HONDURAS: THE MISSION OF FATHER ALBERT GAUCI, OFM
As part of our outreach efforts, our fraternity assists the mission of Father Albert Gauci, OFM located at Parroquia Santa Gertrudis (St. Gertrude's Parish) in Juticalpa, Olancho, Honduras. Father Albert started his Franciscan journey when he joined he Order Friars Minor (OFM) and became a Franciscan in 1962 at the St. Francis Friary in Hamrun, Malta. As a native of Malta, Fr. Albert remained in Malta for another ten years before coming to Toronto, Canada in 1972. Not too long after his arrival in Canada, Father Albert was asked to go to Honduras in 1973 and so began his Franciscan mission at St. Gertrude's Roman Catholic Church. With Franciscan hope and love Fr. Albert has increased and strengthened the faith of parishioners, improved the quality of life especially for the elderly and the children and in general, has helped to build a better society for everyone.
Our fraternity continues to assist Fr. Albert with our dedicated page to his mission. At this page, you will find information on the various mission projects:
- Hogar de Ancianos "Paz y Bien" (Old Age Home)
- Hogar de Ninos "Santa Maria de Los Angeles" (Orphanage)
- Hogar Enfermos de Sida (Aids Project)
- Granja Penal De Juticalpa (Prison)
- Proyecto de Panaderia (Bakery)
- Celebradores de La Palabra de Dios (Lay Ministry)
- Estadio Juticalpa (Sports Complex)
- Centro Nutricional (Nutritional Center)
- Mission Expenses
- A Day In The Life Of A Missionary
Background
Honduras is one of five republics of Central America. It is a country of about eight million people divided into eighteen states called Departamentos. Olancho is the biggest departamento in Honduras with a population of 440,000 people. The capital of the state of Olancho is Juticalpa and this is where the bishop lives and is the center of both the religious and civil life of Olancho. In all of Honduras there are only 18 priests to sheppard their respective flocks.
The parish of Santa Gertrudis is situated on the outskirts of Juticalpa. Father Albert along with two friars, four Franciscan nuns (Poor Clares) and the Bishop cater to the spiritual needs and the many social necessities for members of the parish. The parish has a population of 44,000 people living in Juticalpa itself and in fifty five surrounding villages.
St. Gertrude's is a faith filled parish that in addition to the spiritual activities of the parish such as Masses, Baptisms, Confessions, Marriages etc., parishioners are also involved in the Apostolic movements of the Christian Family Movement, the Order Franciscan Secular (Third Order, 60 members), the youth groups and the Celebradores De La Palabra De Dios. Parishioners take seriously the human needs of the parish, especially those most vulnerable, the children and the elderly. Currently, in place for the children are:
- The parish kindergarten where 66 kids come to school every day
- The parish clinic where twice a week two doctors from the same parish freely give their service to attend to the sick children of the parish
- The parish nutritional center where Fr. Albert and his group try very hard to feed about 150 very poor kids every day
Poverty In Honduras
A note on the meaning of poverty in Honduras. To be poor in Central America takes on a different meaning than that of what we here in Canada understand poverty to be. For us Canadians, poverty may be defined by an income level, a limited lifestyle etc. In Honduras, poverty has a much more serious meaning. Those who are considered poor are those people who are unable to take care of themselves. This is a great concern for Father Albert as he feels especially called to help the most needy of the poor: the elderly and the children. Father Albert has responded to this call with two projects: HOGAR DE ANCIANOS "PAZ Y BIEN" old age home and the HOGAR DE NINOS "SANTA MARIA DE LOS ANGELES" orphanage.
Hogar de Ancianos "Paz y Bien"
Approximately nine years ago, Fr. Albert and others wanted to do something more permanent and better organized for the elderly of Olancho. Of all the people in Olancho, the elderly were completely unattended as there was not one single old age home. In response to this, Fr. Albert and others began to build and have successfully completed the construction of the HOGAR DE ANCIANOS "PAZ Y BIEN" old age home. This project is the joy of the Church in Olancho.
Currently there are 65 old men and women who live together through the work of divine providence and Franciscan hope and love. They are extremely poor, but they are provided with food, clothing and their general needs through the generosity of love of many people. Expanding the facilities is a goal so that more may be accommodated and cared for. Those who directly administer and care for the elderly are: two Franciscan nuns, one permanent nurse, two doctors who visit the parish four times a week and seven workers who direct and manage the activities of the old age home.
