My first contact with the Medical Missionaries of Mary, the MMM's, was about ten years ago, just after we had officially launched HOPe as a non-sectarian Third World charity in Yonkers.  Sr. Joanne Bierl, who was working in an MMM leadership position in her community in Boston, came to New York on a few occasions to meet with and advise us. She is a very gifted and dynamic woman with wide  experience of conditions in the Third World, especially in Africa, and her insights and advice were invaluable to us as we planned the future development of HOPe. Sr. Joanne chaired our first annual all-day retreat. Members still talk about how brilliantly she got us to focus on our goals and the strategies we needed  to move forward.

After a few years, Fr. Leo Shea, a distinguished Maryknoll  priest who also had a major influence on HOPe's early development, invited us to support some development  projects in Honduras. In the meantime, Sr. Joanne had finished her leadership term in Boston, and was assigned to start a mission in Choloma, which is in the same area of Honduras as the Maryknoll mission. Some would call this a coincidence, but those who see the hand of providence at work can surely make a strong case that this was not mere happenstance.

Sr Joanne has since moved on to a leadership position in her order's headquarters in Dublin, but there are still three Sisters working in Choloma, which is one of the poorest and most deprived areas in all of Central America - Sr. Renee Duignan, who hails from County Leitrim in Ireland, Sr. Rosalinda from the Philippines and Sr. Rosa, who arrived recently from Africa. They have developed a beautiful health clinic, Casa Visitacion, which provides a fine medical service for the poor in the Choloma area.  In addition, they have trained service teams to help families - many of whom are in dire need of assistance - in the surrounding communities. HOPe has supported and continues to support the great work being done by the MMM's.

Ian Collins serves as a "patient"

Another HOPe member, Vincent Collins, his teenage son, Ian, and myself just returned from a trip to  Choloma  and  Chamelecon  - a similar community, not far from Choloma  - where we visited the HOPe Building, a community center that serves as a health clinic and a location for educational and training programs. We are grateful to Fr. Felipe, the Rev. Jhon Allard, Fr. Coyle and, of course, the wonderful and talented Sr. Renee, who made our visit a memorable one.     

At the January HOPe meeting, Vincent Collins and Gerry O'Shea reported at length on their Honduran trip. Based on their recommendations, the members supported two projects that were approved by the Appropriations Committee. The first provides $8005 for Sr. Renee's Family Outreach Program. This money will allow her to provide mandatory school uniforms and shoes for children whose parents cannot afford them. The second project that was approved will pay for computer and math classes in the HOPe Building in Chamelecon from February to June this year. The amount approved is $3000.  

Note: For more pictures of this trip, please visit us at http://www.facebook.com/#!/HopeCharityNY

This month, the staff at the HOPe Thrift Shop is asking for several things.

Dr. Karla Montaya, the doctor in charge of the clinic in La Lopez Arellano, was very clear in thanking HOPe for the clinic she runs there.  This clinic is in a different part of Choloma from Casa Visitacion, the Sisters' clinic. Dr. Montaya sees forty patients, many of them children with respiratory problems, in the clinic, every morning, except Sunday. Commenting on the $20,000 that HOPe donated for the construction of the clinic seven years ago, she said "Without HOPe we just would not have this clinic, and how would we serve the people without it?"

 

It was good to see Ian Collins travel this month with his father, Vincent, who is an active member of HOPe, to see the extent of the poverty in the San Pedro Sula area of Honduras. He also experienced the admirable efforts of the aid workers that we met there to help the people survive and better themselves. Ian, who is a sophomore in high school, missed a few days of class, but he surely will spend many hours thinking about the plight of the children he saw living in hovels, who have little chance of a productive life.

Vincent Collins' comment on his five day trip to see the HOPe projects in Honduras this month: "I expected to see poverty, but the level of dehumanizing squalor and destitution that I saw shocked and frightened me.  What HOPe can do is only a drop in the bucket, but it is an important drop."

Thanks to Denis Keane for organizing the New Year's Day ceili and meal in the Irish Center in Mineola. He presented half of the profit from the event, $2220, to HOPe officers, Kathleen Gallagher and Gerry O'Shea. The other half went to POTS, a worthy Bronx charity. We are very grateful to Denis and his committee.

Billy O'Sullivan, who is the Director of Fundraising for HOPe, is the guest of honor at the Kerry Football Club Annual Dinner Dance in Riccardo's Banquet Hall in Queens on February 12^th. HOPe members will be there in strength to celebrate with Billy and his family. If you wish to join us, please call Gerry O'Shea at 914 237 4957 to make arrangements.

Sean O'Shea, the famous Cork singer and performer, received a tumultuous reception when he received the prestigious Ard Ollamh [literally top professor] award at the annual Comhaltas fleadh cheoil in Cavan earlier this month. Sean was impressed by what he heard about HOPe from his cousin Margaret Moriarty, and he is coming to New York at his own expense to head up a HOPe fundraiser in the Kerry Building on Saturday, April 30^th, this year. You will hear more about this major event over the next few months.

HOPe now accepts Paypal donations at its homepage at www.hope-charity.org.  We hope that people worldwide will take advantage of this convenient method and help us help the very poorest of the poor.  

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