21 Apr A Note from Phil Waldron – April 2020
Dear Friends,
Robin Young and Serena McMahon wrote an article that reported that Honduras has only 12 respirators. Honduras is a relatively small country, but it still has eight million citizens. Twelve respirators will not be adequate for what is coming. These same authors also reported on the systematic corruption that pervades every sector of Honduran society. They say that it is often elected government officials that plunder the coffers at the expense of the poor. They offered up a recent example to underscore their point.
According to Young/McMahon, the government sent the presidential plane to the US to purchase respirators. They reported that they purchased 140 of them, but once the machines were brought back and examined by Honduran doctors, it was discovered that they were BiPAP machines instead of the needed respirators.
Our daughter lives in Brooklyn, NY in the very epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic. We have grave concerns for her, her roommates, and their fellow New Yorkers. We are praying for America and those suffering from the pandemic. Both Donna and I believe that being US citizens living year-round in Honduras gives us and arm’s length perspective on both countries and both cultures. I can tell you, from our perspective, that as bad as it could be for people in the US, things in Honduras could be exponentially worse. Take for instance the “shelter in place” and “social distancing” mandates in force in most of the US. In Honduras, there is almost complete lock down. It reminds me of the times as a boy that my family experience Martial Law in Karachi, Pakistan during the 1960’s. This will go a long way to “flatten the curve” of the spread of the virus, but it will have a devastating effect on an already hurting economy.
The US Government rushed through a $2 Trillion-dollar stimulus package that, Lord willing, will go a long way towards helping individuals, families, and businesses. In Honduras, however, no such help is available.
Honduras needs you to continue to help Mission Upreach. In this time of anxiety and concern about what is going to happen in the US, please do not forget about Honduras. We have already seen a decline in donations that will have a huge impact on our year once we come through this current crisis. Our calculations show that between employees, suppliers, and their families, that more than 1,000 people depend on MUR for their sustenance in a large way.
We need your help. We are asking you to give and to give generously so that we can continue the good works that God has been doing through our ministries here.
May God bless you and keep you in these uncertain times, and may He bless these beautiful United States of America.
Phil Waldron
CEO
Mission Upreach, Inc.
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