RAY OF HOPE

"Rayo de Esperansa "

In Rio Dulce, Guatemala, there is a footpath connecting the back of the Mario’s Marina property with a roughshod road built to maintain a national gas pipeline.  If you walk the pipeline westward, you’ll pass a few huts that serve as houses with chickens, goats and pigs roaming around in the yards.  Some are guarded by scrawny,

 mangy dogs whose pitiful conditions make them absolutely no threat.  After you go by a couple of small cinderblock buildings doubling as homes and evangelical churches, but before you get to the rubber plantation with its trees scored and collecting the white gooey prize, you’ll come to a crossroads.  Take a left.  Follow the rock-laden, trash-strewn path past the panaderia (bakery) and a couple more huts into the central park of the “village” of La Esmeralda.

It’s late November and the whole place is quiet, the school on its north side closed for the two month winter break.  The normal commotion caused by children in the classrooms is absent except for two little boys throwing firecrackers harmlessly out into the open grassy area that also serves as a soccer field.  The church building opposite the school sits shut tight.  But, there is activity in the building adjacent to the school where a small group of people mill around.  It’s all women and children.  They are waiting for the Clinica Rayo de Esperanza en Jesucristo (Clinic of Hope in Jesus Christ) free medical clinic to open. 

Earlier in the morning, three American women from Mario’s Marina, Cindy Bonham-Miller, Debi Canon and Carol DeFelice, boarded a launcha for the short boat trip over to La Esmeralda. They were joined by Carmen Ayala from Catamaran's Marina. She is a native of El Salvador. The rain of the last couple of days had made the walk up the path and road too sloppy.  All four are nurses, retired and cruising on sailboats with their husbands.  However, as nurses seem to do, they gravitate towards helping no matter where they are.  They have come to volunteer at the clinic.

The story of Rayo de Esperanza incorporates much of what is good in this world.  It begins with two dedicated people, called to the ministry of healing, and expands to include the good souls found throughout the community of cruising.  Interestingly enough, the hurricane retreat known to boaters as Mario’s Marina on the Rio Dulce has become the thread that weaves everyone together.

In 2001, Mike and Karen Rhea (pronounced “Ray”) accepted the mission of establishing a free medical clinic in Guatemala.   Through the support of the Florida Calvary Chapels in St. Petersburg, Sarasota and the Gulf Beaches area, they came on their sailboat across to Mexico, down the coast of Belize and into the Rio Dulce from the Northwest Caribbean.  Along the route, they shared their vision with other cruisers, many of whom became good friends.

They decided to make Mario’s Marina their home and base of operation while organizing all of the necessary components of the clinic.  This proved to be the first of many coincidences that they readily attribute to the Grace of God.

According to the Rayo de Esperanza website, Mike and Karen decided to establish their medical clinic in the village of La Esmeralda because it was one of the largest in the Rio Dulce area, having a population of over 700 inhabitants.  They located an existing, but abandoned, foundation on communal property in the center of the village.  A decision was made with the village elders to allow construction of a building that would be owned by the village and house a free medical clinic operated by the Ray of Hope Mission.  It took over a year to complete the certification and paper work required by the local and national government agencies, plus approval from the health department.

While the paper work was being processed through the various government agencies, Mike - with the help of cruisers who had their boats on the river – constructed the clinic building.  While they could not officially utilize the clinic for medical purposes, Mike and Karen were able to identify situations where their ministry could be of immediate help:  feeding the starving, providing medical services to remote villages, helping assist handicapped individuals, and seeing to the spiritual needs of the people.

In May of 2002, the clinic opened its doors for the first time.  It was crude in the beginning – only four walls with minimal equipment and staffed solely by Karen and volunteer Lynn Cortez, a retired nurse cruising on the boat Griffin.  But over a short time, donations from the fostering churches in the States and other interested supporters streamed in.  The word spread up and down the Rio Dulce prompting a steady flow of volunteers to do everything - assist with the medical care, construct examination rooms, inventory the pharmacy and even paint the walls with festive designs to brighten the environment for the children.  Word also spread throughout La Esmeralda and beyond into the other surrounding villages.  Families in need emerged, tentatively at first then more prolifically as knowledge of the clinic and its capabilities grew.

Another blessing occurred for Rayo de Esperanza in 2004.  Two men from the States bought Mario’s Marina.  They just happened to be retired from the medical field.  Mack McClendon was a Physicians’ Assistant who had owned a medical imaging business in Atlanta, Georgia.  Ron Smith worked in accounting at a major hospital system in Florida.  Even though their intent for coming to Guatemala and buying the marina was to work at something entirely different, their expertise and compassion became a valuable resource to the clinic.  In actuality, Mario’s served as a recruiting center for volunteers.

Two Friends Reconnect

In June of 2005, the sailing vessel Dragonheart made her way up the Rio from the Northwest Caribbean and Livingston.  Aboard were Mike Miller, Cindy Bonham- Miller and their 10-year old granddaughter, Cynthia.  Both Mike and Cindy are retired military.  At one time, Mike served as the Army liaison to the South Carolina National Guard. Cindy was an Airforce nurse.  Before leaving it all behind to go cruising, they lived in San Antonio, Texas where Cindy worked as the program director for physical rehabilitation at Northeast Methodist Hospital. 

