What?
The primary goal of the project is to improve the health and welfare of Hondurans living in the project area. Our hope is that successful interventions in the project area will be disseminated to other needy communities in Honduras and beyond. Because the Department of Family Medicine is a teaching institution, an anticipated side benefit is to train other health professionals to improve their care of under-served populations anywhere in the world. When we reviewed job choices of graduates of our program, we found that the vast majority of doctors that spent time overseas ended up working with the under-served – both in the US and in developing countries.
Who?
The University of Rochester/Highland Hospital Family Medicine Residency Program conceived and created the San Jose project in collaboration with the inhabitants of the San Jose area. Dr. Stockman is the current Director for Global and Refugee Health at the Department and leads the San Jose project from the US side. In the past, Dr. Stockman had spent over three years volunteering in rural areas of West Africa where much of his energies were directed towards rural development in addition to curative medical care. He brings his extensive global health and development experience to the San Jose project.
When?
Up until the Covid pandemic of 2020 our group visited the San Jose site twice a year since 2004. We have made San Jose our main project site. Our intentions have been made very clear to the people of San Jose. We will continue to work with them in partnership until they feel they no longer need our support because the project has been a success. We realize that life-altering changes take time. We expect to be involved with this community for at least 1-2 generations.
Where?
San Jose San Marcos de Sierra is in the state of Intibuca, Honduras, Central America. Honduras is one of the poorest countries in the Western hemisphere. Intibuca is one of the poorest states in Honduras and the county of San Marcos is the poorest county in Intibuca. San Jose San Marcos is a township made up of seven different small villages spread out over about 5-7 square miles of mountainous terrain. Most homes are at least ¼- ½ mile from their nearest neighbor. Honduras is very US-friendly with many US companies having a significant presence.
More details at: CIA Factbook | Wikipedia
Why?
The Department of Family Medicine visited Honduras four times before deciding to partner with the people of San Jose. During those first four trips, we visited multiple rural communities interviewing them as to their needs, their problems, their resources and their strengths. San Jose was well organized and had worked together previously on multiple projects. Some of these included cutting a road with pick axes and shovels through the mountains and building a new primary school for their children. They had proven to themselves and others that they had the desire to improve their quality of life. They just needed a few more resources and a few new ideas to make great things happen.
How?
We try very hard to let the people of San Jose tell us what they need. In other words, listening is the first step to partnering with the San Jose people. We went to San Jose and informed the people we could promise nothing. We just want to learn from each other and see if by collaboration we could address some of their concerns. The people of San Jose were very clear as to their five greatest problems:
- lack of water
- inadequate nutrition
- limited/no education
- limited/no access to health care
- poverty
Please see the trip reports to learn more about some of the interventions we are pursuing to address these identified problems.