract between the government of Honduras and the village of El Gunate. The clinic, when completed, will be designated a major regional medical center with a doctor being transferred in from Cedros, Honduras. The government is so impressed with the construction they will centralize a number of medical services out of the El Guante clinic. Gehlen's construction team was very impressed with the work ethic of the Hondurans doing the building and the technical parts of the clinic construction. They made a lot of friends in their six days.
The medical team spent 6 working days in the villages of Agua Caliente, El Higuerito, Terrero, Tamarindo, La Esparanza, and Guayvaillas. Each day the team would depart the Sisters compound very early in the morning in four trucks and drive under rough conditions to the days clinic. Clinics would be set up in old buildings, schools, or churches, often by draping tarps over hanging ropes. Some clinics were even set up in the open air. Hundreds of people, many who never or rarely get medical attention would come to clinic. Many would walk for hours, with their children, than stand in line for hours just to see a doctor. The team would work throughout the entire day - sometimes not being able to see all those who came to clinic. All those not seen by a doctor were given basic help in piperazine, mebendazole, Tylenol, soap, and vitamins when available. All patients were triaged by medical personnel that evaluated their medical needs. Those with the most serious problems were moved to the front to see a doctor. In totality the doctors saw 1,204 patients who then received prescriptions through our pharmacy.  Of this total 39% were patients 12 years of age or younger, while 61% were over 12. Seventy percent of all patients seen were female and 30 percent male.
211 people who did not see one of the doctors were triaged to receive parasite medicines, pain medicines, and soaps. Therefore, the total patients seen by our 3 medical doctors along with those triaged was 1,415. Our pharmacy filled well over 3,200 prescriptions in this 6 day period, covering both the medical and dental clinics. Our dental clinic saw 112 patients in 2 different villages, did 170 extractions, various fillings, and many other dental procedures, using portable equipment.  Our dental clinic distributed toothpaste and brushes to everyone who came to clinic. Our veterinary clinic saw various animals in 4 different clinics throughout the 6 day period. Some of the hundreds of animals treated were: horses, donkeys, oxen, cattle, dogs, chickens, pigs, cats, and turkeys, as well as others. The dental and vet clinic combined in an overnight excursion to a very remote village high in the mountains named Morales, where they worked for 2 days without electricity and very little in the way of normal amenities. Each village our teams worked in also helped by providing workers to aid in setting up the clinics, control things throughout the day, and provide a basic meal to the team members.
The entire team returned late Saturday evening, January 18^th. Mission complete. God Bless The 2003 Mission Team And God Bless The Poor Of The World.