Honduras and Haiti
Historical Summary
On October 19, I987, St. Paul of the Cross Province formally missioned five Passionists to serve in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. This increased Passionist support for the previously established orphanage of Nuestros Pequenos Hermanos y Hermanas. The Passionists, with financial and spiritual support from the United States and international mission agencies, established a faith-based community liaison effort between Hato de Enmedio and Villa Nueva. In addition to other educational and ministry projects, outreach continued when Casa Pasionista, an AIDS clinic in Tegucigalpa, started operations in 1993. Although a decision was reached in December 1994 to cease an active Passionist presence in Honduras, St. Paul of the Cross Province and a variety of volunteers continue to offer various levels of assistance to the Honduran director of the AIDS clinic.
In 1987, when Father Richard Frechette was collaborating with Nuestros Pequenos Hermanos y Hermanas in Honduras and Mexico, he was asked to expand the work for homeless and abandoned children to the Republic of Haiti. After several exploratory visits, he established what grew to be an orphanage and school for 900 children, and a 100-bed pediatric hospital. The orphanage, whose educational program is run by the Salesian Sisters, is located in Kenscoff and is named St. Helene Home, a name chosen by the benefactor who purchased a former estate for Nuestros Pequenos Hermanos v Hermanas. The hospital, an abandoned hotel in Petionville, is called St. Damien Hospital for Children. After six years in Haiti, Father Frechette studied medicine in New York and became a licensed physician in 1998, practicing medicine ever since in the slums of Port-au-Prince in collaboration with the Missionaries of Charity. Numerous Passionists, lay volunteers, and benefactors from the United States have supported this venture.
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