MMM in Honduras

Medical Missionaries of Mary first went to Honduras following the devastating Hurricane Mitch which struck the country back in 1998.

Today, five MMMs work in Honduras. They are Sisters Renee Duignan, Rita Higgins and Bernadette Henehan from Ireland, along with Sisters  Rosalinda Gonzales from Philippines and Sister Cleide da Silva from Brazil. They are all nurse-midwives.

Our first mission was established in the parish of Marcala in the north-west of Honduras. The parish has an excellent development plan, and the MMMs are involved in the healthcare component. This means providing workshops and training, and health monitoring over an extensive rural area.

An important aspect of the work is the production of low-cost remedies from local plants. We undertook this work at the request of the local people who had a rich tradition in local remedies, but feared it was being lost as the younger generation were not picking up the skills of the elders.

Our second mission is at Choloma, in the Diocese of San Pedro Sula. Health Committees have been established in seventeen villages, involving a lot of travel to these rural mountainous districts. The various activities include training of health formators, supervision of home pharmacists, counselling and building self esteem, complementary therapies, work with prisoners and addressing domestic violence.

'Please help us reclaim the knowledge our ancestors knew about plants that cure'. That was the first request the people made to us when a team of MMM Sisters went to Honduras in 1998 in the wake of the devastating Hurricane Mitch.

It has been an exciting adventure since then, as we worked with them to develop parish health teams and explore with the young people and little children issues around low self esteem.

Stories from MMM in Honduras

A Place of Healing
Honduras, 2008:  Sister Joanne Bierl writes that it was a moment of great joy when they heard the parish priest, Padre Enemecio Del Cid, begin his homily in Spanish at the Mass of the Inauguration of the new Parish Centre, ‘Casa Visitación’, with the words of our Foundress, Mother Mary Martin:  ‘Si Dios quiere el trabajo, nos enseñará el camino.’ (‘If God wants the work, God will show the way.’) >>> more.

A Day in the Life of Felix
by Sisters Joanne Bierl, Rosalinda Gonzales and Renee Duignan
Honduras, 2007: The night that hurricane Felix was hitting Nicaragua, we had a meeting of one of our Health Committees in a nearby community here in the north of Honduras. It was raining heavily and everyone was worried.
Felix had developed quickly over the deep warm waters of the southern Caribbean. The news was reporting that sixty-five people were dead or missing from coastal villages near the Nicaragua-Honduras border.  >>> more.

A Long Day in the Mountains
Honduras, 2006:  The truck carrying the health team heads out of town at 7a.m. It will be two hours, at least, before they arrive at the little mountain church under the ceiba tree. Mass is a real celebration. It is a big day for the community having Fr. Enemecio Del Cid with them. The women have prepared a communal lunch, which will be taken outdoors.
But first comes the health education. There are loads of issues to be worked through by the seventeen health committees around this vast parish.  >>> more.

First Workshop in Choloma
Honduras, 2005:  “As the first year in our new mission at Choloma comes to an end, Health Promoters are chosen and are beginning to be trained, some Health Committees are forming. Our little ‘casa’ is open to receive people, and we are about to select a couple of women to begin training for the HIV/AIDS Home Care program.”
It is so simple to say, but for us it was a real milestone in beginning here. Our first Workshop on Healthcare was the result of many encounters with new people and new places. >>> more.

Providing not only a healing service, but also a healing space

Trekking to remote mountain villages around Marcala is challenging and tiring, but probably not as stressful as work in the drug-ridden communities of Choloma, or visiting its over-crowded prison. Providing not only a healing service, but also a healing space in their lives, draws upon the deepest resources of the charism of MMM. Your support in this life-giving work is badly needed.

History of MMM in Honduras  |  More Stories from Annals of MMM in Honduras

Last modified: Friday, March 19th, 2010