A team of Lee University students and faculty recently returned from Honduras, where they provided medical care, community outreach, and children’s ministry alongside volunteer medical professionals, interpreters, alumni, and other volunteers through a longstanding partnership with Dr. Martin and Wendy Williams at the Jungle Hospital in Rio Viejo, Honduras.

The team included 12 students, including four nursing majors and eight natural sciences majors, as well as three faculty members: Dr. Lori West, chair of the Department of Natural Sciences; Amy Blake, senior lecturer of nursing; and JoBeth Boyer, faculty member in the Department of Natural Sciences. The trip also served as a Global Perspectives experience, allowing students to fulfill cross-cultural requirements for academic credit.

The group traveled to Honduras June 5-19, combining clinical service, community outreach, and cultural engagement while supporting the ongoing work of the Jungle Hospital and its ministry throughout the surrounding region.

During the trip, the team served patients through medical clinics at the Jungle Hospital and mobile medical brigades in several surrounding villages, including Los Limpios, San Antonio, Las Mangas, and El Paraiso. Working alongside medical professionals, students assisted with patient intake and triage, vision screenings, dental care, pharmacy operations, and other aspects of patient care. The team also toured IER, a private Christian school adjacent to the hospital, visited the public school in Rio Viejo, and worked with children at the hospital’s new children’s center.

Through generous donations from alumni who previously participated in the medical missions program, the team transported more than 22 totes of medicines and medical supplies to Honduras, including approximately 400 pairs of prescription eyeglasses.

“We are so thankful to serve alongside Dr. Martin and Mrs. Wendy Williams at the Jungle Hospital,” said West. “This trip is truly transformational, not only for our students, but for everyone who participates. We are fortunate to have alumni and other providers who pay their own way not only to serve the people of Honduras but also to mentor our students.”

Medical providers serving alongside the team included Lee alumni Dr. Zach Gray, Brandon West, and Dr. Cassie (Brown) Stephenson, as well as Dr. Jacob Wood, Dr. Danielle Varljen, Dr. Eric Coker, Carrianna Coker, and Dr. Jacob Perry, a dentist. The team also received support from interpreters Willa and Bedford Smith, both Lee alumni with longstanding ties to the university, and Dr. Eddie Brown, former Lee chemistry professor.

Student participants were Emme Clowdus, Brynn Depinet, Nichole Fisher, Savannah Goodbread, Noah Jones, Hannah Joseph, Nickolas Lard, Emmalee Nelson, Madelyn Pitney, Jonah Pope, Kati Pourfarzib, and Cody Wilson.

“Watching every member of our team come together to care for a baby with severe pneumonia is something I’ll never forget,” said Jones. “That moment of unity, with everyone focused on helping one patient, reflected the compassionate care that Dr. Martin and the Jungle Hospital provide every day. The experience changed the way I want to help people in ways I can’t fully put into words, and I’m incredibly grateful I had the opportunity to be part of it.”