Help Morelia & all who are served at The Inn of the Good Samaritan
For twenty-two years, Sister Beatrice “Babs” Barry CSJ of THE INN of the GOOD SAMARITAN and staff have welcomed patients referred from the mountain villages of the Diocese of San Juan de la Maguana. It functions as a hospital house of hospitality for the sick, guiding them through the maze of the Capital city, Santo Domingo, as they seek solutions for their medical problems. It provides three meals a day, housing, counseling, transportation to hospitals, security and diagnostic studies such as analysis, X-rays, CT scans, MRI’s, sonograms, mammograms and echocardiograms.
Also referring patients to THE INN, particularly those with cancer, is Father Rick Frechette CP, Physician and founder of the orphanage “Our Little Brothers and Sisters” and Saint Damien’s Hospital for children in Haiti. Lacking radiation therapy and chemo therapy medications in Port au Prince, these patients have found at THE INN a home away from home where they can be treated.
After Haiti’s devastating earthquake a communication and transportation system was quickly organized uniting relief efforts. The DR orphanage (a sister to the one in Haiti) sent a bus and trucks filled with requested supplies and medicines every other day to travel over land to St. Damien’s. They stopped at THE INN to pick up contributions before continuing to the border and their destination. On their return they carried patients who received hospitality and services at THE INN or went on to specialized hospitals.
Thanks to you, our donors, it was possible to turn St. Damien’s wish lists into realities. They were supplied with IV solutions, catheters, injection needles, sterile gowns for surgeons, anesthesia, analgesics, antibiotics, sedatives, suture materials and plaster for casts, pressed cotton, and crutches. Tents, liquid baby formula and a highly fortified peanut butter product, “Plumpy Nut” were just some of the things that were sent in your name.
Recently Sister Bab’s concern has been focused on Morelia, a thirteen year old who suffers from DYSTONIA. It is a painful and debilitating neurological movement disorder caused by a dysfunction of the brain. The symptoms are caused by sustained contractions of the muscles around the neck which cause the head to lean to one side, and the arms and legs to move in spasms causing a choppy and unbalanced gait. A costly drug provides minimum relief but Morelia can not hold a pencil or a book. A pacemaker device inserted into the chest can control the spasms but it costs $38,000. Although the neurosurgeons will donate their services, there will still be hospital expenses. This beautiful and intelligent child needs you to help to pay for this device and her hospitalization. Your donation would not only help Morelia but all who are served at THE INN of the GOOD SAMARITAN.
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For more information contact Sister Beatrice "Babs" Barry Many thanks!
The parish of St. Peter the Apostle in El Cercado where Msgr. John Cervini serves a large population. A pastoral team of eight administer the parish. This team is made up of Msgr. Cervini, native Dominican religious and four lay people. Hundreds of volunteers assist them to implement the ministerial plan of the parish in eighty communities.
Update:
*Currently our small hospital is overwhelmed with cases of cholera. The latest rains are spreading contaminated water through the mountains. Hundreds of cases are reported. Three deaths have been reported so far. The parish is currently building 650 latrines with the help of the local Diocese of San Juan de la Maguana. We have 5 teams of men targeting the mountain towns in crisis. We will be expanding these teams to 10 in a few days. Latrines are essential to contain contamination in the hills. Two new US Peace Corps Volunteers have arrived both engineers to work on 9 water projects. We are waiting to hear from a few Rotaries in the US for possible funding .These men are bringing lots of hope to the communities in need . Six years ago, the Parish of San Pedro with our parish social ministry, got the local water authority to begin construction on an extension to the municipal water system 5,000 feet up in the mountains of El Cercado. It has been off and on again. It will tap into a pure water spring bringing clean water to our village of 10,000 people. We are only a few hundred yards shy of the connection. That will be a huge help to fighting cholera here. We ask for your prayers for this project which is crucial to the lives of our parishioners.
Physical hunger and thirst devastate our people in the parish of San Pedro Apostol in the mountains of El Cercado. Spiritual hunger and thirst are there as well. Seeing this first hand, Bishop McGann adopted this parish as a Diocesan Mission in 1979, in the name of all the people in the Rockville Centre Diocese. Through his support and that of many people in the diocese, the ministry has grown. People’s lives, there and here on Long Island, are being touched by Jesus in marvelous ways. In the mission, Christian base communities are increasing. Catechetical programs and youth groups multiply. New projects provide pure water, latrines and agricultural help, dramatically changing lives.
Hondo Valle
Sister Jane Reilly CSJ, lives in the parish of Our Lady of Fatima, in a remote mountain village called Hondo Valle. It is located near the border of Haiti. The population is 15,000. A pastoral team of seven lay people, all native Dominicans, and Sister Jane minister collaboratively to forty-five communities. All the programs and ministries of the parish are implemented by lay people.
Sister Jane sees her mission as sharing the Good News with the poor, healing the broken hearted and proclaiming the Day of the Lord! Through formal programs of religious formation and informal moments of faith sharing, God is seen as a God of life and love. Whatever gives life is from God and whatever does not give life (typhoid, malnutrition, illiteracy) can be transformed by the community living its faith as Jesus taught.
Heal The Broken Hearted:
Altagracia, who buried three children who died of malnutrition in three months
Juanita, whose only son was diagnosed with AIDS
Francisco, whose Hansen’s disease (leprosy), in remission for 10 years, has returned
Proclaim the Day of the Lord:
Cheering the arrival of pure water from a new aqueduct
The dedication of the renovated hospital, the result of a three year struggle by the Christian base communities
The completion of a literacy program
Santo Domingo
The Inn of the Good Samaritan is a hospital hospitality house directed by Sister Babs Barry CSJ, located in Santo Domingo near to the major health facilities of the country, At the Inn, the sick and poor are received by Sister Babs and her staff and experience the healing compassionate love of Jesus. Referrals come from the twenty-eight parishes that comprise the diocese of San Juan.
The Inn of the Good Samaritan is a house much like a Ronald McDonald House. Here the poor from the mountain villages of the Dominican Republic find a home-away-from-home. They come to the capital city for medical treatment.
The Inn of the Good Samaritan staff provide:
Three meals a day
A bed with clean sheets
Proper sanitary facilities
Counseling
Transportation to and from hospitals
A family atmosphere
Security
Follow-ups
Hope
Since 1988, hundreds of patients and accompanying family members have been guests during their times of medical crises. At The Inn of the Good Samaritan, they experience the loving compassion of God.
It has been brought to our office’s attention that various parishes are being solicited by families/organizations regarding the sale of religious crafts made in the Holy Land. Due to our inability to attest to the authenticity of these organizations we strongly advise pastors to be very cautious in their response.
"Mission is a natural outreach of our lives as Christians; it is allowing ourselves to be transformed by God’s love and, in turn, helping to transform the world in which we live."
Dominican Republic Mission
