In 1998, Hurricane Mitch ripped through Honduras. Floods and mudslides devastated the country. Officially there were 5,657 dead, 8000 missing, 12,000 injured, and 22,000 homes and buildings destroyed. Joanny Medrano, who grew up in Honduras and was living in Damascus at that time, asked for help from her church family at Saint Paul for the community of El Rosario, near the capital city of Tegucigalpa.

Within a few weeks after the hurricane, Joanny took medical supplies and donations to Honduras and distributed them to the most devastated areas. In December, she made a second trip, with a huge load of shoes and Christmas presents. In January 1999, she made her third trip, and this time she was accompanied by Patricia Slaughter, also a member of Saint Paul and the chairperson of Christian Child Care International, a non-profit organization whose mission for 27 years has been to help care for the needy children throughout the world.
 
The only public hospital in the community of El Rosario was destroyed. Christian Child Care funded the repair of the Community building, now called the Bernie Hughes Building, which houses the Saint Paul Clinic (as well as a kindergarten and vocational education center). The Clinic opened in April 1999 and now serves hundreds of families from eight communities. The building was dedicated August 23, 1999 in memory of Christian Child Care’s co-founder and Saint Paul parishioner Bernard J. Hughes.

As the clinic has grown, it has embraced Catholic social justice teaching, and in addition to providing medical care, provides dental care and is one of the only clinics in Honduras to provide medical care to AIDs patients. Additionally, it regularly reaches out to remote areas of the country to provide medical care to those who have less than they do.
 
We are committed to providing support for the Clinic. You can help with this project by providing funds for essential office equipment and medical equipment and supplies. The Honduras Committee strives to continue to provide medicines and financial support for the clinic through grant writing and fundraising efforts here. Our additional objectives are to improve security at the clinic, to improve the level of health care provided to the citizens of El Rosario and to be a present force to our brothers and sisters in El Rosario through twice yearly mission trips.

If you are interested in joining our next Mission Trip, wish to make a donation, or want more information please contact Sherrie Wade, Honduras Clinic Coordinator at [email protected].