Fr. Bob Kus 
Today I’m delighted to introduce to you Dr. López, member of our parish’s healthcare team.
Dr. F. Valencia López has the distinct honor of being the founding microbiologist of the St. Mary Laboratory, part of Clínica Santa María in Reitoca, F.M., Honduras. Dr. Valencia opened the laboratory on September 1, 2016.
Valencia was born on May 6, 1989 in Tegucigalpa, F.M., Honduras. Her mother Francisca is a nurse. She has two sisters: Waleska, 34, a pharmacist; and Dessiree, 32, a dietician; and a brother Raúl, 26, a student studying electrical engineering.
Valencia attended Escuela Jorge J. Larach for her first six years school, and then high school at the Instituto Central Vicente Caceres, from which she received a bachelor’s in science and letters.
She studied six years at UNAH – Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Honduras – from which she obtained her degree in microbiology.
Dr. López is currently studying English at Universidad Pedagógica Nacional Francisco Morazán (UPNFM) as well as in Reitoca with some of the other clinic staff.
Valencia enjoys reading (especially history, autobiography, and fantasy), interior decorating, and mixed martial arts. In the future, she would like to learn painting.
For her future, Dr. Valencia would like to visit different countries to experience various cultures to know the world better and become a wiser person. She would also like to have a beautiful family.
In her profession, her dream is to one day have a fully automated laboratory that would allow her to serve more patients and work more efficiently, for every day, there are ever-increasing demands in health care. Currently, St. Mary Laboratory is a Level 2 lab, and Valencia would like it to become a level 3 lab with bacteriology and special tests that the current lab cannot perform.
Dr. López sees her work as a vocation in which she is able to follow Jesus Christ by serving others with love. She is known for approaching her work with gratitude and love.
