The surge of the novel Coronavirus is something that Trump is not able to dismiss as “fake news,” though he has tried. The spread of this virus from the slaughter of an infected wild animal in an open market in Hunan, China, maybe a pangolian or a bat, thought to have (bogus) medicinal value, has led the world to this point. It's a classic example of chaos theory's "butterfly effect," whereby the flap of a butterfly's wings can cause a storm across the ocean.

Now when it’s a serious life-or-death matter, like the spread of the virus, maybe Trump supporters are rethinking their allegiance. His “fortress America” stance is not working. It may be fun to wear a Trump hat and shout “Lock her up!” at rallies, but a confused and erratic Trump cannot be trusted to actually keep people safe. His response to the virus seems to be “Poor me,” mostly worrying about how it’s affecting him and his re=election. At least Trump had the good sense to put Mike Pence in charge of the virus response, since he himself has no clue. Pence, though highly conservative, is at least a more normal individual with a better comprehension of what is actually going on, though he always takes pains to publicly praise Trump’s “leadership.”

If the worst is prevented, that won’t mean the threat was less serious than anticipated. Rather, if the effects of the virus turn out to be less than catastrophic, that might actually prove that all the precautions being taken have been worthwhile. However, some may then wonder if all that was really necessary?

Mr. Trump was quite happy to take credit for the stock market’s rise, but its subsequent fall he has blamed on Obama and, of course, Biden. Even the Smithsonian museums are closed, something which has never happened.

Also, for the first time in its history, Peace Corps is bringing all volunteers home. During SARS, it moved volunteers out of China and, after the rise of the new Coronavirus, quietly closed its program in China altogether.

Below are a few news items of special interest to me and I hope to you as well.

US migrant deportations risk spreading coronavirus to Central America

· Honduras confirms first case in Northern Triangle

· Deportees with symptoms placed in isolation

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/12/us-migrant-deportations-coronavirus-central-america

https://nypost.com/2020/03/03/president-of-honduras-took-bribes-to-protect-cocaine-kingpin-feds-say/

[Cuba, as readers may know, is within my purview as volunteer Caribbean chair for Amnesty Int’; USA]

Communist-run Cuba releases dissident artist after uproar

Reuters, March 14, 2020, HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuba released dissident artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcantara from jail overnight after dozens of prominent artists, including those traditionally supportive of the Communist government, as well as international rights groups criticized his arrest 13 days ago.

The 32-year-old, known for his provocative performances criticizing authorities, had been put in "preventive prison" awaiting trial on various charges, according to his partner and art curator Claudia Genlui.

One of these was the charge of insulting national symbols, after the self-described "art-ivist" draped himself in the Cuban flag for a month last year, including in the bathroom, documenting his performance with photos and videos. https://www.yahoo.com/news/communist-run-cuba-releases-dissident--023447981.html

[Haiti is within my purview as volunteer Caribbean coordinator for Amnesty Int’l USA.]

Orphanage fire in Haiti kills at least a dozen children -authorities

https://www.yahoo.com/news/orphanage-fire-haiti-kills-least-171928550.html

[This man is a friend, shown in a photo I took that appears in my Confessions book.] Cuban dissident freed but cannot leave country

AFP•February 7, 2020

https://www.yahoo.com/news/cuban-dissident-freed-cannot-leave-country-162214526.html

[As previously mentioned, I had a mission to South Sudan in 2006, before independence.]

South Sudan, a new nation facing a host of political and developmental problems, has been combatting swarms of locusts attacking crops, as are other countries in the region

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Since returning from Honduras, I’m getting cabin fever from staying home, so we will take a virtual journey via my Honduras trip, mostly through photos.

When I left for Honduras, I was loaded down with a wheelchair, a walker, crutches, and 2 large duffle bags containing medications, disposable gloves, bandages, alcohol preps, reading and Rx eyeglasses, kids’ clothes, toys, books. My outbound flights in Feb. were full, but when I came back in March with only a carry-on, they were half-full and I had a whole row to myself. Some passengers were wearing face masks.

Fortunately, friend Dave, who kindly offered to take me to the airport for my early Sunday-morning flight, convinced me to leave behind one of 2 wheelchairs I had purchased in a panic over worries about the halting of the Chinese supply chain. If I am unable to go again to Honduras next year, I can always give it to someone in the US. Really, I don’t know how I could have managed changing flights in Miami and traveling all around Honduras in taxis and buses with still another wheelchair. Thanks Dave

Two big boxes containing wheelchairs were delivered to my front door. but I ended up taking only one wheelchair this time.

