The VHC Medical Brigade mourns the loss of Elizabeth Koop, MS, CRNA, known to all as Betsy. She was one of the original volunteers in the Brigade and a founding member of the Rural Village Project (RVP), which has provided clinics, clean water and health education to communities in remote areas of Honduras.

As we continue to navigate through the COVID-19 pandemic, we have been so grateful for the ongoing support we’ve received. And while this difficult time has meant we’ve had to change how we’re doing things, we can still report our water projects and healthcare work in Comayagua is moving along!

Over the past week, we were able to deliver food donated by Pack Away Hunger, sterile gloves and oxygen cannulas to our partner hospital Santa Teresa; medications like acetaminophen, zinc, prenatal vitamins and more, donated by the Brigade and Vitamin Angels, to our three mountain clinics; and install a new vaporizer on the anesthesia machine at Santa Teresa.

We train community health workers through a curriculum developed by the Brigade that is customized to address the most common diseases they face. The result is that residents have access to services that otherwise would not be available.