.
Copyright 2010 by Teofilo Colon Jr (a.k.a. “Tio Teo”) for Being Garifuna. All Rights Reserved. Contact Tio Teo.
February 19th 2010.
.
Sacramento, California — Project CHIMES (California Honduras Institute for Medical and Education Support) is a Sacramento, California-based non profit organization dedicated to raising money to help indigenous peoples in Central and South America gain access to basic medical services.
.
.
In 2004, Labor Union Leader from Sacremento, California, Bill Camp, met with Garifuna Medical Student, Luther Castillo Harry at Latin American School of Medical Science in Cuba during a visit. Mr. Camp previously met Luther Castillo Harry in Honduras.
.
.
During Mr. Camp’s Trip to Cuba, Luther Castillo Harry told Bill Camp about the Honduran Health System and what he and his fellow Medical Students faced upon returning to Honduras after completing their studies and becoming Doctors.
.
In 1999, Luther Castillo Harry began the Project Luagu Hatuadi Waduheñu (For The Health of Our Family in the Garifuna Language), an Initiative between Luther Castillo Harry and fellow Garifuna Medical Students in Cuba to contribute to the betterment of health in Garifuna Communities. They devoted fifteen days of their vacation month working with Cuban Doctors in Honduran communities.
.
Mr. Bill Camp was so inspired by these Garifuna Medical Students, that he was moved to create the California Honduran Institute for Medical and Education Support (CHIMES), in partnership with the California AFL-CIO Union. CHIMES committed to building clinics in Honduras for these Honduran Doctors trained in Cuba.
.
.
After Mr. Bill Camp and Luther Castillo Harry met with Garifuna Elders in Ciriboya, Honduras, a Garifuna Village on the Northern Coast of Honduras, their Project was welcomed enthusiastically and construction began an a Medical Clinic in Ciriboya in May 2005. CHIMES’ role in this project was to secure a site for the clinic, organize the construction of the clinic and provide building materials.
.
The video below is a video about the CHIMES Project.
.
.
The video below is a CHIMES Commercial from 2011.
.
.