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Category Archives: Honduras
A Year End Message from Fr. Robert Joerger, C.P.
Dear Friends of the Passionists,
As our year comes to an end, we have much to be grateful for. Your prayerful and financial generosity has helped us sustain many of our ministries in Haiti, Jamaica, West Indies, Honduras and those in the poorest neighborhoods in the United States.
More importantly, you have shown your concern for our aging and infirm Passionist priests and brothers. These men have sacrificed a lifetime to minister to the youth in parishes and retreat houses, console the sick and dying in hospitals and clinics, and preach the words of our founder, St. Paul of the Cross, in parish missions across this country.
Like many of you, we, too, have experienced a challenging financial year and have had to make many difficult decisions. We are committed to our mission that is of God in all walks of life, but especially to the poor and suffering.
To do this, we rely on your gifts. We are partners who are called to reach out to the men, women and children who need the medicine, the housing, and the comforting words that the Passionists can provide because of your generosity.
If you have already sent your gift, please know we are very grateful. If your means allow and you can still make a gift or bless us with an additional gift, know that our ministry needs are great and your gift, of any amount, is appreciated.
On behalf of the Passionist Community, I ask God to bless you and your families this Christmas and may your New Year be filled with all that is good.
Yours in Christ,
Father Robert Joerger, C.P.
Provincial
Please consider a donation to help the Passionists in their ministry to people living in poverty: Please make checks payable to PASSIONIST MISSIONARIES.
Passionist Missionaries Inc.
526 Monastery Place
Union City NJ 07087-3398
Tel: 888/806-6606
E-mail: AGardiner@cpprov.org
Donate on-line by clicking the button below.
The Donate Now button will redirect you to Caring Habits, Inc. (CHI) which is the credit card processing company for The Passionist Missionaries website.
A Day Just to Be a Child
The swarms of eager Comedor children huddled closer to form a tighter circle around the blindfolded boy swatting hopefully at the piñata stuffed with treats. Their eyes were alit with the hope of promised candy, poised and ready to launch forward without a moment’s hesitation were it to break. As I watched the stick meet and break the paper-maché penguin, the children scrambled for the sweets as if they were as precious as gold. I could not help but break out into a smile as I stood in the corner recording the infectious laughter, squeals of joy and ever present smiles at the Dia de los Niños celebration, as I gazed on the scene and the simple pleasures that came from children just being children.
For the children of the Comedor Infantil Pasionista these moments are something special to be celebrated and cherished. The Comedor, a lunch program for children ages 4-11, is located in Nuevo San Diego, one of the most impoverished communities of Talanga, Honduras. Here, it is not uncommon for a child to have to take on the responsibilities of an adult by working, taking care of the house and younger siblings, or not going to school because their family cannot afford the uniform and other school fees. One of the Comedor families has two older sons, David, 13, and Chele, 11, who do not go to school, but help earn money for their family by collecting plastic bottles and tin cans that have been tossed as trash to the side of the road. Almost everyday they can be seen around town lugging bags larger than themselves and waving to us as we make the walk down to Nuevo San Diego. The truth is, by the age of 11 many children seem older than they really are, burdened by the weight of adult reality.
When I think of childhood, I think of carefree days in the park, eating ice cream and counting down the minutes of school until it was time to play again. As these thoughts cross my mind and I find myself looking into the beautiful smiling face of one of the Comedor children, I realize the importance of Dia de los Niños, the Day of Children. It is a day purely for celebrating the joys that children bring us, and acknowledging the rights that they have to a happy, safe and beautiful childhood. Toward the end of the Comedor party, after the excitement of the piñatas and, of course, cake, one of the littlest boys, Luis, had thoroughly exhausted himself after dancing. With the mannerisms of a little old man, Luis plopped himself down next to me and his older brother Oscar. Hugging his newly won stuffed animal, he exclaimed loudly to me, “Phew! I’m tired! I’m getting too old for this!” Laughing at his chubby cheeks and impish smile I tightly hugged him and replied that he would never be too old to dance and have fun.
- Rosaria Trichilo is a Passionist Volunteer serving in Honduras.
Please consider a donation to help the Passionists in their ministry to people living in poverty: Please make checks payable to PASSIONIST MISSIONARIES.
Passionist Missionaries Inc.
526 Monastery Place
Union City NJ 07087-3398
Tel: 888/806-6606
E-mail: AGardiner@cpprov.org
Donate on-line by clicking the button below.
The Donate Now button will redirect you to Caring Habits, Inc. (CHI) which is the credit card processing company for The Passionist Missionaries website.
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- Passionist Volunteers International (thepassionists.org)
- Passionist Volunteer Brooke Lahr Reflects on New Realities in Honduras (thepassionists.org)
- Jennifer Martin – Learning to Live in Mandeville, Jamaica (thepassionists.org)
- When God Comes to Visit (thepassionists.org)
Passionist Volunteer Brooke Lahr Reflects on New Realities in Honduras
Children enjoying a meal at the Comedor Infantil Pasionista
After being here for a little more than a month, my experience is still one of discovery. But, little by little, what is frustrating, outrageous, shocking, and even debilitating is passing from “discover” to acceptance as everyday reality. With each experience of what I have found both amusing and shocking, I hear myself now saying “that’s just the way it is here.” A very difficult but necessary first step, is removing my “American fix-it mentality”, and just letting it all sink in. As I begin to accompany these wonderful people of Honduras, I am trying as best I can to accept so many things as they are. I am trying to accept reality as it is and not as the way I think it should be. It is very difficult for me seeing so many problems and knowing that back home we would find the resources and help to fix them.
