International Health Service of Minnesota

International Health Service of Minnesota is a dedicated non-profit, entirely powered by volunteers, bringing life-changing medical, dental, surgical, and eye care to underserved communities in Honduras since 1982. Twice a year, over 50 compassionate IHS volunteers journey to remote areas, delivering vital healthcare services to those in need.

We’re thrilled to share the success of our Fall 2024 mission, where lives were transformed and hope was restored. Now, we’re gearing up for an even greater impact as we plan to send comprehensive medical, dental, eye, and surgical teams to Honduran villages in February 2025. Together, we can continue making a profound difference—one mission at a time!

When you donate, IHS can provide essential services and supplies such as:

1. Eye glasses to see and sunglasses to prevent premature cataracts, 
2. Fluoride and toothbrushes to save teeth, 
3. Surgical expertise to save lives, and 
4. Medical supplies for basic health care. 

Fall Mission Trip Summary:

We’ve just returned with medical/dental & eye glass teams who worked in the remote areas along the northern “Mosquito Coast “ of Honduras. Our volunteer medical, dental and eye glass teams were a fabulous group of hard working, talented people from the US and Honduras!

The Rio Kruta team traveled by boat 8 hrs. across the Caratasca Lagoon & on the Kruta River to the village of Tikiraya. Families from several surrounding villages came by canoe, horseback and walked through the jungle for 2-6 hours to be seen. We cared for over 1,000 medical patients and 198 dental patients. Many of the medical patients needed treatment for parasites and multiple vitamins which supports their overall health. We were grateful to have a volunteer pharmacist on the team. We also had very sick patients who would not have received life saving care without our team being there. We often saw everyone as a family unit with 6-8 people from a family sitting together to receive care.

The dental patients needed many decayed teeth extracted and when possible were taught how to brush and take care of their teeth. The two Honduran dentists are hopeful that IHS will raise funds to purchase the necessary equipment for restorative dentistry for upcoming trips. 

The Eye glass team worked in the town of Puerto Lempira assessing vision needs & administered ~100 prescription glasses, mono vision, bi-focal and readers, each day for a total of approximately 550 patients served. Many of the patients had red, infected eyes and cataracts even at a very young age. Every patient was very happy and grateful to also receive sunglasses! 

Spirits were high, friendships made and the teams helped real people with real needs… all through donated personal humanitarian generosity! IHS is able to provide critical health care to the villagers in Honduras because of your support! 

See the videos below to learn more because a picture is worth a thousand words! 

  

Please donate today to support upcoming medical missions in 2025!

“The best way to FIND yourself is to lose yourself in the SERVICE of others.”  M.K. Gandhi