Tag Archives: Honduras

2 years and counting at Comedor Infantil Pasionista

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In September, I returned to Honduras for the first time since I left a little over a year ago.  As I walked through the dirt roads of Talanga my senses were overwhelmed with the sights, sounds, and smells that were once so familiar to me; the laughter of children as I passed the schools, the sight of women balancing baskets on their heads, and the smell of fresh pineapple and mangos being sold in the marketplace.  I was walking the route I had once walked daily, to Nuevo San Diego, a poor, marginalized neighborhood, to return to the Comedor Infanitl Pasionista, a lunch meal program for children my roommates and I started during our time as volunteers in Honduras.  My head and heart were swimming with emotions, excitement, and nervousness and I wondered what it would be like to see the kids and their mothers again.  What would they look like?  Would they remember me?  Would the meal program be flourishing as it was when we left?

As I turned the final bend that enters into Nuevo San Diego all of my questions, my anxiety, and my excitement was answered with the sounds of dozens of voices screaming, “JUANITA!!!!” (my name in Spanish).  I looked up and saw several of the kids from the Comedor running towards me.  I dropped my bag, ran towards them, and opened my arms as wide as I could to try to scoop them all up in one giant embrace.  I was overcome with emotion and as tears came down my face, I was filled with an overwhelming joy and love for the beauty of these children.

A little over a week ago, the Comedor Infantil Pasionista celebrated its two year anniversary.  Marlin, the cook, called me and I could hear the shouting of children, the chatters of their mothers, and the beat of the music from the celebration they were having.  We have come a long way since that first day, when we served just 12 children who sat around the floor and shyly ate their first meal.  We started with hardly anything – just a handful of donations, the willing hands of Marlin and the mothers, and the faith that God would give us each day our “daily bread” that we needed to feed these children, many of which previously ate out of dumpsters.  And slowly through the generosity of many Hondurans, a few organizations, and many of you back here in the states we received the needed tables, chairs, food, and support to grow the Comedor and nourish the minds, bodies, and spirits of not only the children, but the community as well.

This is what the Comedor looks like today:

  • Monday –Friday we serve a lunch meal to 40 children.
  • Each day the food is prepared by a different group of mothers and Marlin, who began as a volunteer and now hold her first job as the Comedor’s kitchen coordinator.
  • In addition to helping with the daily cooking, the mothers gather weekly to make cheese to have on hand for their children.
  • We offer regular sessions for the mothers to offer educational opportunities (ie: sewing classes), parenting advice, spiritual nourishment, domestic violence counseling, and to foster community and solidarity among the families
  • We have a social worker who provides educational activities/outings for the children, monitors their health, and works to empower their families to find solutions to overcoming the struggles of poverty
  • We have partnered with Nuestro Pequenos Hermanos (a nearby orphanage) to offer the families of the meal program free and regular medical care.  In addition, the Comedor has housed several medical brigades that are open to the entire community
  • The Comedor continues to be operated by a local Honduras board of directors that is made up of both successful business owners and members of the Nuevo San Diego neighborhood

I am amazed at what the Comedor has become and what it means to this community.  It is not only a place where children come to eat; it serves as an example of how the faith, hope, and love of a community can overcome poverty to create change.  I wanted to share how the Comedor is flourishing because in some way, you have been a part of making this happen.  Whether it was your support, your prayers, or your emails both while I lived in Honduras and since I have returned; it has had an impact and is so appreciated.

Jean Baumgardner
St. Vincent de Paul Society – Milwaukee, Meal Programs Manager
2009-2010 Passionist Volunteer International in Honduras

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Good News from Honduras

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I am writing about my recent trip to San Benito in Honduras. Although the trip was only for 3-4 days there was a lot accomplished. There were 2 large suitcases of medicines, supplies and children’s clothes that were brought down. Thursday and Friday were spent at the clinic in the mornings talking with various people in the clinic about their needs and how the clinic was doing. Thursday afternoon Hernan and I spent several hours going over the long list of medicines that we had sent down the last time, looking at what the most pressing needs were and what we might delete from that list, decrease, or increase. This was very productive from my standpoint.  I plan to send this week the list to MAP from who we get the majority of our medicines.

In general the clinic looks the best is has for a long time with the new roof and the interior being recently painted and some of the furniture being re upholstered. It was clean. The smell that had been there from the septic system was gone. All the light bulbs had been replace with long lasting energy efficient ones. The attitude is very positive.

I met a doctor who had worked in several other clinics in the past and she told me that this is the best place that she has ever worked. The medicines and equipment the doctors need to provide the quality of care that she wants to provide are available. The attitude is very positive. There is respect for the patients and other employees.

Because of the reputation of the clinic the government frequently elects to initiate “pilot” programs in San Benito.

Hernan Reyes is more present and available than his predecessor and people are constantly coming to him with questions or needs that they have, knowing that he will respond to them.

Hernan instituted a monitoring system in the pharmacy reviewing daily the number of prescriptions that are written, the medicine, and the quantity in order to minimize any potential for abuse of the drugs they receive for the poor patients. The person now working in the pharmacy is a nurse who has more familiarity with the medicines and the diseases, etc.