Hogar de Ninos "Santa Maria de Los Angeles"
Another big problem in Olancho are the orphaned children. The Honduran government did not have one single orphanage in all of Olancho. To remedy this, in early 2002, Fr. Albert began to do something for the little kids who as orphans end up living on the streets of Olancho. Today, the orphanage "HOGAR DE NINOS SANTA MARIA DE LOS ANGELES" is the pride and joy of the Catholic Church in Olancho. It was blessed by Bishop Monsignor Mauro Muldoon, OFM in April'2002. At present there are 31 street kids. Their ages range from a few days old to seven years. Two Franciscan nuns together with four lay workers care for the orphanage.
Hogar Enfermos de Sida
To meet the ongoing problem of aids, in January'2005 Father Albert established a home for people with aids. Today, the Third Order of the Franciscan Family, the Secular Franciscans provide a big help in providing for the needs of the patients. Currently, there are seven individuals with aids that live at the home and are provided with food, a place to sleep and spiritual help. In addition, 17 individuals meet weekly with a psychiatrist at the home. Unlike the facilities and treatments available in North America, they do not exist in Honduras and as a result many aids patients die deaths that are agonizing and a prolonged struggle.
In 2005, Father Albert began to address the needs of prisoners whose living conditions had deteriorated rapidly. In addition to the seriousness of the prison crisis, Fr. Albert embarked on this project partly as a reflection on Christ's words, "I was sick and in prison and you did visit Me..." During his visit to our fraternity in August'2005, Fr. Albert shared with us his thoughts on Christ's words quoted above and stated that, "...we as human beings tend to selectively choose our efforts of charity and in so doing, we must ask ourselves, are we neglecting anyone in the process?" In asking this question of himself, Father. Albert realized that he had not addressed the needs of prisoners.
Olancho's prison at that time contained 408 people that was designed to hold only 120. The conditions of the prison were appalling: no running water, hardly any electricity, over crowded living quarters and an overall unhygienic environment. During the Summer of 2004, a tragedy occurred at the prison as a fire broke out that literally roasted alive 105 prisoners. The seriousness of the living conditions coupled with the tragedy of the fire prompted Father Albert to do some thing about it.
Father Albert set off to begin the planning and fundraising for a new prison. The new prison project had received government approval and as Father Albert jokingly stated, "It is probably the first prison built by the Catholic Church." The much needed land was graciously donated by a local parishioner, a total of 10 acres. An architect had drawn up plans in which the new prison's perimeter dimensions were to be 110 meters by 108 meters. This would provide more spacious living conditions and allow prisoners to live with a sense of dignity. The land had been cleared and construction began in September'2005 when the heavy rains had ceased.
The new prison, Granja Penal De Juticalpa, Olancho was completed at a cost of approximately $900,000, partly funded by the state and the rest collected by Father Albert and his team. All 434 inmates have a concrete foundation and individual mattresses to sleep on. The living conditions are clean and hygienic, proper to the dignity of human beings. School teachers teach classes five time a week and workshops have been put in place allowing individuals to learn carpentry, welding and other trades. Also, there is the general project of making hammocks. The material for the hammocks comes from the community itself that provides all that the prisoners need to make the products, which in turn is sold back to the community.
In December'2007, the prison was finally inaugurated with much pomp in the presence of the President of Honduras, the Bishop, the mayor and the governor, as the building was handed over to the State's Ministry of Security, which is responsible for running it. Attending the inauguration were 50 prisoners who shed tears in their eyes upon seeing their new home. To view the inauguration, please click the following link: Prison Inauguration!
In 2001, Father Albert was honored with the National Award for Human Rights and the untiring, 60-year-old Franciscan will never stop working to bring about change in an area, where thousands live in abject poverty. He lives by the Franciscan philosophy to "attend, simply and directly, to the spiritual and other basic human needs, especially those of the poor and disenfranchised, promoting justice for all".
Proyecto de Panaderia
The Proyecto de Panaderia or bakery has been established to help feed those in the old age home, the orphanage and the aids home as well as the parish community. As a business, it is proving to be quite successful as a money making operation, that really assists the financial needs of the parish. As one can imagine, there are many costs associated with running a parish and these costs are part of Father Albert's concerns that are some what alleviated with the success of the bakery.
