HONDURAS MISSION TRIP 2002
by Sisters Patti Donlin & Nancy Byrnes


On Thursday, March 28th at 2:30 am, ten people departed from Mount Saint Mary for a mission trip to Honduras. The group included: Sisters Rosemary Jeffries, Nancy Byrnes and Patti Donlin; four young women from Georgian Court College; a professional photographer working for GCC; and two people from Philadelphia Suburban Water Company. We were met at San Pedro Sula airport by Sr. Eileen Smith and Sergio Portillo, a representative of Agua para el Pueblo through whom five water projects and two schools have been built in the last five years.

Holy Thursday and Good Friday services were celebrated in Eileen’s parish where we were warmly welcomed and treated as honored guests. Holy Saturday was spent taking a group of five children from Casa Corazon to the beach. The Casa is an orphanage for children who are HIV positive and is directed by the Sisters of Mercy in Honduras. The highlight of the day with the children was flying kites brought by the GCC students. That evening we attended the Easter Vigil in the Cathedral in San Pedro Sula.

Easter Sunday was spent driving to the Copan region and touring the Ruinas de Copan. The next day was spent in the mountain village of El Pinalito digging and leveling the area where the water purification tank would be built. The people of the village, dressed in their finest, prepared a feast for lunch, thanking us for making fresh water a reality. While in that region the GCC students made a commitment to build a school for the children in a nearby village called San Manuel. The GCC students have enthusiastically begun to raise money for this project. All donations can be forwarded to Maria Rios at GCC. The students hope to return next year to see and bless the new school.

The blessing of "Escuela de Catalina McAuley" necessitated an hour trip in pick-up trucks and then another hour on horseback up the mountain to the village of El Moscarron. Eileen shared the story of Catherine with the people of the village followed by the blessing of the school with water, a mixture of New Jersey and Honduran, and the singing of the song "Catalina McAuley". A plaque and picture of Catherine were presented to the people of the village. The picture was hung immediately and we were again treated to a fiesta of soup, tortillas, and chicken.

Faith sharing on the events of each day enriched the entire group. The experience was profound and blessed with God’s presence visible in the people of Honduras.