Most of my acceptance has come from my being a part of Passionist Volunteers International’s growing project, “The Comedor Infantil.” An amusing example of this is seeing little girls in worn, uncomfortable, frilly, princess-dresses, which are their every day outfit for the week, knowing they were discarded by wealthier kids after one Halloween use back home. A very humbling experience for me is seeing an older brother, at 9 years old; regularly refusing his only balanced meal of the day until he knows his youngest sibling has gotten a share as well. Another experience is the sinking and defeating feeling of coming upon the remains of a completely destroyed adobe home as the result of flooding in a community that doesn’t need any more problems.
While my initial reactions may be to laugh, cry, complain, or even run away, I now have learned to pause. I have learned to process what has happened. I know that the debilitating loss experienced by so many doesn’t keep them down or from starting all over again. Their attitude and spirit helps me to stand tall and not falter.
This week, I bandaged the foot of a 9 year old who stepped on a nail, knowing that at home a tetanus shot would surely be called for and given. This, however, will not happen. The family does not have the money for a tetanus shot. Any little money they have would be spent trying to provide food for their five children.
For now, I just have to take this problem for what it is. Worrying about the possible and more likely effects of a rusted nail is not going to bring that family the money for the shot, nor the necessary food for all five children and their parents. But doing what I can, bandaging the foot and providing one meal a day, can lighten their load that is already way too heavy.
Simply because these are the realities Hondurans face every day doesn’t allow them to see themselves as victims. They are people: proud, beautiful, capable people. And I am lucky to walk with them, think of them, be thankful for them and witness the beauties and strengths that thrive in their reality.
Related articles
- New book about the work of Passionist Rick Frechette and the volunteers who assist him (thepassionists.org)
- Passionist Volunteers International Celebrates Anniversary! (thepassionists.org)
- Stand with the Passionist Family! Sign the Petition in Solidarity with Fr. Mario Bartolini (thepassionists.org)
- Comedor Infantil Pasionista – A Lunch that Empowers for Life!
Please consider a donation to help the Passionists in their ministry to people living in poverty: Please make checks payable to PASSIONIST MISSIONARIES.
Passionist Missionaries Inc.
526 Monastery Place
Union City NJ 07087-3398
Tel: 888/806-6606
E-mail: DLisotta@cpprov.org
Donate on-line by clicking the button below.
The Donate Now button will redirect you to Caring Habits, Inc. (CHI) which is the credit card processing company for The Passionist Missionaries website.
Heavy Rains make a Bad Situation in Honduras Worse
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- Torrential rain
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- You can see through the roof to the outside
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- More holes in the roof
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- New dental chairs damaged
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- Damage to interior ceiling
The staff at St. Benedict’s Clinic in Tegucigalpa, Honduras has been working long hours in response to the dengue fever epidemic. Now, with unrelenting, torrential rains and wind their situation has gone from bad to to worse. There has been damage to the clinic. The staff fears that the water that came in through the roof might cause an electrical short circuit and cause a fire. There is virtually no help from the government who says that they don’t have any money. Until they can get more money for the roof they are going to buy some sheets of plastic to cover things. This morning we received the photos above and the message below from Hernán Reyes Soto, a staff member at St. Benedict’s.
We have been hours without electric power because of a strong storm with thunder and lightening… It was very difficult to leave the clinic. There were cave-ins at both exits and very strong currents of water. In these last few days there has been much damage especially in Tegucigalpa. Again, there were many houses that were destroyed, trees fallen, markets flooded, cave-ins and closing of streets, boulevards and highways…
Today I was at the clinic as it rained and I could see that the damage was even greater than I had expected. There is a lot of damage in all areas of the building. I observed that various doctors were unable to perform their duties due to the quantity of water that fell inside their offices.
The injection room has closed its doors. Files are wet. Today pieces of ice fell like stones with great force and I believe it has created even greater damage. The employees became very frightened due to the large quantity of water that was leaking into the offices. At the offices of odontology and microbiology it seemed as if they had a ceiling shower from the quantity of water that was leaking. I took photos and video with the camera on my phone. But the camera on the cell phone doesn’t focus well enough. Either way I sent the pictures and video for you to see… I do not want to cause inconveniences but when I say this matter is urgent, it’s because it is urgent, I understand what was said to me, but the problem is that it rains a lot now. We should have made repairs in the summer but I understand that there weren’t enough resources available and that there aren’t any now. I worry a lot about not being able to find a solution… the government will not help anyone for now… they say there is no money and now there is possibility of a general strike of all the unions, because after 8 months of trying to negotiate their minimum wage salaries they have not come into agreement… There are other strikes by institutes of security as that of the teachers… If I give more details I can write many pages of so many conflicts that are occurring here…
Today I thought about other minor solutions, but I do not find solutions because each time that repairs are done after a short time the damage is greater… On the other hand we cannot make repairs with so much humidity… you can only change it…
At the beginning I couldn’t understand why the electric system began to fail, but today I could see something that worries me a lot: It is that there are filtrations of water on lamps and this can cause a short circuit and a fire… it is another reason why we stopped attending patients, since it is necessary to turn off all the lights and disconnect some machinery so that they wouldn’t get damaged… We need help as soon as possible…Please do something quickly… excuse the pressure…
Hernán Reyes Soto – St. Benedict’s Clinic
Translation by: Jocelyn Padilla
Please consider an emergency donation to assist St. Benedict’s Clinic. Please make checks payable to PASSIONIST MISSIONARIES.
Passionist Missionaries Inc.
526 Monastery Place
Union City NJ 07087-3398
Tel: 888/806-6606
E-mail: DLisotta@cpprov.org
Donate on-line by clicking the button below.
The Donate Now button will redirect you to Caring Habits, Inc. (CHI) which is the credit card processing company for The Passionist Missionaries website. You can direct your donation to St. Benedict’s by choosing Honduras – Dengue Fever Fund from the drop-down menu
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