“I was touched more than ever before,” said SSM St. Mary’s Health Center physician Dr. Helen Kornblum upon return from her most recent medical mission trip to Honduras. She recently spent two weeks on a medical brigade for the non-profit that she founded – A Mission in God’s Amore (AMIGA), which provides basic medical care, preventative health education and hope for some of the most impoverished in Honduras.
“We set up in three different bannana plantations and saw about 300 patients a day,” said Dr. Korblum. “Several people thanked us for coming back and for not forgetting about them.”
A Mission in God’s Amore (AMIGA) – The beginning
When Dr. Helen Kornblum agreed to visit a new clinic in Honduras in 2005, she had no idea how much it would alter her life. On her first visit, a girl about 5 years old traveled six hours with her mother to have an abscess excised. Or as a young nurse put it, “She is here to have the worms cut out of her head.” And with only one small dose of lidocaine available, the young girl held still for the procedure.
Four months later, Dr. Kornblum returned and insisted on visiting the young girl, who lived in a remote mountain village in a house with a thatch roof.
“I was determined to understand how this could happen,” said Dr. Kornblum, who once at the house ended up seeing 100 patients from the mountainous region. The next visit, she saw 200.
“In a week’s time, we’ll see about 1,000 patients,” said Dr. Kornblum.
As a result, Dr. Kornblum made a dramatic change and left emergency medicine and returned to practicing internal medicine, joining the IPC Hospitalists at SSM St. Mary’s in Richmond Heights, Mo., where she had previously completed her residency. Then in 2007, she co-founded A Mission In God’s Amore (AMIGA) with Sister Raquel Ortez of the Sisters of Notre Dame, who is originally from Honduras.
“Sister Raquel gave me a tremendous perspective on the culture, helping me understand the patients,” said Dr. Kornblum.
A steadfast mission
In November 2011, Dr. Kornblum escorted her fourteenth group to Honduras where AMIGA now has a house to accommodate the 15-20 high school, college or medical resident students who assist each trip. On this most recent medical brigade, Dr. Kornblum was accompanied by SSM St. Mary’s Nurse Practitioner Fiona Aronberg, R.N., two physicians from Boston, Mass., and three retired nurses. She also met up with Kansas City, Kan. nurse Katie Herrera who has been doing mission work in Honduras since August of this year.
Dr. Kornblum and her group treat patients with parasitic and skin diseases, asthma, diabetes, gynecological conditions, hypertension and musculoskeletal conditions.
“In a week’s time, we’ll see about 1,000 patients,” said Dr. Kornblum. “People will walk for hours, wait for hours and be grateful for a bag of vitamins and a bar of soap.”
With her own funds, whatever she can get donated and the help of the Our Lady of Perpetual Help parish in San Antonio, Texas, Dr. Kornblum and Sr. Raquel travel 2-3 times per year on medical brigades and preparatory trips to help their patients in the region of La Lima, Honduras.
“We spend a lot of time educating people,” said Dr. Kornblum. “We also give scholarships to deserving young students with little opportunity for education who make good grades, help AMIGA and serve the community.”
On this latest trip, there were eight students benefitting from AMIGA scholarships. They sell wares to benefit AMIGA, agree to go to school and maintain good grades and write a letter of their work for AMIGA, their scholastic progress and their hopes for the future.
“You touch one life… and you don’t know what that one life will go on to do,” said Dr. Kornblum. “The practice of medicine is a great privilege. I am just an instrument of God’s work through me.”
Delivering hope
Dr. Kornblum and her colleagues are working to secure non-profit status in Honduras for AMIGA and to either expand their current home or relocate it. As the political climate continues to bring challenges, Dr. Kornblum’s organization continues to bring hope and strives for new ways to support the community. With each visit, AMIGA expands its reach a little bit more, bringing smiles and change to the region they serve.
Dr. Kornblum will return to Honduras in December to lead a retreat for 60 guests. Her next medical brigade is in June 2012 when she will lead a multi-disciplinary team of Saint Louis University School of Medicine students and other volunteers, providing medical and nutritional care.
Learn more about AMIGA at www.HondurasAMIGA.com.