Fully vaccinated volunteers from Cape CARES are actively planning to return to Honduras in October of this year, 2021, and we plan to serve high priority patients from both San Marcos region and El Rodieto. We will extend our service week to see as many patients as possible. We will be implementing international COVID planning guidelines around social distance and masking, triage and isolation of ill patients.
After donating all of our PPE and pharmaceuticals in 2020 to the local hospital, Hospital Escuela, Cape CARES clinics are bone dry. Covid safety protocols must be in place for the entirety of our trip, which includes: extra water, tents for shade so people can socially distance while waiting to be triaged, PPE for volunteers and staff, hired staff to help with patient flow, and so much more. These necessities are making the trip cost very high in comparison to the past.
Cape CARES has spent this past year planning our return to Honduras. After halting our operations for over a year, Cape CARES Board of Directors has decided to return to our San Marcos clinic in October 2021. We plan on sending a small but mighty team of veteran volunteers who have all agreed on extending the trip to a full 7 days of seeing patients. Our hope is to see the most vulnerable patients from 22 surrounding villages.
We have been traveling to Honduras for over 30 years, six or more times a year, and we are eager to return to see patients who depend on us for medications and treatment. As the world faces a global pandemic and humanitarian crisis, Cape CARES volunteers must get back to providing free medical and dental care to our patients in Honduras.
