Graduation Day for Delmer Montoya, MD

I first met Delmer Montoya while on an AHMEN mission trip to La Moskitia two years ago.  He and another medical student from the medical school in Tegucigalpa, came to the hotel in Palacios to ask if our group could leave some medications with them for use in treating local patients.  As part of their medical training, each medical student works for several months in rather remote areas of Honduras.  Delmer's post was at the Bayan Hospital at the edge of the Rio Platano Biosphere in Palacios.

All of us on the team were impressed with this young man.  Somewhat shy, and obviously a little hesitant to ask our team if they could help out his little hospital, we gave him what we could spare.  Since then, Delmer and I have become close friends through many emails over the past two years.  Last August he presented and excellent paper on the incidence of malnutrition among children in Palacios at the International Medical Symposium at Ciriboya.  He also served as the AHMEN physician for the recent AHMEN Belaire mission team.  He will again be with an AHMEN/CHIMES team when he goes with us to La Moskitia in April.

A few days ago, the formal graduation from medical school was held in Tegiucigalpa.  Although his work over the past few months has been as a physician, the title has been formally bestowed.  Here are the photos he sent me from the event.

I am very proud of him, especially in the ways he has stepped forward to help us in AHMEN serve the people of Honduras.