Imagine thousands of people limping for miles and miles, only to climb a steep set of steps in the hopes of relieving their pain.

For several weeks in March, Dr. Martin Gallagher saw that every day from the window of a makeshift clinic above a church in Tela, Honduras.

"They are humble and stoic people who showed us their heartfelt appreciation," said Dr. Gallagher, of Hempfield.

Dr. Gallagher, of Medical Wellness Associates, was among a group of physicians from the Hackett Hemwall Foundation who went to Honduras. The twofold mission was to provide treatment to people dealing with chronic pain and to train local physicians in Proliferative Injection Therapy and vein treatment.

About 5,000 people came to clinics in Tela, LaCeiba and Olanchito. Many traveled on foot for one to three days from remote rural areas to get pain-relief treatments offered once a year in HHF clinics. Some needed to be assisted up the steps.

Many people in Honduras are very poor. A number of them work in fields, where they develop injuries that result in chronic pain.

In a country where there is very little medical care, and even less money to pay for it, these people must deal with torn rotator cuffs, bad shoulders and backs, and constant joint pain.

"Some patients had immediate relief during treatment," said Dr. Gallagher. "Week after week, a patient would give us a blessing."

Proliferative Injection Therapy, also known as prolotherapy, is sometimes used as an alternative to arthroscopic surgery.

Natural substances such as omega 3 fatty acids and dextrose are injected where a ligament attaches to the bone. This creates a local inflammation. The body actually lays down growth factors at the site of the injection and creates stronger tissue.

Advocates of prolotherapy stress that it is less invasive than surgery and less expensive.

Poverty, malaria and dengue fever are prevalent in Honduras, and the rate of HIV is the second-highest in the world. And if you pet a local dog, you could get rabies.

There also is violence in the major cities.

"We had to travel in groups because they want American cameras, rings and watches," Dr. Gallagher said.

Tela is a coastal town. A number of residents sell fruits and vegetables. Cafes and restaurants are sparse. Women walk around carrying bananas and breads on their heads.

Farmers drive outdated trucks loaded with cantaloupes or salted cod fish. The local diet consists of papaya, mango, avocados, beans and rice.

Stale water accumulates in ditches along roads. Sometimes, the roads wash out. Sanitation is a big problem and drinking water can be scarce.

The culture is a mixture of the American Wild West and South America of the early 1900s. People drive very old cars and live in huts. Some ride bicycles. Kids play soccer in the street, and there is an occasional man with a donkey cart or riding a horse.

A group of locals from a bilingual school acted as interpreters. David, 8, helped assist a woman in her early 20s up the steps to the clinic and translated for her. She was experiencing severe knee pain.

After she received an injection, she cried on the table. She stood up, walked around and exclaimed, "Now I can do this on my own."

Dole Fruit has a local presence. Every day, Dole trucks brought supplies from Hackett Hemwall to the clinics for local doctors. They received everything from CAT scans, to medical beds, to prolotherapy supplies and syringes.

In addition to treating patients, the HHF physicians trained Honduran doctors.

"We got to treat a lot of people and we got to know a lot of people," Dr. Gallagher said. "I personally want to know that there are good people with compassion who are doing good things in the world."

For more information on the Hackett Hemwall Foundation, go to www.prolotherapy-hhf.org/aboutus.html

For more information on the Medical Wellness Associates, go to vitamincoach.com