Tegucigalpa, Honduras

I just got back from another Airline Ambassadors trip. This time I escorted nine year old Kelin Artica from Tegucigalpa (TGU), Honduras to St. Louis, Missouri. This is the second time I escorted Kelin. I actually brought her out of Honduras last June. She went home at the beginning of the summer to renew her VISA, and now was ready to go back for her second trip. Kelin was born with a severe form of scoliosis, which left untreated would have resulted in organ failure, paralysis, and possible death. Healing the Children Missouri (HTCMO) arranged for her donated medical care.

My day started at 3am on Tuesday when I woke up and began my trek to the airport. I'm generally a night owl, so you can imagine how tired I was when I woke up at 3am, having gone to bed at 12:30! Of course the good news was no traffic.

Normally, Airline Ambassadors arranges for a positive space ticket for the escort when the flights are full. The flight to Miami had over 30 open seats, and just as many non-revenue passengers who had listed. We can check in from home now on the computer to put ourselves on the standby list, but when you have a segment that involves international travel, you have to present your passport and travel documents to an agent at the airport. Therefore I stood to lose a top spot on the list since I could not get up at 2am and add myself to the list like all the other nonrevs would do. So we arranged for a positive space ticket. I trumped all the standby passengers and was able to snag 6F, the last row in First. Likewise, I was able to secure 4F on the flight to TGU. I slept like a log on both flights.

Now for anyone who is familiar with TGU and it's airport, you know it sits up in the mountains and any pilot will tell you it is a difficult approach. In fact, you can see a landing on YouTube if you follow this link http://youtube.com/watch?v=zR1GLi8Cr8o .

We got the gate and I hustled off to clear immigration and customs and meet with Kelin and her parents, and Elisabeth, the coordinator with Cadena de Amor, the children's clinic in TGU. I just brought a backpack because I did not want to bother checking anything, and I could fit my dop kit, travel documents, a clean undershirt and undies inside with no problem.

I got checked in and Kelin and her parents, Edith and Emetrio, her aunt, and Elisabeth, were waiting for me. I kind of felt bad because last year Kelin's mom, Edith, was pregnant and I remember we were all telling Kelin when she came back she would have a new brother or sister. Well, I remarked in Spanish how I remember the mom was pregnant last year and I asked where the baby was? The mom replied that she miscarried, and I was kind of at a loss! I certainly wasn't expecting that! (I later found out when I arrived in STL, that not only did she miscarry, but she also had an emergency hysterectomy!). Open mouth, insert foot. I felt terrible.

Last year, I was escorting another child in addition to Kelin, so I think it made the goodbye a little easier, but this time it really tore her up and she started crying when it was time to go, which of course makes everyone else cry!

Going thru security, the inspector must not have heard of the crew member exemption on liquids, gels, and aerosols, because they tried to take my Suave deoderant, my face wash, toothpaste and cologne, but being the smooth talker that I am, I convinced them that I was exempt (which I am!).

We got the the gate and waited to board. Kelin was still sad, but we talked a little and I showed her some pictures from my digital camera. She liked the ones of my dog. She spoke no English last year, but after a year in STL, she does quite well. I always bring the kids a gift, so I got her a "rana" or frog that she could connect to her belt loop and a coloring book with crayons. I did not look at the crayon box because I noticed I ended up buying her these dark shade crayons so all of her Disney princesses were in black, browns, oranges. Oops!

The outbound crew was the same crew I flew in with, and the purser has arranged for us to sit in 4A and 4B in First, so we had a little more room. Kelin did not want to eat, but I was pretty much starving at this point so I wolfed down a salad and lasagna.

Arrival in Miami was the usual chaos! It is important to note that my name matches a name on the No Fly list, so I always have issues clearing immigration upon returning to the United States. This trip proved to be no exception. We got to go in the Special Services line, which helped us expedite the clearing process, but when we got to customs, sure enough I was flagged for secondary screening. They were a little confused about the situation, and they thought it was awkward that grown man would be traveling with a small child he was not related to, and at first they tried to separate me from Kelin, but I stood firm that she be allowed to follow me because she was traveling with me and no one else and I was responsible. Luckily, HTCMO supplies me with an Authorization Letter that clearly explains the situation.

So after 20 minutes of sitting in the penalty box and starting to worry about our connection, another customs official comes over and talks to me. Since I was in my crew uniform, I caught his eye. I explained what was going on, and he immediately got it fixed and five minutes later we were on our way.


We exited the customs hall and re-entered security. I used the employee lane, so we sped thru, avoiding the mass of humanity going thru the regular lines. Early evening is the busiest time at MIA because of the Europe and South American departures, and everything is chaotic.

I was worried about the connection, but as it turns out, the flight to STL was late arriving from Panama City, so we ended up leaving about 30 minutes late. We sat in seats 14B and 14C. There was a Hispanic woman in 14A, so I guess everyone thought Kelin was with her! Kelin finally started feeling a little more comfortable and we talked about her STL family and the things she likes to do there and about her family in TGU. She actually lives with her Aunt because her parents are farmers in the mountains, so she only sees the occasionally. When we got to STL a little after 9pm, she had a huge gathering of folks waiting for her with signs and balloons. She ran up and gave her foster mom a hug and all the kids were gathered around her, so it was a happy reunion.


We took some photos and said our goodbyes and I went to a local airport hotel to sleep. I took a 6am flight out the next day.

For Kelin, the hard part begins. She will spend the next 4 months at St. Louis Children's Hospital where she will be hooked up to a Halo device and put in traction to start to stretch out her spine. When she has been sufficiently stretched, she will then have major surgery to "de-tether" her spine and hopefully fix her scoliosis. This will be followed by physical therapy before she returns home to TGU next summer.

I know that she is fortunate that she has this medical care provided for her, but it still breaks my heart to know what she will have to go thru, all the while being away from her family. She is fortunate that she has a host family that she has really bonded with, so I know that will make the next year easier for her.