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Give the Gift of Sponsorship!
Christmas
is coming; the goose is getting fat. Is there someone on your gift
giving list that has everything? Do you wish someone could help you
find that perfect gift? Mission Honduras International has a solution
to your gift-giving quandaries! Why not sponsor a child in the name of
your gift recipient? You can give the gift of sponsorship for one or
more months; it's only a dollar per day. The best part of giving the
gift of sponsorship is that you double your gift giving. Not only does
that special person on your list receive a great gift, but a child will
receive the gift of education too. Sign-up online at www.missionhonduras.com and select Donate Now or contact us at Mission Honduras International, P.O. Box 56007, Chicago, IL 60656, (773)-631-2916.
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Send Us Your Email Address
Help us reduce the time and expense of mailing newsletters and tax receipts by sending your email address to: Jagosto@missionhonduras.com. Email is easier, faster, cheaper and good for the environment too!
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Liberia Mission Photos
We now have 160 children in St.
Anthony of Padua School.
Digging at our farm land in back of
the Mission.
Dormitory wing #4 going up!
St. Michael the Archangel World
Peace Parish Church.
Inside St. Michael's awaiting roof and floor construction. |
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Donated Dental Equipment Arrives in Honduras
 A multi-year project to send donated dental equipment to Honduras came to a successful conclusion in July. The project was a great example of Mission Honduras International volunteers from around the country working together.
Volunteers in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan led by medical mission team leader Vicki Pair secured donations of X-ray machines, dental chairs, lights and other equipment.
Advisory Group member Joe Phipps in Dayton, Ohio obtained no-cost transportation for the materials to Honduras through the U.S. government's Denton Shipment program. This program provides for transport of humanitarian cargo on a space available basis on U.S. military aircraft. Joe shepherded the lengthy process to get approvals from both the U.S. and Honduran governments and complete other necessary paperwork. The Escanaba Moving Systems, owned by Mr. Wodatz, supplies three years of free storage and moving from Michigan to Milwaukee, WI, where the U.S. Government picked up the shipment.
Vicki is now hopeful that having dental equipment available to use will encourage volunteer dental groups to come to Honduras. "Once they know that we have this equipment at a specific site, we are hoping that dentists will have more of an interest in going down and volunteering to do dental work," Vicki said.
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Honduras Water Project
 Mission supporters Paul and Judi Allen have been instrumental in setting up a chlorinator system at El Conejo. Working closely with local businessman Ricardo Rios, they have put in the piping and carbon filtering system in one of the girl's dorms near the lower water holding tank. Locating the system indoors and out of the weather will help insure its longer lifetime.
Ricardo has contacted the local water authority so that they can run the necessary biological tests. Paul has also sent down a chlorine test kit to make sure that the free chlorine is under 1-2 ppm.
Everyone at APUFRAM is excited about the possibility of having clean water at El Conejo. Plans are being made to install similar systems in other Mission Honduras locations.
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St. Mary School/Girl Scouts Send Vitameal
 Among the interesting and useful products included in the Liberia sea container was Vitameal, a nutrient-dense food product composed of fortified rice and lentils. The Girl Scouts and students at St. Mary School in Riverside, Illinois held a fundraising drive and purchased 57 bags of Vitameal as their gift to feed poor children overseas. Since each bag feeds 30 children, the shipment will provide a total of over 1,700 meals.
The children purchased Vitameal from Nourish the Children, a non-profit company established by an Australia-based personal care products company to help fight world hunger.
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Building Projects Move Forward
 In Honduras and Dominican Republic Mission Honduras International financed the building of a newly constructed residence for university students in the Honduran capital city of Tegucigalpa. This becomes the fourth residence operated by APUFRAM for the benefit of young people graduating from mission high schools. All of the students studying in Tegucigalpa attend the National Autonomous University of Honduras. A college degree is a huge achievement in Honduras, positioning graduates for a lifetime of community service and career success. Many graduates come back to serve current mission students at the various schools and orphanages around the country. They are the role models for current students about what is possible in their future.
The fourth wing on the student residence in Estabania, Dominican Republic was completed this summer. This project had been delayed for a time after the Dominican currency was revalued by their government and the value of U.S. dollars diminished. With the completion of this new wing, more students from nearby poor villages are able to attend school in Estabania and live at Mission Dominican Republic. The mission prepares them for the next stage of life providing room and board, clothing, religious education, medical care and vocational training in agriculture.
Many of the students in Estabania go on to attend the State University in Santo Domingo and move into the mission's university student residence there. Architectural plans to construct a second floor onto the university house are currently awaiting construction permits. |
Twenty-three Thousand Pounds of Love
 In August, the volunteer team in Chicago led by Executive Director Joanie Fabiano sent a 40-foot shipping container packed with relief supplies to Liberia Mission. Chicago was the assembly point for donations sent by supporters from around the country. Altogether, the shipment consisted of food, medicine, clothing, books and school supplies, kitchen utensils, used sewing machines, furniture and appliances, tools, sports equipment and religious goods and weighed in at 23,000 pounds.
Jennie and Ed Martin in Prairieville, Louisiana coordinated the largest single donation-4,800 pounds all sorted, packed, palletized, shrink-wrapped and ready to load. Also St. Columkille Parish in Iowa donated a double skid of soccer and sports
equipment. The exhausting process of sorting and packing the remaining donations and arranging for overseas transport took up most of the summer. Since the container travels across the Atlantic open to the elements and the possibility of seawater leakage, all clothing, paper goods and other items subject to mold or mildew had to be pre-packed in plastic before being boxed and sealed. The container arrived in Liberia in October and there are now enough tables and chairs to accommodate all of the children at meals and enough food, medicine and school supplies to keep them fed, healthy and learning.
Special thanks to Greg Pierce at ACTA Publications and the staff and owners at Midwest Graphics for the use of space for staging and storing the cargo prior to shipment.
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Help Wanted - Great Benefits!
 We are seeking an individual or married couple (no children) to volunteer for 13 months to operate our Visitor's Center in Honduras. Our current director, Jerome Cabeen will be volunteering at Liberia Mission. This is your chance to serve God's people in a very hands on way. Volunteer dates are July 15, 2008 to August 15, 2009. Training will be provided at the Visitor's Center in Honduras.
Please contact the mission office if you can help!
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Father Emil Has a Co-Pilot
 Editors note: The newsletter that was sent via regular U.S. Mail was printed before we heard this good news.
We just received word from Fr. Emil that "Luis", one of the staff in Honduras, has received a visa to enter the USA and will accompany {co-pilot} Fr. Emil Cook in January through May, 2008. This is great news. Thanks for all the prayers prayed to resolve this need.
A very big Thanks to all who called / wrote volunteering some time to assist with the driving. "You can relax now !".
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