The revenue generated from the bakery does not cover all parish expenses, but it does help to pay for bakery employee wages, parish salaries and other miscellaneous expenses. The bakery employees begin work at 6am and finish at 6pm. It is through their hard work, together with all who are involved in making the bakery a success that has helped meet the financial requirements at St. Gertrude's.
Celebradores de La Palabra de Dios
The Celebradores de La Palabra de Dios are lay people who help Father Albert bring the word of God to people in the villages surrounding Juticalpa. The parish of St. Gertrude's is surrounded by 55 villages, many of which are only accessible by horse or donkey. For Father Albert to visit some of these villages would take him up to six hours and since he is the only priest in the parish, it is impossible for him to make regular visits. This is where the lay people come in as they are a tremendous help to Fr. Albert in assisting him to sheppard his flock. Since the majority can not attend Mass due to their distance from the parish, 75 lay people celebrate the Word of God in the respective surrounding villages. The celebration is very much like the Mass, except that there is no consecration as there is no priest present. In addition, they are 45 Catechists to help with the children.
To prepare the laity for these duties, Father Albert has them travel to St. Gertrude's every first friday of the month for a meeting, the Reunion Mensual, where Father Albert provides them with instructions as to what readings are to be read and preparation for the Celebration of the Word.
The construction for the massive $2 million dollar sports complex began approximately two years ago. The complex will consist of two rectangular shaped buildings that will be separated by a soccer field. Both buildings will be as long as the soccer field itself, if not longer. A third building, a commercial component where products will be sold, will be adjacent to both the rectangular buildings and the soccer field. Most of the structure has been completed, but there remains another year to go in its construction. Every Saturday, Father Albert has 23 workers working away on its completion. The cost to Father Albert for this work is $1,200.00 USD.
In addition to the obvious, the sports complex is more than just a place to play a variety of sports, of which soccer is the main sport. The complex represents a positive injection into community life whereby children and teenagers can direct their youthful energy in a positive direction. In so doing, they learn about team work, cooperation, acquire physical and relationship skills all in a spirit of fun and excitement. Such a positive outlet is necessary in a society where drugs, gangs and other negative elements await to ruin the lives of the Honduran youth.
One of Father Albert's most recent projects, the nutritional center (Centro Nutricional) has been set up to accommodate those families who face hardships in providing for their family. The center is a place for children whose mothers must work during the day and can not attend to the needs of the children. The center provides such mothers with a safe haven for their children, where the nutritional essentials are provided for as well as games and other fun activities. After completing their daily work schedules, mothers retrieve their children with the comfort that they have been well taken care of, that they have been safe and happy and joyfully await to be reunited with their mothers each evening.
Today, the nutritional center feeds 120 children everyday and nurses are available to check on them on a daily basis to ensure they are in good health. As well doctors provide regular check up and distribute vitamins.
As Father Albert continues on his Franciscan journey, his mission is in need of financial assistance to help maintain, improve and build on the current facilities and new projects so that a greater amount of people can he helped and cared for. If you would like to help Fr. Albert's mission, please visit our Contact page and send us your email or use the contact form to let us know of your intention to donate to Fr. Albert's mission.
A special note on helping Father Albert. Father Albert has informed us that the best way to donate to his mission would be with a cheque or money order. This would be the most effective way to help him as a cheque or money order would be received directly by the Catholic Church in Olancho and not pass through the hands of Honduran officials. Unfortunately, such a certainty is not available for other forms of assistance, such as clothing, medicine, toys etc., that would have to pass inspection at the Honduran Customs and most likely never reach St. Gertrude's.
Below is a list of typical monthly expenses as provided by Father Albert in August'2008 during his visit to our fraternity. The currency of Honduras is "lempiras," and 19 lempiras = $1.00 Canadian dollar.
Father Albert's Mission Expenses |
||
Expenses |
Lempiras/month |
Dollars (CND) /month |
To feed 1 adult |
900 |
$47.00 |
| To feed 1 child | 63 |
$33.00 |
| Powdered milk supply (Nutritional Center) | 1000 |
$52.00 |
| Medicine for elderly | 14,000 |
$763.00 |
| Medicine for children | 800 |
$42.00 |
| 11 workers for elderly | 36,000 |
$1,194.00 |
To put these expenses into perspective, Father Albert's mission consists of: 70 seniors, 26 orphans and 108 kids. For Father Albert, a journey of a thousand miles starts with the first step. We hope that you will be inspired to help Father Albert to make those continued steps and reach his journey.
