As soon as I posted the first post for today, I regretted it. It was too general, too simple and really didn’t explain why I was here or what was going on. There is only so much I can cover in a “blog” without it turning into something else, of course, and I plan to write this up for another publication or two when I get home. That said, I think I can add some more detail to explain the “purpose” of this adventure.

Since the mid-1960s, Moskito Indians from the La Moskitia region of Honduras and Nicaragua have been diving for lobster. In the beginning they dived without scuba, freediving, and were very good at it. But, as is somewhat inevitable, they had to go deeper and deeper so they began using scuba. Even then they have had to move deeper and deeper to continue their harvest.

In short, their diving has evolved well beyond any recreational or commercial limit into the extreme—and extremely dangerous. Often, these divers make 8 to 12 divers (or more) a day for 12 days to 100 feet or more. Simply put, that is insane. One of the greatest mysteries of this is why these divers don’t experience more problems than they do.

Dr. Elmer Mejia has been treating these divers for nearly 20 years, starting out as a hyperbaric technician, then a nurse and now as a physician. Today I showed him a video produced about 15 years ago in Roatan. He is in it. He remembered the people and the situation. Dr. Mejia does his best to treat these divers and restore their health and function. Sometimes he is successful, other times less so. But, he has dedicated his life to serving this community and trying to make a difference.

These extreme diving exposures often lead to severe paralysis and sometimes death. Today, Dr. Mejia treated a diver who had come to the chamber paralyzed from the top of his abdomen down. He can now walk again, but he is unable to urinate on his own. He has to wear a catheter. On the boat before he ever made it to the chamber, this man had to insert his own catheter—he used kitchen grease as the lubricant. Dr. Mejia is continuing to treat him and work with him to restore him to normal function. He is fighting the residual affects of the diving injury along with a serious urinary tract infection at the same time. We can only hope for the best. If he returns to his home in La Moskitia, he’ll probably only live a couple more years. Continuing to use a catheter, finding sterile materials and such, is nearly impossible.

So, that ultimately is the purpose for this adventure. We are going to travel to Puerto Lempira to visit with some of Dr. Mejia’s former patients and see where they live. I want to understand their quality of life. It’s important we all understand the price these men are paying to harvest lobster for American dinner tables and “all-you-can-eat” buffets. As Divers Alert Network, my employer, evolves we are looking for ways to use our expertise in diving medicine to help underserved populations like this one..

The last time I visited Honduras was back in February (If you’re curious about my first impression of Honduras check out the February posts). I’m not sure if I’m just more familiar with things this time around, but things seem a bit calmer this time around.

There is a certain civility to the roads here that I’m not sure I noticed before. While there is a fair bit of honking of horns and such right outside my window, I also noticed today drivers almost anticipating that they were going to get cut off and so they stopped or slowed (driving defensively?) to allow other drivers to pull out into traffic.

The last time I visited, as we drove across the country to and from the airport, we were stopped at a number of police checkpoints. Coming in yesterday, there were none out on the roads. Now, it was Sunday and it was hot and the sun was bright. It is entirely possible that the police just didn’t feel like setting up the checkpoints, but I don’t think so.

A few months ago, the country was still a bit on edge from the transition in their government. Now, it seems as if people are used to the new normal and living their lives. We even saw a protest that blocked the road for around 20 minutes last time, but there was no sign of anything like that yesterday. On the road from San Pedro Sula to La Ceiba, we have to pass over some small mountain. Every few hundred yards (it seemed like) there were mountain streams with people cooling off and passing their Sunday afternoons in the water.

One thing Elmer, Alex and I discussed on the drive was the economic situation in the US and its influence here. Elmer explained that “when the US gets a cough, Honduras gets pneumonia.” They are very dependent on us for their own economic viability. So, he was happy to hear that things seemed to be improving in the US. I did notice some new construction here in town today, too. And not as many young men hanging out in the park in the afternoon. Those seem to be good signs for Honduras.

Very early in the morning Elmer and in the morning are going to get on a small commuter plane and fly out to Puerto Lempira, Honduras. (If you have Google Earth, check it out) That is the real purpose of this trip. In February, I learned about the Moskito Indians and the toll harvesting lobster by hand takes on their bodies. This trip, we are going to visit the “capital” of La Moskitia and see things first hand. There is a place there where impaired divers are given physical rehabilitation. Even so, most of them only last a few years because of their injuries. It should be quite an experience.

