Roatan Volunteer Pediatric Clinic Blog- 2017 to Present

When I arrived in Roatán an employee of Clinica Esperanza picked me up from the airport. He drove a bright orange van, the back of which bounced frequently, hitting the pavement as we dodged potholes. I took in my new home for the month on the way to my apartment, as we made our way down the singular road that runs the length of the island. On Roatán the resorts neighbor the poverty. The contrast between the two was visible just in the drive from the airport, as we passed huge hotels that sat just adjacent to smaller convenience stores and houses in need of repair. This contrast was perhaps most exemplified in the pediatric inpatient room of the hospital, where necessary equipment and medications are often in short supply and mothers sit by their children’s beds in donated cruise ship chairs.The juxtaposition between vacation and the crude reality of poverty exist so close to one another on the island, yet the two rarely intersect. My days at the hospital began with rounds with the pe…