PNC to Present Dr. Luther Castillo Harry

Purdue University North Central will host a public presentation by Dr. Luther Castillo Harry who will discuss careers in global health and his experiences as a doctor and human rights activist on March 21, at noon in the Library-Student-Faculty Building Room 144. The event is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.

Castillo, a native of Honduras, is founder and director of the Honduran hospital, Luaga Hatuadi Waduheno. Translated, the name means "For the Health of Our People." He was formerly the director of international cooperation in the Honduran Foreign Ministry during the government of democratically-elected President Manuel Zelaya. He held that position until June 2009 when the military orchestrated a coup against Zelaya.

The hospital and clinic are dedicated to providing the most important health services to the indigenous communities isolated on the Atlantic Coast. After graduating from the Latin American School of Medicine in Cuba in 2005,Castillo returned to the coast of Honduras and led the construction of the first Garifuna hospital, which now serves 20,000 people in the area. The hospital opened in December 2007 and Castillo was named Honduran Doctor of the Year for 2007 by the International Rotary Clubs of Tegucigalpa.

Since the military coup on June 28, 2009, Castillo and the hospital have been subject to many threats of closure and other attacks by the military

In November 2011, was interviewed in a story about the California Honduras Institute for Medical and educational Support (CHIMES) Project, an organization that has volunteered medical missions to remote Garifuna villages in Honduras.

The article noted that the first Garifuna Hospital serves the isolated communities living on Honduras' southern Caribbean coast, providing care to the more than 60,000 people in the surrounding area. It is the only free hospital in Honduras, receiving its medical equipment from Cuba and Medical Brigade doctors. To date, it has provided free medical consultations and medicine to more than 500,000 Garifuna patients.

Castillo travels the world speaking about inter-cultural medicine, which takes a holistic approach to medical care. For instance, a woman who suffers back pain will not only be treated for her physical ailment, but also the underlying cause of the pain.

He has developed a program to train local women as nurses to help with the medical care of the hospital's patients. The training program takes two years to complete and costs $6,000 a year per nurse. The hospital is working to help train local Garifuna women to be mid-wives.

This event is being sponsored by the Latin American Studies minor and the Multicultural Club with financial support coming from the Chancellor's Diversity Initiative as well as Student Services Diversity Mini-grant.

Each semester the Multicultural Club offers a number of events that celebrate diversity by providing the PNC community with an opportunity to learn more about and experience various aspects of various cultures and lifestyles found around the globe.

Further information may be obtained by contacting Kincaid at 219.785.5200 ext. 5244 or kkincaid@pnc.edu. Persons with disabilities requiring accommodations should contact Kincaid.