There is a vaccination program that they were starting for that area. There were instructions in the room that is used as a class room at the clinic.

There were people putting chemicals in small plastic bags. These would be put in the standing water as they go from house to house to prevent the larvae of the mosquitoes from developing as part of their insect control program.

They were about to start a pilot program for adolescents that would keep them separate from the other patients and would deal with them for acute care problems as well as education about prevention of smoking, alcohol,  drugs, pregnancy, and STD’s. there would be continuity of care by the health care provider for more privacy and to develop relationships.

There are 2 lawyers (each part time) assigned to the clinic to help with the legal needs of the abused women and their children so that they could get out of this physically and legally. There is space needed for this.

There was another group of international people visiting the clinic and they were going to use the clinic as a pilot project. They were going to show the people who work in the clinic and then move to their homes the information needed to grow small vegetable in a small area without the use of fertilizer. This project had been successful in other countries in helping people feed themselves.

There were multiple other small projects that Hernan was involved in doing in segments because of the cost.

All in all it was very positive and what was and has been accomplished over the years is very impressive.

Whenever we met anyone Hernan was careful to tell them that the role of the Catholic Church, the Passionists, and the Cardinal were all being represented in the clinic

I hope this give you a flavor of what is being accomplished daily in and through the clinic.

- Elliot Casey. M.D.

Please consider a donation to help support 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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New Issue of Accompaniment – The Newsletter of Passionist Volunteers International

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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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The Passionist Missionaries’ Annual Golf Classic

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Dear Friends,

I am so pleased to tell you about the Hank Finelli Annual Golf Classic on Thursday, May 26, 2011, that benefits the Passionist Missionaries. For the last several years, Hank has generously donated his course for our use, and his partnership with us helps to raise funds for our ministries.

By supporting this event, you too, will join with us in reaching out to the poor and suffering in Jamaica, West Indies, Honduras, Haiti, and right here in the United States.

Your support also helps us to care for our retired, elderly and infirm priests and brothers who have dedicated a lifetime in serving God’s people.  They are the cornerstone on which our Community was founded and it is our responsibility to care for them with dignity and grace.

The Passionist Community can be found in retreat centers, parishes, schools, and wherever there is a need to care for our brothers and sisters.

I encourage you to help us in any way you can.  Please encourage friends and family to join you in supporting our ministry.

See you on the links!

Fr. Robert Joerger, C.P.

Read more about the Golf Outing and Sponsorship Opportunities

Register to play in the Golf Outing

Sign up to be a sponsor for the Golf Outing

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Dancing Shoes

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When I was a little girl all the shoes in my house were lined up in the laundry room assorted by size and purpose. The tennis shoes for gym class, flip flops and sandals for summer, church shoes only worn for special occasions, soccer shoes, and rain boots, almost as if there were a specific shoe for every occasion. When shoes had holes we no longer wore them and when we outgrew them we got new ones. The only times you would catch me without my shoes where those days in which I would run out of the house trying to catch up to my older sister, Nora. I was quickly reminded of these days when I arrived in Talanga and spent my first day at the Comedor Infintil Pasionista.

As we arrived we were very anxious to see the results of the hard work of the previous volunteers and to meet the children who would become such an intricate part of our lives and a focal point of our work over the coming months. As they came pouring into the comedor I noticed that many of them didn’t have shoes on. It was almost as if they came running from their houses as soon as they saw the truck pull up, not wanting to be left behind or miss anything like I so often felt when I was little. But day in and day out many of them still did not wear shoes and I began to realize that many of these children do not have shoes.

The ones who were lucky enough to have shoes wear them despite having holes, being the wrong size or for the entirely wrong occasion like Erikson, a little boy who is only about 3 years old, who came to comedor last week sporting rain boots on one of clearest blue-skied days with no grey cloud in sight. He was just happy to be wearing a pair of shoes.

One of the notorious “no shoe wearers” is a 4 year old boy named Willie, whom his friends have fondly dubbed “Willie Wonka.” Willie has a smile that can light up an entire room and lift everyone’s spirit. Whenever I ask Willie about his shoes he merely looks up and smiles never seeming to be bothered in the slightest by walking around dirt streets with pebbles, puddles, and trash in his bare feet. We recently had our Día de los Niños party for the comedor and every child came dressed in the nicest clothes that they own. Willie came running into the party with a huge smile splashed across his face, his hair jelled back, and nice black shoes on his feet. While he was dancing, I took notice that his shoes were actually a pair of soccer cleats.

One harsh reality of poverty was dancing at my feet. I took for granted as a child that I would have a new pair of shoes whenever I needed them. It had now seemed so wonderful watching Willie smiling in his soccer shoes, spinning in circles. For Willie, a pair of shoes, whether for the wrong occasion, perhaps the wrong size, or even covered in a plethora of holes, is simply a pair of shoes and in that respect is something to cherish. And so he danced.

- Molly Beggy 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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