St. Michael the Archangel Honduras Mission Project

Saturday started with a slower pace as we shared small gifts assembled by our parish school children with the elderly. We also started our goodbyes with them as this is our last full day. The jovenes at the elderly home gave us a lively send off of song and chants!!

Next up we headed to the home for girls to take the girls that celebrated their Quinceanera for a small shopping trip. This has become a SMA tradition after we discovered it is rare for the girls to ever have any spending money or purchase any new clothing items. This can be a slow process -similar to shopping with teen girls in the US:)

We cherish the friendships and relationships we have formed over the many years we have been going to Honduras. It was such a joy to meet with alumni from the Hogar de Niñas at a local coffee shop. It’s always good to catch up with these young women who live and work in the local community. Some are students at the local colleges, some have started families, but all still love and care for one another! It’s a reunion for them as much as it is for us!! They share hugs and messages for us to share with other SMA friends.

We returned to the Hogar de Niñas for a pizza dinner and good-bye presentation. We were BLOWN away by the tremendous talent, poise and gifts these young ladies shared with us!! In addition to performances on guitar, violin, keyboard, we were treated to dances and heartfelt messages. The pandemic did not slow the development and cultivation of the talents of these girls!!

A poster on the wall read, “Gracias, por no darnos solo sus cuidados, sino tambiene sus corazones!” which translates to Thank you, for not only giving us your care, but also your hearts. This is a message that matters deeply to us as we frequently have been inspired by the work of St. Teresa of Calcutta who said, “…give of your hands to serve, your hearts to love..”. When a team goes to visit our mission in Honduras, we ask that they be fully present to commit to love and look for Christ in each person we encounter.

We as a parish have committed to improving the day-to-day life for the residents in each home by investing in improvements to each facility, providing funds for health & wellness (medical, dental, vision, nutrition), supporting costs for education (tuition, tutors, educational resources) as well as funding operating expenses in each home. Over time, little-by-little, we are seeing the impact of these efforts. What we did not expect was the impact on US, those that have had the privilege of being called to serve on this project. Truly our hearts have been forever changed by the incredible gift of walking with those most vulnerable, the nuns, girls and elderly at our parish mission. With this in mind, and with hearts full and a few tears, we said our goodbyes until we meet again…..

¡Paz y bien!

Dani, Juanita, and Miguel