Providentially, they pulled into Mario’s to secure a slip for the hurricane season.  While Mike filled out the paperwork for the slip, Ron Smith explained all of the rules, procedures and amenities of the marina.  He also mentioned the clinic as if it, too, were a part of Mario’s.  Mike acknowledged that Cindy was a nurse and, in fact, when he came back to Dragonheart, he informed her that he had signed her up to volunteer.

She hesitated at first, figuring that she had left nursing behind for a reason.  But, when she met Karen Rhea, all of the reticence washed away.  She and Karen really connected.  Cindy found herself walking up the path to La Esmeralda every Tuesday and Thursday for clinic days.  Over time, she realized that her involvement gave her a renewed sense of purpose.  She fell in love with the people who came for help and pledged to volunteer at the clinic whenever Dragonheart came to the Rio for hurricane season.

Because of her commitment, Cindy became acutely aware of the clinic’s needs.  Its entire success hinged on the generosity of donors to provide everything from tongue depressors and antibiotics to computers and blood pressure cuffs.  She began corresponding with her former boss and close friend, Debi Canon who served as the Vice President of Nursing back at Northeast Methodist in San Antonio.  Periodically, Debi arranged the shipment of medical equipment and supplies to the clinic.

Aside from being a lifeline for the clinic, Cindy’s communications also served as a way to not so subtly suggest to Debi that she and her husband, Roy, should try cruising as well.  The two couples had enjoyed many days of sailing together on the Gulf coast of Texas before Mike and Cindy made the ultimate leap to cruise fulltime in 2001.  Cindy stayed in touch with them, sending enticing videos from Dragonheart’s adventures in such fun places as the Bahamas.  Roy was eager to do the same, but Debi vacillated, not quite ready to give up her work, home and proximity to family.  Towards the end of 2004, Debi’s mother passed away.  This loss had a profound effect, making her recognize the brevity of life and the truth in the statement “You’ve got to go while you can.” She began to feel that maybe they needed to look at doing something different.  They bought the sailing vessel Lyric in 2004, tested the cruising waters in 2005, then retired in 2006 and headed (along with their dog, Merlin, and two cats) south across the Gulf of Mexico to catch up with their friends on Dragonheart in the Rio Dulce.

By the time they arrived in June, Karen and Mike Rhea had begun a new project.  They dedicated themselves to building an orphanage for the many indigenous children in the area who needed adequate housing.  This new venture took valuable time away from the clinic and it became necessary to find someone to temporarily take over its operation.  Karen turned to Cindy Bonham-Miller who had returned to Mario’s for another hurricane season.  Although admitting it was insane, Cindy couldn’t say “no.”

When Lyric tied up at the dock next to Dragonheart, the die was cast.  Nurses Bonham-Miller and Canon were reunited once again to work together at Rayo de Esperansa.  For the entire remainder of the summer, the two friends steadfastly made the trek to the clinic twice a week to see patients.  With 2006 winding down, they continue to do so.  As cruisers return from the hurricane hiatus in the States, they gain other recruits, like ER nurse Carol DeFelice on Windquest.  For them, whatever time is spent at Mario’s before leaving to go cruising means volunteering at Rayo de Esperanza. 

You can help the Clinica Rayo de Esperanza in Jesucristo

The Clinica Rayo de Esperanza is staffed totally by volunteers. Karen and Mike and their cruising corps – many with medical backgrounds – provide free medical treatment and medicines, which have been donated to the clinic.  In addition to addressing medical needs, the clinic is the focal point for basic hygiene classes, family planning services, prenatal care, and any spiritual issues the villagers may have.

All the medicines and services of the clinic are free to the village.  The clinic’s operation is completely paid for by donations.

There are several ways you can support the work of Clinica Rayo de Esperanza as well as the fledgling orphanage.

1.  Every penny of your donation goes to the mission work here in Guatemala.  There is no administrative fee deducted from your gift.  Donation receipts for tax purposes will be sent at the end of the year unless requested earlier by the donor.

It is now possible to make donations online via PayPal.  You may do so by going to www.rayodeesperanza.org  and clicking on the How You Can Help page.

2.  Rayo de Esperanza hosts four medical mission teams per year.  If you would like to send a team or be part of one, please contact rheas@rayodeesperanza.org.

3.  When the orphanage is operating, there will opportunities to sponsor a specific child who is, for whatever reason, not adoptable.

4.  Rayo de Esperanza needs children’s ministry teams.  If you feel led to work with the children, please contact rheas@rayodeesperanza.org.

5.  Donations of all types of over-the-counter medications are needed.  Please see the list below.  Contact rheas@rayodessperanza.org for instructions on how to send any donated items.

Checks can be made payable to:

Rayo de Esperanza, Inc.

6213 16th Street South

Saint Petersburg, Florida  33705