Dr. 90210 operates in Honduras

Dr. Robert Rey with 15-year-old mother of baby with cleft palate
Photos: La Prensa and La Tribuna, links below

Plastic surgeon, Dr. Robert Rey, star of the television show Dr. 90210, participated in the operations on three children with cleft palates yesterday in the capital city of Tegucigalpa, Honduras. He said, "Thanks to the surgeries that I perform [on wealthy people in the U.S.], I can help the poor. I feel like a modern Robin Hood. There is much need here. This motivates me to return."

This was Dr. Rey's first trip to Honduras, and today (Saturday) he will be traveling to the Honduran island of Roatán before returning to Los Angeles, California. Proceso Digital stated that he will also be visiting La Ceiba, where he will give some economic help to a young Honduran who lost both hands after falling from a train in an attempt to enter the U.S. illegally.

The reality series Dr. 90210 is shown subtitled on cable here in Honduras. His presence at the Hospital Escuela in Tegucigalpa caused havoc among hundreds of the media, female doctors, and medical students trying to see him and take photos. "The cries and the sighs of crazed followers broke the quietness of the operating rooms," reported La Prensa. The melee actually delayed the surgeries for several hours.

Dr. Rey, 43, was born to a very poor family in Brazil and was adopted by a US family. He said that he hopes to return to Honduras this year although it is difficult because the demand in this country is high, but no more than in other countries. He highly complemented the plastic surgeons with whom he worked.

El Heraldo quoted him as saying, "In addition I will buy a house in Honduras to come regularly because I am fascinated with this country." Hmmm!

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US doctors, dentists, and nurses frequently come to Honduras on medical missions, often to the poor areas where there are no doctors or hospitals. Just about any week of the year, there is a US medical mission somewhere in Honduras trying to meet the needs of the people who are forgotten by their government. Operation Smile (Operación Sonrisa) is an organization that specializes in treating poor children with cleft palate and regularly comes to Honduras. Unfortunately, not being television stars, these volunteers don't get quite as much attention.

Related Honduran newspaper articles, translated to English by Google. You can also click the link at the top of each page to view the original article in Spanish. (Note that Dr. Rey's name in some cases is translated to Dr. King.):

La Tribuna: Dr. Rey makes poor children happy

La Prensa: Dr. 90210 operates on three poor children

La Tribuna: Surprised at the plastic surgeries

El Tiempo: Dr. 90210 surprised at the techniques of Honduran plastic surgeons

Proceso Digital: Brazilian surgeon operates on Honduran children

Why I can't get anything done

Thanks for the laugh, D!

Cultural differences: Complaining

Honduran students protesting

Hondurans, in general, are very accepting people and tend not to want to bring any "bad news" to light. Pride has something to do with it, I guess believing that if something isn't talked about, there is no need to be embarrassed or shamed. Children are taught in school to be proud of their country, as they should be, but blind pride or a fatal acceptance of the way things are only serves to perpetuate the problems.

US Americans, in general, are just the opposite, demanding much of their governments and believing that if only the truth is brought to light, something will be done to 'right' a 'wrong' situation. One example is from the early 1900's when the exposés by yellow journalism of child labor and the abuse of poor working men, women, and children in sweatshops shamed the politicians into changing laws. I have to admit that my complaints were the original impetus for getting a law changed in Texas several years ago! Sure, I got the brush-off several times but we didn't quit and ultimately, the state law makers agreed that we were right and the law was wrong.

There are thousands more examples of complaints resulting in changed laws or justice coming to a bad situation. It's not that our politicians are better − it's just that it isn't as easy for them to get away with corruption because we COMPLAIN! Our complaining doesn't always get results but we keep on trying and sometimes succeed. Complaining can be healthy.

US Americans do a lot of complaining. It's a fact and a part of the culture. After all, weren't the complaints of "No taxation without representation!" the impetus for starting our country?

Not all complaining is good or high-minded and not all complaining is bad. Feeling somewhat removed from the US now, I have to laugh at some of the things that I hear Americans complaining about. A healthy median, if that can be found, is a good thing. Hondurans have a lot of legitimate reasons for complaining but they seem less likely to share their complaints with outsiders.

Some of my favorite Honduran people sometimes wince at the things that I write about. One person even said "How embarrassing for us." in regard to an article. Just as I hope that I am not judged by the things that my government or greedy US businessmen do, I don't judge Hondurans by the things that their government or corrupt businesses do.

I say that there is no reason for the average Honduran citizen to feel personally embarrassed. Despite the fact that Honduras claims to be a democracy, the average citizen has no control over what their government does or does not do, but maybe, just maybe, if enough citizens complain about the injustices, some things will change someday.

The typical means of getting complaints noticed in Honduras is to "take the streets" with a protest march or by simply blocking the street with vehicles and humans. Since many towns only have access by one road, the inconvenience and economic damage caused by taking the street can be great. In La Ceiba, for example, protesters can virtually block off access to the entire eastern part of the country by blocking the highway.

Protesting is a right guaranteed by the Honduran constitution and only rarely will officials intervene. The larger the number of protesters, the more attention it gets from the government, though as often as not, it sadly only results in false promises from the people in power. Protests are sometimes misused for political reasons, with paid attendance, but overall, I think it is a good thing. People need to be heard and unfortunately, it sometimes takes extreme measures to be heard in Honduras.

Refusing to admit or pretending 'it' doesn't exist only perpetuates the evil.


Tip for expatriates: Just as women who complain about their husbands (or vice versa) don't necessarily want to hear you complaining about their spouse, most people don't want to hear complaints about their own country. ;-) Even if they are the one who brings up the subject, complaints from a foreigner may not be so well accepted. Blogging is my major stress reliever when I just have to get something out of my system.