Ste. Anne's To Sponsor Spring 2007 Mission Trip to Honduras
By Leslie Rott

A mission journey to Honduras is being organized by Brother Jim Boynton at Ste. Anne's Catholic Church and he hopes to attract between 20 and 40 people, including several teenagers. The trip is scheduled from Sunday, March 25, through Sunday, April 1 to coincide with spring break at Mackinac Island Public School.

"Once you get there, you fall in love with the people and the place," said Maura Dacey, a member of Gesu Church in Cleveland, Ohio, a veteran of the mission in Honduras. She spoke at an information meeting at the parish hall Wednesday, June 28, to stir interest in the program.

The mission encompasses five communities, Nuevo Paraiso, a village for single mothers and their children, Nuevo Esperanza, a training center for girls, Montana de Luz, a home for children with HIV and AIDS, Flor Azul, a training farm for boys, and Pedro Atala, a home for children who are orphaned or have mothers in prison. Participants will play games with the children, mix cement and lay bricks, paint, and help in other ways.

Ms. Dacey said everyone will find something to do and everyone's skills are utilized. On one trip, all of the people that liked to shop formed a shopping brigade, where they bought food and toys for the children at the homes.

"You are going to see very, very poor people," she said.

Honduras is an accessible and relatively safe place for people to visit, Ms. Dacey said, and the mission is affiliated with the child aid group, Sociedad Amigos de los Ninos, based in the Honduran capital city of Tegucigalpa.

"It would be great for us as a community to see what goes on beyond our borders," Brother Boynton told the group. He has been on missions in India, Nepal, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Peru, and Appalachia.

Brother Broynton said the trip is open to anyone, of any faith, who is interested in helping others.

"If they share our mission, but not our faith, that's great," he said. "This is not a trip where we are trying to convert people."

Participants from all the churches will make the trip more interesting, he added.

A typical day is to be awakened at 5:30 a.m. and, following breakfast and assignments, begin the work day at 7:45. Following a half-hour lunch break at noon, projects are continued until 3 p.m., Ms. Dacey said, after which participants are free to do other things until dinner at 6 p.m.

The cost for the trip is $1,345 a person, which includes $700 airfare, $245 for room and board, $35 tax, $280 for project supplies, $20 for sightseeing, $60 for transportation, and $5 for gratuities. Brother Boynton hopes to raise money to bring the cost down.

"I think people would be willing to help with this because the money is going to the community to help other people," he said. People who would like to go on the trip, but can't, he added, could consider sponsoring someone else.

A passport and vaccinations for Hepatitis A, Tetanus, Typhoid, and Malaria are required for the trip. Comfortable clothes and a hat to mitigate some of the heat should also be taken. Chocolate should not be brought on the trip, as it can quickly melt and become messy, but other snack foods can be brought.

Bug spray and checking the bed before sleeping is recommended, although Ms. Dacey said the bugs are not bad there.

Stuffed animals and small toys, toothbrushes, toothpaste, vitamins, and medicine will be taken for projects on the trip.

The next meeting will be September 24 at 7 p.m. Other meetings are planned between Christmas and New Year's and in late February or early March.

Attending the meetings is not a requirement to participate, Brother Boynton said. Others interested can contact him by email at boynton@jesuits.net or at Ste. Anne's Church.

He also plans to promote the mission trip at St. Ignatius Loyola Church in St. Ignace and St. Mary's Catholic Church in Cheboygan.