The Heartbeat of Honduras: How CAMO Is Transforming a Community, One Life at a Time

When care becomes culture, and service becomes the architecture of hope.

The morning air in Santa Rosa de Copán carried the scent of coffee and rain-soaked earth—I arrived in the country for an eight day experience that has left my heart full of love and inspiration. I had the privilege of visiting this glorious town to help facilitate a Board of Director’s meeting for the organization:   Central American Medical Outreach (CAMO. https://www.camo.org), a nonprofit I had recently learned about, but nothing could have prepared me for how amazing this organization is! 

What I found wasn’t just a healthcare organization.  It was an ecosystem of transformation. A model for how a nation can rise when care extends beyond medicine and becomes a way of life.

A Vision That Sparked a Movement

CAMO was founded in 1993 by Kathy Tschiegg, a nurse from Orrville, Ohio, whose life was forever changed during her time in Honduras with the Peace Corps. She saw the immense challenges of providing care in communities where hospitals lacked basic equipment and supplies, yet were filled with professionals ready to serve.

Click here to view a video of Kathy’s history and development of CAMO: 

https://youtu.be/OA_Wjf-KE4M

Kathy has dedicated years to developing the organization that is transforming the lives of so many. She has created a true movement.  CAMO has grown into a binational organization that serves hundreds of thousands of people each year through healthcare, education, and community development. What began as a response to scarcity has evolved into a model of sustainability.  This is the proof that compassion, when organized, can truly create transformation. 

The Human Core: Passion and Courage in Action

The CAMO team is, without question, the best group of human beings I have ever had the privilege of knowing. Each person I met radiated a rare combination of care, compassion, and unwavering dedication.  The qualities of this team cannot be taught, only lived. They move through their days with strength and profound passion, holding space for suffering while building pathways to hope.

Whether coordinating logistics, caring for patients, or leading programs that uplift entire communities, they do so with hearts fully engaged. To witness their collaboration and devotion is to see what it truly means to serve humanity.  This is NOT “just” a concept, but as a daily practice of love in action.

A Continuum of Care Across Generations

CAMO’s work touches every stage of life, from preschool to adulthood, creating a continuum of well-being that ripples through families and communities.

In early childhood, programs support preschools, daycare centers, mental health care, and growing nutrition initiatives that give children a healthy foundation to learn and grow. For working parents, these programs are life-changing, allowing them to pursue education and employment without sacrificing their children’s safety.

For youth and adolescents, CAMO offers education, vocational training, and access to community gyms.  These spaces are designed to nurture confidence, discipline, and self-worth. In regions where opportunity can feel scarce, these programs help young people imagine and build a different future.

By adulthood, the impact multiplies. They lead initiatives in women’s empowerment, domestic violence prevention, and entrepreneurial education.  CAMO is fostering independence and leadership from within.

This is what it looks like when well-being becomes the goal as serves as national renewal.

Two Boards, One Mission

CAMO’s success is built on a foundation of collaboration and shared leadership. The organization is guided by two boards of directors. One board in the United States and one in Honduras, with a vision of hope and change.

Both boards are working together to ensure every decision reflects local expertise, need, and sustainability. This model doesn’t just share governance, it honors equality. It’s a partnership where both countries stand shoulder to shoulder, each holding part of the vision for a healthier, more resilient community.

Building the Future: CAMO’s Capital Campaign

As CAMO continues to grow, it is launching a bold capital campaign as an investment in the next generation of infrastructure that will serve Honduras for decades to come.  This campaign will fund the expansion and modernization of medical facilities, vocational training centers, and community-based spaces designed to meet the evolving needs of Honduran families. It’s not simply about buildings; it’s about creating the conditions for self-sufficiency, health, and hope.  Each dollar raised is a promise that the systems of care being built today will continue to sustain lives tomorrow.

Sustainability as a Form of Love

CAMO’s model is one of sustainable transformation. Every piece of equipment, every clinic, every training is designed to endure. This is not aid that fades; it’s infrastructure that grows stronger with time.  Their vision ensures a living embodiment of dignity and shared responsibility.

When I visited their public health center, now a national model for community-integrated care, I saw what’s possible when compassion and structure align. It was more than a facility. It was a statement:  building a future together.

The Rise of Well-Being

Well-being, as CAMO defines it, is not a privilege. It’s the birthright of every person.

It begins in the nourishment of a child, grows through access to healthcare and education, and continues in the empowerment of adults who are free to lead, work, and dream. This is transformation from within and across generations.

A Reflection and Invitation

Traveling through Honduras, I was reminded that change doesn’t happen in isolation.  It happens when courage meets compassion, and when communities dare to imagine something more.

If you’ve ever wondered what transformation looks like, look here: to the nurses and engineers, the teachers and leaders, doctors and volunteers:  the hands at CAMO who show up every day believing in the possible.

Their work is not charity.  It is love in motion. It’s what happens when service becomes the story of a communities rising in well-being.  I hope to go back soon.  I am inspired and moved. 

To learn more about CAMO’s work visit www.camo.org

With light and love,

Allison