A Day In The Life Of A Missionary
In late August'2009, our fraternity received a continued blessing with Father Albert's visit. We had the pleasure of attending Mass that he concelebrated, followed by a beautiful prayer session in which Fr. Albert was afforded the opportunity to speak at length about his mission, including the ongoing political crisis.
With the current international trade embargo against Honduras has come many hardships. To highlight just how serious the situation is, we would like to share with you what has happened to the children of the orphanage. The children of the orphanage used to receive powdered milk as part of their daily meals, but no longer. Currently, there is no powdered milk available to be purchased. To ensure the survival of the infants, nursing mothers volunteer to daily breast feed the babies. As for everyone else, the staple diet of beans, rice and tortillas has sustained them throughout the political crisis.
Ever wonder what the life of a missionary must be like? Our fraternity had asked just such a question to Fr. Albert in August'2008. He took time out from his extremely busy and exhausting schedule to write a letter to us explaining one of his many typical days. Below is that letter entitled, "A Hard Days Night."
A Hard Days Night
Many people often ask themselves, what do priests do all day? That’s a pretty tough question for any priest to answer! It is even hard to answer for us priests in the Missions of Honduras, since, more often than not, one day is very different from another. Here, even the climate plays an important role. Mudslides, rivers overflowing, roads are completely washed away. Sometimes it rains for days on end and you can’t leave your house. Other times you get stuck in a river for 2-3 days, until a couple of oxen are found to pull your car out. Naturally, we try to program our day, our week and month, but quite a few times during the month our days are programmed according to the weather. So in these few lines, I’ll try to let you know how normally I spend a normal day.
The luminous dials of the clock mark 5:15 in the morning. It feels so cozy under the blankets...maybe a few more minutes...but, no way! Time to get up. Cloudy and pretty cold at this hour. I’m sure it will warm up later. Go to the washroom. No shower. Just enough water to wash my face, shave and brush my teeth. A quick cup of instant coffee and a cigarette. Time to open the bakery. Take the bread for breakfast to the orphanage and the house for the elderly and 10 bags to the nutritional center. The eleven bakers arrive to start the day’s work and some people come to buy the first bags of bread. Load the jeep with all of last night’s bread and head for the center of town. A few customers are already waiting. Sales are up! Our bread sells like hot cheesecakes! By mid-day there’s nothing left. Empty casseroles, trays and boxes return to the jeep. Head back to Santa Gertrudis Parish. I help distribute lunch at the orphanage and among the elderly. Some of these need to be fed like babies. By 2pm all is done. The kids play and the elderly dream at their siesta. There’s an air of calm and quiet after everyone has been fed.
Time to prepare my Mass kit to go say Mass in a village called Sineuyapa, about an hour away. Fifty minutes of Confessions, 42 kids for First Communion and 5 couples to get married. Barely made it! 6:15pm. Rush home for the 7pm Mass. Get there a little late. Nobody makes a scene. Luckily late is not late in Honduras! I hear some Confessions and say Mass. Nearly 8:30pm when all is done. After Mass, one last meeting with 27 couples preparing themselves to get married. Ten o’clock! I check one last time on the kids. Some are still awake, waiting to give me one last hug before sleeping. At the house for the elderly, one of the Sisters checks to see all is ok. Like me, she is half asleep on her legs.
Back to the parish house, the huge black labrador jumps with joy. He has not eaten all day...just like me! We’ll have brunch and supper all at one go. Three for the price of one!!! Fry 3 eggs, tomatoes, local cheese and tortillas. Feed the dog and let him know that he’s my best friend. His name is Papillon! As one last good deed of the day, I manage to get in touch with my sister in Toronto. We say “Hi,” practice some Maltese, and she tells me the last news about my 89 year old father back in Malta. It’s close to midnight. I catch the news on the radio, one last cigarette and fall asleep instantly!
And I dream of St. Francis smiling down on us from Heaven. And I dream of you, our benefactors, who from Toronto, through your prayers and generosity make all this possible.
Sound good? Sure! It was just another day in my life!
Fr. Alberto OFM
Father Albert's Visit To Our Fraternity
For those interested in meeting Father Albert personally and listening to him speak, he makes annual visits to our fraternity and is typically invited to concelebrate Mass at St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church, here in Woodbridge. For updates on Father Albert's planned visit, please visit our Home page's "News and Noteworthy" section.
To view Father Albert's mission, please visit our two on line galleries: Honduras Gallery and Juticalpa Gallery.
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