Before I left home, Elmer told me to bring good boots, long pants and long-sleeved shirts. So, it’s off to the jungle we go. If I can connect from La Moskitia I will post from there. No clue at the moment, but to be honest I am doubtful I’ll have any access at all. Stay tuned for more…pics will follow soon..

Sunday morning I head back to the airport and from there back to Honduras. While my last two international trips were about the completion of a project, exhibiting a collection of photographs, Honduras represents the beginning of a new one—and a new adventure.

After making sure everything is in order on Monday after my arrival, on Tuesday Dr. Elmer Mejia and I are traveling by airplane (there are no roads to get there) to Puerto Lempira in the La Moskitia region of Honduras to visit with lobster divers. Reportedly, there are around 9,000 Moskito Indians in the region who dive regularly harvesting lobster. About half of them have some neurological condition, including severe paralysis, that was caused by the extreme exposures and dive conditions these divers experience. They often dive well beyond any recommended dive table in the hunt for lobsters, sacrificing their bodies, so Americans can have all-you-can-eat lobster.

The problem is these divers don’t see any other way to make a living. If they try to dive more safely—as people have tried to teach them before—they can’t collect as many lobsters and feed their families. If they don’t dive, there really aren’t many opportunities for them to earn a living at all. That is, none without helping to run drugs across Honduras heading north to the American market. So, in short, it comes down to feeding one American appetite or another to make a living and probably die trying.

Dr. Mejia and I are going to visit these divers, many of them his former patients, in their villages. I hope to learn more from them about their diving circumstances, the conditions they work in, and understand their lives at home.

Not sure how much access I will have to the internet. I will be able to connect in La Ceiba, but I’m doubtful about the time I’m in Puerto Lempira. Never know until I get there.

And away we go!.

We took off this morning and drove most of the way across the country of Honduras. We agreed that since our work was done, or as much as we could get done on this trip anyway, we wanted to see the Mayan ruins at Copan.

The drive took us almost to Guatemala and over mountains that passed 1000 meters, but we finally got here. Took about 6 hours, a couple more police stops (where they actually made us all get out of the car this time) and a protest on a bridge that stopped traffic for about 20 minutes, and we finally got here.

We did make one quick stop along the way, too, to grab some breakfast at a roadside stand. Very traditional meat, eggs and cheese on a tortilla. And boy was it good.

It was an interesting progression across the country. The eastern end of Honduras is very green and lush with palm trees, jungle-like. As we moved west, it got slowly browner and dryer as we moved into the hills. It began to remind me more of Mexico or even southern California (at least the undeveloped areas) than the other side. The people, too, seemed to have a bit more of a Mayan influence, physically, than the eastern Hondurans. It’s beautiful country side though and I would like to spend more time here.

There weren’t any English speaking guides around, but Matias was good enough to help me out. Pretty breathtaking place. It’s not the biggest of the Mayan ruins in Central America, but it is an exceptionally nice one. Our guide Eduardo was great and very informative. You’d almost think he was there when the place was occupied. But, he must have been much younger than me, because he wasn’t out of breath at all leading us up and down the ruins, when the rest of us were breathing hard. That’s the only solution I can come up with anyway…. Copan existed with 16 kings over 400 years of continuous rule. Many of the structures represented one kind in particular, 18 Rabbit King, the 11th in the line. Like most of the Mayan world, no clue what caused it to disappear. Even these trips, though, give you an insight into the culture that has existed in these very lands for 1500 years, or more. That is nothing to ignore.

There will be more posts from Honduras in the weeks and months to come. This has been a great beginning to a new project that will open the eyes of many divers around the world. As its still developing, I don’t really want to talk about it yet. I believe I’ll be coming back here in June and from there I’ll be able to move things forward. I will say, though, that this trip definitely qualifies as an Adventure with a Purpose.

Until then, tomorrow Matias and I begin a 24 hour odyssey to get home, landing around 8 am on Sunday morning. Wish us luck..