A Rural Community Health Centre, Morazán, Honduras 1991
I visited the community health centre (Centro De Salud) at Morazán, Yoro, Honduras and surrounding villages in March 1991. The community health centre was run by Jospice International a Catholic charity based in Liverpool, UK. The health centre was staffed by volunteers and medics from the UK wanting overseas medical experience. The health centre is now a government run maternity and child clinic.
Morazán is a small town around 30mls west of San Pedro Sula, in recent years the town and its population has expanded dramatically and now has a population of nearly 20,000.
My purpose was to photograph the day to day health care activities at the health centre and its outreach programme which was providing medical support to outlying villages. A selection of these photographs are below.
This work was supported by Panos Pictures and The World Health Organisation.
All images are Strictly Copyright © Bill Stephenson All Rights Reserved
[M 01] View down the main street from the health centre.
[M 02] Girl returns an empty bottle of Coca Cola to the nearby pulperia (grocery store) for a small deposit. Despite fruit seemingly growing on every tree and the potential for producing healthy natural fruit juices, none are available. Coca Cola and Pepsi smother any local competition and dominate the soft drinks market selling throughout Honduras. It’s extraordinary that water or fruit juices locally produced are not available. With sales of these type of sugary, carbonated drinks declining in the US and Europe due to an epidemic of obesity and associated health problems, companies such as Coca Cola seek to exploit countries such as Honduras with unregulated advertising aimed at adolescents.
[M 03] This 16 year old girl is in the second stage of labour in the maternity room at the health centre. Her father is with her providing support and encouragement. She went though her labour and birth without any pain relief.
[M 04] The baby is delivered, umbilical cord cut and the baby takes his first breath. The baby was delivered by Alfonso, a Honduran medical student and Dawn, a nurse from Jospice International.
[M 05] Dawn presents the baby to her mother.
[M 06] Dawn wraps the baby in a towel and prepares to wash him. While the mother is recovering, she pushes out the placenta.
[M 07] This boy was brought to the health centre by members of his family. He has been shot with a hand gun in both legs by a member of the Nation Police as a punishment, he is accused of stealing fire wood from a nearby cattle ranch. Fortunately both bullets narrowly missed his bones and major arteries, his wounds were cleaned, stitched and he recovered slowly. The police in rural Honduras operate with complete impunity, representing and protecting the interests of wealthy ranchers.
[M 08] The boy is visited by his father and grandfather the following day after the shooting. Impoverished families in rural areas typically live on tiny parcels of land with very little possibility of economic improvement. Resentment between the extreme poor and wealthy must inevitably lead to civil unrest as the poor justifiably demand a fairer distribution of wealth.
[M 09] This boy was receiving physiotherapy to help his mobility and mental functioning after being shot in the head by a private security guard at a cattle ranch. He was accused of trespassing and was firing on without warning.
[M 10] This small child has been kicked in her mouth by a calf. Injuries to small children after crawling into cattle pens is a common occurrence. Her mouth was successfully stitched and she made a full recovery.
[M 11] A very compliant child is examined by a nurse at the health centre.
[M 12] A woman indicates which tooth is giving her pain. There is no dentist at the health centre, so she was taken to a dentist in San Pedro Sula.
[M 13] This young child has discoloured brown teeth caused by poor dental hygiene. Her mother was encouraged to brush her child’s teeth regularly and was given a child’s toothbrush and fluoride toothpaste.
[M 14] Mothers breast and bottle feeding their babies outside a church at La Estancia.
[M 15] Breast feeding mother.
[M 16] Mother with her child which has mild eye misalignment or esotropia. Infantile esotropia usually corrects itself as the child grows older.
[M 17] Elderly man greets us during a home visit by a nurse from the health centre.
[M 18] Elderly man waits for an appointment at the health centre.#1
[M 19] Elderly man waits for an appointment at the health centre.#2
All images are Strictly Copyright © Bill Stephenson. All Rights Reserved.
[M 01] View down the main street from the health centre.
[M 02] Girl returns an empty bottle of Coca Cola to the nearby pulperia (grocery store) for a small deposit. Despite fruit seemingly growing on every tree and the potential for producing healthy natural fruit juices, none are available. Coca Cola and Pepsi smother any local competition and dominate the soft drinks market selling throughout Honduras. It’s extraordinary that water or fruit juices locally produced are not available. With sales of these type of sugary, carbonated drinks declining in the US and Europe due to an epidemic of obesity and associated health problems, companies such as Coca Cola seek to exploit countries such as Honduras with unregulated advertising aimed at adolescents.
[M 03] This 16 year old girl is in the second stage of labour in the maternity room at the health centre. Her father is with her providing support and encouragement. She went though her labour and birth without any pain relief.
[M 04] The baby is delivered, umbilical cord cut and the baby takes his first breath. The baby was delivered by Alfonso, a Honduran medical student and Dawn, a nurse from Jospice International.
[M 05] Dawn presents the baby to her mother.
[M 06] Dawn wraps the baby in a towel and prepares to wash him. While the mother is recovering, she pushes out the placenta.
[M 07] This boy was brought to the health centre by members of his family. He has been shot with a hand gun in both legs by a member of the Nation Police as a punishment, he is accused of stealing fire wood from a nearby cattle ranch. Fortunately both bullets narrowly missed his bones and major arteries, his wounds were cleaned, stitched and he recovered slowly. The police in rural Honduras operate with complete impunity, representing and protecting the interests of wealthy ranchers.
[M 08] The boy is visited by his father and grandfather the following day after the shooting. Impoverished families in rural areas typically live on tiny parcels of land with very little possibility of economic improvement. Resentment between the extreme poor and wealthy must inevitably lead to civil unrest as the poor justifiably demand a fairer distribution of wealth.
[M 09] This boy was receiving physiotherapy to help his mobility and mental functioning after being shot in the head by a private security guard at a cattle ranch. He was accused of trespassing and was firing on without warning.
[M 10] This small child has been kicked in her mouth by a calf. Injuries to small children after crawling into cattle pens is a common occurrence. Her mouth was successfully stitched and she made a full recovery.
[M 11] A very compliant child is examined by a nurse at the health centre.
[M 12] A woman indicates which tooth is giving her pain. There is no dentist at the health centre, so she was taken to a dentist in San Pedro Sula.
[M 13] This young child has discoloured brown teeth caused by poor dental hygiene. Her mother was encouraged to brush her child’s teeth regularly and was given a child’s toothbrush and fluoride toothpaste.
[M 14] Mothers breast and bottle feeding their babies outside a church at La Estancia.
[M 15] Breast feeding mother.
[M 16] Mother with her child which has mild eye misalignment or esotropia. Infantile esotropia usually corrects itself as the child grows older.
[M 17] Elderly man greets us during a home visit by a nurse from the health centre.
[M 18] Elderly man waits for an appointment at the health centre.#1
[M 19] Elderly man waits for an appointment at the health centre.#2
All images are Strictly Copyright © Bill Stephenson. All Rights Reserved.