In the Central American country of Honduras, St. Benedict’s Clinic in Tegucigalpa serves more than 45,000 women, men and children a year bringing the most modern and efficient medical treatment to poor families in the nation’s capital, a sprawling city of millions.

The Passionist Volunteers International are based in Talanga, a town of 30,000, located an hour north of Tegucigalpa.  Talanga is an interesting crossroads of first and third worlds-- enough comforts but many harsh realities. Talanga is surrounded by thirty-three smaller communities called aldeas-- on the whole much poorer than Talanga. They range in size from fifty to four thousand residents, though averaging about three hundred people. Aldeas frequently lack running water and electricity as well as consistent medical care. Much of our work takes us into these aldeas.

The volunteers work in three aldeas. They play with the children and assist teachers in the one-room, fifty-children schools and also organize youth and adult groups. Several long-term projects have been initiated, including organizing medical brigades for medical care and public health education to the outlying communities. In addition, the volunteers have established a support program for education in the aldeas.