Dear Friends,

Your support for our medical mission trips to Haiti and Honduras and for the orphanage in Limón, Honduras in the past has been most generous. This year we had 2 successful medical mission trips, to Haiti and Honduras, where we accomplished many things. In Haiti we are still helping to support the small Censhop Hospital in
Port-a-Prince, where we served.

In Honduras we:

• Provided care to around 1,500 patients between a dump in La Ceiba, the Limón clinic, the Icoteas clinic, a school in Planes, and a school in the mountains.
  
• Performed ophthalmic examinations and giving eye glasses to several hundred people.
  
• Offered a 2nd-annual diabetes clinic to help in diagnosing and controlling diabetes.
  
• Continued a water purification project by providing enough materials to construct 26 purifiers.
  
• Started a project for building a community bath house including flush toilets.
  
• Supplied the orphanage with much needed food, clothes, shoes, books, and activities (e.g. tie-dyeing) and money to help pay off doctor bills that had accumulated when there were no medical teams in Limón. We also gave funds to help support the building of the new orphanage.
  

Our main goal this year is to get the orphanage for at least 70 children built and we are coordinating this with the non- profit group called Leonarda’s Home of Hope, which I am on the board. We have enough money to build the foundation of Leonarda’s Home of Hope but not enough for the rest of the materials or labor costs that are not donated. We anticipate the total cost to be around $250,000. There are many reasons that we need to get this orphanage built as soon as possible. Besides the severe overcrowding and lack of resources, the most important reason is for the safety of the children. The present orphanage is attached to a dangerous disco/bar, with trafficking of drugs. There has also been an offer made to buy the building that the orphanage is in. So far the owner has been holding out not to sell until the new orphanage is built, but this may change at any time. Leonarda, the director, has also been threatened.

We need the Leonarda’s Home of Hope built soon!

Leonarda’s Home of Hope and Limón Aid fund additional education for the orphans that is not available in the local community.

Please check out the website of Leonardashomeofhope.com to follow the progress of building Leonarda’s Home of Hope. I also have T-shirts and note cards on sale for $10.

Another main goal of ours this year is to have a full-time Diabetic Clinic set up in Limón where people can get their blood sugars checked and the medicine they needed anytime throughout the year.

We do our best to stretch every dollar – and other than postage and printing costs, do not use any funds collected for administration or fund raising.

Your help is very much needed. Every amount that is donated goes so far in Limón - $25 buys 40 pairs of prescription glasses, or keeps a young teenager from dying of diabetes or a dozen pairs of shoes for orphans, or pays a construction worker 4 days of work to help build Leonarda’s Home of Hope.

The children at the orphanage, the people of Limón and

Limón Aid thank you most sincerely for your generosity!

Any amount of donation is greatly appreciated!

Happy Holidays,

Dr. Susan Caldwell and Janet Mahoney

In keeping with these ever technological times Limón Aid has created a blog where you can write about Haiti, Honduras, or other happenings.

Our team made it back safely from Haiti and were all deeply moved by what transpired there. To hear more about our experiences or to contribute your own, please visit our new blog. Be sure to view all the photos posted in the Gallery as well.

 

Mark your calendars. Limón Aid is going to Honduras on another medical mission this year from April 22 to May 2.

If you would like to donate, help fundraise, pack supplies, or assist in another way, feel free to visit our Get Involved page for information on how to best reach us. Thank You!

 

On Tuesday, January 12, 2010 tragedy struck Haiti in the form of a 7.0 magnitude earthquake causing untold devastation to an already downtrodden nation. Countless people have died or are dying. Too many require medical assistance that is not available. Without the most basic needs-food, water, shelter-people are suffering unimaginably.

Now, in light of the events unfolding in Haiti, Limón Aid is committed to helping and ensuring the people of Haiti know they are not alone. Dr. Susan Caldwell will lead a team of volunteers from the U.S., including past team members of Limón Aid to Port-au-Prince, Haiti from February 10 to February 21st.

We desperately need your help to purchase medicine and supplies to make the mission possible. Please visit the Get Involved page for information on how to contact Dr. Caldwell or to make a secure online donation via PayPal. We thank you and greatly appreciate any contribution.

 

In this new program, Limón Aid has partnered with a group of women in Limón to start a knitting micro-business. The women hand knit Prayer Shawls or shoulder coverings and then Limón Aid purchases the final products with donations made by you. The result is a three-fold blessing: two-thirds of the money from the sale goes back to the women, one-third goes to the Limón orphanage at the women's request, and the shawls go to Hospice of Lansing and nursing homes near Lansing, Michigan.

Please support this program by purchasing a Prayer Shawl online via PayPal (designate that the donation is for a Prayer Shawl). Contact us or visit our Community Service page for more information. Thank you.

 

It is that time of year again and Limón Aid is preparing for its annual trip to Honduras. And again, we need your help.

Please visit the Get Involved page for more information on how you can help. Also, you can now make a secure online donation via PayPal directly from our website. Thank You!

 

Again, our trip to Limón, Honduras was a success. We accomplished many things with the contributions people made and hope to do more in the future. In all we:

• Provided care for 1000 patients, held educational classes on diabetes, fit 100 people with glasses, delivered 2 babies, helped a women get to the hospital in time to save her life, and gave out lots of medication, toothbrushes, washcloths & soap.
  
• Established a micro-business for individual family water purifiers by training personnel, purchasing materials, and constructing examples to go in the Limón soup kitchen, orphanage, school, and clinic in Icoteas.
  
• Helped a crocheting enterprise with supplies and instruction, training women and the girls in the orphanage. We also brought some of their beautiful work home with us to sell.
  
• Donated three laptops to the high school.
  
• Funded repairs for the orphanage and gave the children shoes, umbrellas and sunglasses.
  
• Spent time each day with the orphans and saw how much they need a new orphanage, as they are now cramped into the existing, rundown, rented building holding 60 children. Leonarda, the nun that runs the home, believes there are 100 more orphans in the region waiting for a place to live. The area where the orphans presently live has a drug house and disco next door that makes it unsafe for the children. Building Leonarda's Home of Hope for the orphans is one of Limón Aid's biggest goals and we have a separate bank account that grows with each donation. We have better land for the orphanage closer to the school and plans for a two story L shaped home for 100 children. We have workers to build the home but desperately need the money for building supplies and to pay for the laborers. To see the orphanage progress visit www.leonardashomeofhope.org.
  

Your gift was appreciated! With gratitude and blessings,
Janet Mahoney, Limón Aid Co-director