Nerlin Alvarez

End Date: Nov 2, 2012 12:00 AM

Nerlin is a five-year old boy living in El Cantón, Teupasenti, a mountainous, agricultural community in rural central Honduras. He lives with his mother, Mirian Suyapa Alvarez, father, and 3 older siblings (3 sisters, 1 brother). The six family members live in one house; the house has a latrine, concrete floors, shower, eco-stove, and pila built by Global Public Health Brigades in April 2012. Nerlin’s mother works at home and takes care of the children as well as the responsibilities of running the house. Nerlin’s father works in agriculture but does not own his own farmland. As a result, the family buys all of their food from El Cantón or from Teupasenti.

When Nerlin was younger, his mother says that he played with his brothers and sisters normally. One day he complained of a headache. Nerlin’s mother gave him acetaminophen, which helped with the pain temporarily, but he continued to complain about the pain. Very worried about the continuing pain, Nerlin’s mother took him to the government-run Centro de Salud (health center) in Teupasenti three days later. Here, he received an injection for pain, which helped him feel better for the time being. Mirian says that he had an hour without crying after receiving the injection, but later the pain resumed. Walking from El Cantón to Teupasenti takes about 2-2.5 hours each way.

Nine days later, Mirian took Nerlin to Hospital Escuela in Tegucigalpa where they told her that Nerlin had a tumor in the middle eye that had to be removed. Mirian recounts that his eye was neither red nor swollen; everything appeared normal apart from the head pain. Taking public buses to Tegucigalpa from El Cantón takes about 5 hours total and costs about 50 L (about $3.00 USD) each way for every traveler.

Twenty-three days later Nerlin received the operation to remove his left eye and insert a prosthetic eye. He was given ibuprofen and declofinax in the mean time for pain. All exams of his eye after the operation confirmed that the tumor and cancer were both gone.

This operation took place over one year ago. Since then Nerlin has had to go to Hospital Escuela in Tegucigalpa every 2 months for one year. His mother or father (but not both) goes with him to every appointment; only one parent goes because of the cost of travel.

Now, Nerlin is growing and healthy, leading a normal life with his family. He is outgrowing his eye and needs a replacement prosthetic. The eye costs 800 Lempira (about $40 USD) with 200 L (about $10 USD) for transportation for Nerlin and his family member to and from Tegucigalpa. The actual operation to replace the eye is free because Hospital Escuela is a pubic, government-funded hospital.

Additionally, Nerlin needs to have an MRI every 6 moths to mark note of his progress and make sure that the cancer has not returned. The cost for the MRI is about 2,000 Lempira (about $100 USD); he has not yet received one since the original operation because of the cost.