By Rolando Pinzon
July 29, 2024

Deysi Vaquedano lives in the Flor del Campo community, in Honduras, with her husband, Nelson, and their two children, Anderson and Modesto. The family participates in the Strong Communities program facilitated by World Renew’s local partner, Asociacion Para una Sociedad mas Justa (ASJ).

After noticing a lump on one of her breasts, Deysi decided it would go away in time. Then she attended a Strong Communities meeting at which medical students discussed the early detection of breast cancer, and the steps to take if one found a suspicious lump. After hearing the students, Deysi decided she would no longer ignore the lump in her breast and visited the nearby Community Health Centre. She was immediately referred to the San Felipe Hospital for a consultation at which she was scheduled for a biopsy.

The financial costs she incurred going to the health centre and the consultation were extremely worrying for Deysi. Her family struggled to meet their basic needs and she felt hopeless to come up with the money she needed to cover the cost of the biopsy. She shared her worries with the Strong Communities program staff and Deysi was grateful when they worked to cover the cost of the surgery. She felt even more blessed when the results came back negative – she did not have breast cancer. “God is my rock, my strength, and my saviour, we must always trust that he is working on our behalf, even though we are in times of tribulation,” Deysi shared.

“If I had not entered the Strong Communities program, I would not have received that information and been supported financially and psychologically to perform the biopsy. Many times I doubted, I felt bad and alone, but we believe that all God does is with a purpose and my family has faith that he will continue to bless us,” she said with a smile.