It was enough to take one wheelchair, a walker, crutches, and 2 duffel bags full of medical supplies, eyeglasses, toys, and children's clothing,all to be left in Honduras, including the bags themselves. This was my 16th return trip since leaving Peace Corps there in late 2003.

This is a money belt containing US bills, carried under my clothes and kept under my pillow when I slept at night. I would periodically change some into Honduran currency at about 25 to the dollar, so much bulkier to carry round.

The daughter of my hosts in Tegucigalpa, the capital, had a birthday, so I invited them out to a local eatery.

The husband/father is an engineer specializing in community
water problems, but he has an artistic bent. A shelf over one toilet displays a lighthouse theme. Visitors to Latin America, or to any developing region, should remember never to drink tap water, never eat raw vegetables, and never put toilet paper in the toilet. Instead toilet paper is discarded into a plastic bag that either goes out with the trash or is burned,

Here is wall my host had decorated with crosses.

Below is the daughter of the live-in maid, a young woman who has grown up with the family, and who still lives with her mother in a servants' quarters behind the main house. She has her own dog, which she soemtimes brings into the kitchen. Dogs are rarely allowed inside Honduran homes. They are watchdogs,

Below, I have reached El Triunfo, (the "Triumph" of my Honduras Peace Corps book title), sh own with a young patient and with a health center young patient. It was about 100 F that day.

Heere I am with the wheelchair recipient.

This man asks me what to do about his injured hand..

Girl waits with her mother to see a nurse.

Dona Reina, and daughter Solei, alomg with Solei's daughter, appear in my Honduras book and live near the health center.

Pedro Joaquin, father of 4 and would-be librarian and the guardian of books we had collected over the years. and I had a long talk about what to with the books. My childhood friend and visitor Anna, who had first broached the idea of the library and had promised to include funds for it in her will. But she died without making that provision and no other funding avenue exists. So Pedro J. and I agreed that he should give away the books to schools or interested individuals and close that chapter,.He has now expanded his musical skills.

Below, student nurses head out to nearby villages to vaccinate children. Riding in the back of an open pickup occurs frequently in Honduras.
.

This lady in E; Triunfp has lost her daughter who had spina bifida and whom I had once helped get a wheelchair and a water mattress. But the daughter developed a pressure sore and died. I helped the mother last year with medical travel expenses and gave her a suitcase. Fortunately, her back surgery then was successful. Here she is with a neighbor boy holding a "magic towel,". a tiny ball that expends into a small, colorful towels when immersed in water. They are easy to carry and a hit with kids.

Above is Neris. a girl appearing with me in the lower right hand corner of the cover of my Honduras book and also along with my signature on Facebook postings. I was surprised to see her with a third child, as she had told me she had had a tubal ligation after the second, Her doctor had made a mistake, she explained, and the same thing happened to a neighbor who also had had an unexpected 3rd child. But this time. she assured me. she had had her last one. She is 26 and told me that her father is 100 years old and not doing too badly She also said that former postmistress Maria Elena had died of cancer recently, which was a shock, as I was planning to visit her next. . .

Neris's son and his friend show off their magic towels.

It is watermelon season in El Triunfo.

Members old and new of the Castro family, my friends since Peace Corps days.

Below, puppy belonging to Choluteca hosts. He lives strictly outside. and barks at strangers.

Choluteca host family, Husband has had an eye injury,

Family servant, the youngest of 9 children in a family living on the outskirts of El Triunfo..

We visited San Marcos de Colon, a mountainside town reminding me of La Esperanza, but
not as cold

Aive, vistas during our return to Cho;uteca, (I did not take the sunset photo.+

Above, in b us going back to Tegucigalpa. Note cracked windshield (very common) and driver's decorations. Fewer child food vendors on the bus this time.

San Felipe public hospital where Operation Smile (Operacion Sinrisa) surgeries take place, The organization pays travel and hotel costs for doctors and nurses from all over the workd, not only the US, I met folks from Canada, UK, Europe, and Mexico, A nurse from Mexico asked me how I had earned English. I told her, "It's my native language!"

I gave this Dad above sine men's clothing I had brought with me..

Below, workers rinse out floor mops and rags in pila or open water tank, A Swedish surgeon told me that she was shocked by the hygiene in the hospita.l.

Below with a Honduran volunteer and also my official name button. I made a cash contribution, but apparently it is not possible to designate a country when contributing to the organization's headquarters in the US (in Va, Beach, Va,_).

Above, nurses eating lunch in the patio, Below, families, wait for surgery.
Over 5 days, 135 surgeries took place, Families from out of town waited in a hospital shelter, where I used ti stay with my patients during Peace Corps..