Updated: Front Royal Doctor Treats the Poor in Honduras, Appeals for Financial Support of Medical Teams visiting the Country 3 Times a Year

(Writer’s note: This story has been updated, including with a corrected SAGE website where donations may be made.)

Front Royal physician Dr. Thomas (“call me Tommy”) Ball returned recently from his annual trip to one of the world’s poorest countries, Honduras, appealing for the first time for funding to enable continued full staffing of Virginia’s version of ” Doctors Without Borders” or SAGE as it is called.

SAGE – short for “Students And Global Engagement” – has, since 2008, engaged in a thrice-annual trip to the poverty-stricken Central American nation where it has built a permanent clinic in which to treat indigent people, many of them children. Dr. Ball has annually headed up a Warren County group each November for 11 of those 16 years. That group usually consists of 4 to 6 doctors and nurses who stay about a week, providing direct health care, medications, water purification, nutrition support, and first aid supplies. Similar delegations arrive in Honduras from Richmond and Fairfax County at different times of the year.

“Our budget is small,” Ball said, in addressing SAGE’s financial problems for the first time, “Historically, our funds come from a very small base of donors, used mostly to pay the overhead (about $20,000 per year) for those of us on the SAGE board who make the trip down … Another $20,000 would allow us to do much more!”

SAGE works in concert with a local organization, “Shoulder to Shoulder,” and over the years, has built up a close relationship with members of the sparsely populated Pinares area of Honduras, which serves eight towns and villages.

With electricity out, Dr. Ball attends to a baby by the light through the clinic door. Below, a ‘Shoulder to Shoulder’ team member hands out dental varnish and toothbrushes provided by Winchester dentist Dr. Melissa Gibson, of Shenandoah Smiles. Courtesy Photos Dr. Ball/SAGE

“The eight communities remain vibrant as they work to improve health and social development … However, many continue to go without needed medication. Our visit to the (local) health department revealed a pharmacy nearly devoid of antibiotics and diabetes meds. People continue to drink contaminated water. They state they cannot afford even our discounted price for a water filter. Children are still underweight with cavities in their mouths and parasites in their bellies,” Ball reported upon his return to his local job with Front Royal Family Practice, based at the new Warren Memorial Hospital in Front Royal. He noted that Valley Health also donated generously, “providing nearly 100 pounds of medication which we took down in our luggage.”

To donate Ball urges people to go to the SAGE website <www.sage-community.com> and click the “Donate” button. He points out that SAGE has non-profit status, so donations are tax-deductible.

“I guarantee that every dollar donated goes directly to (medical) services in Pinares,” Ball concluded of his effort to increase the funding base for the annual medical assistance to the Pinares-based communities of Honduras.

Dr. Ball shares a medical informational book with Honduran patient.