A caravan of nine Toyota SUVs started out in the morning. Before nightfall three had developed a flat tire. That’s how bad the roads are in northern Nicaragua.
Msgr. Francis X. Schmidt, the retired pastor of St. Augustine Catholic Church in Bridgeport, who was in expedition on May 7, wasn’t able to do anything about those roads, but he is definitely trying to do something about the infinitely worse housing situation in that region. So far, he has raised more than $1 million to build 300 little houses, 160 of which are already occupied and the rest on the drawing board. There are also two health clinics, a radio studio, a community center and a couple of flocks of sheep. The dollar still goes far in Central America.
It started innocently enough for Msgr. Schmidt, who led a group of about 30, mostly enefactors, from the Philadelphia area from May 4-8 to Nicaragua to show them what the needs are there and what their charity has already accomplished. In the 1970s, he was the Philadelphia archdiocese’s youth director.
One of his protégés, Chuck Pfeffer, later became a priest and also a youth director. Fr. Pfeffer died suddenly in 2004, and Msgr. Schmidt decided to find a way to memorialize him.
Somehow, he came in contact with Food For the Poor (FFP), a Florida-based nonprofit that is now America’s fourth-largest charity and the largest to operate exclusively in the area of foreign relief.
It feeds approximately 2 million people every day in addition to its other humanitarian projects.
The focus for “Father Chuck’s Challenge” became housing in Nicaragua, the second-poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, with a per capita income of about $980 annually, according to World Bank figures. The major industry in the mountain regions is coffee, but most workers are only employed for around four months each year during the harvest season.
According to Angel Aloma, FFP’s executive director who was along for the trip, Nicaragua FFP partners with another non-profit, the American Nicaraguan Foundation (NFF), which oversees the work and supplies some matching funds. Completed houses and the plot of land they occupy are deeded over to needy families, and it is estimated, on average, six people will live in each of them.
The houses, at about 325 square feet, are extremely basic. They lack indoor kitchens, electricity or heat, but they are nevertheless palaces compared with the dirt-floor shacks they are replacing. Each prefab concrete dwelling costs about $2,600, with another $500 for the latrine. Msgr. Schmidt is indefatigable in pressuring donors from Catholic parishes and other groups — whether it is to fund a house, a community facility or an entire village.
The first complex, Father Pfeffer’s Village, which was completed in January 2008, was one stop on the visit. Many donors contributed to its construction. The Watson family of Leola — Patti and Tim, and their daughter, Erica — was among them.
“I’m very surprised at the size of the village; it’s amazing to see how many people are helped by our small gesture,” Tim said. Connie Hunt, of King of Prussia, first visited the village in 2008 when they dedicated the community center she financed.
“It’s a great joy for myself to see the progress,” she said. “There is a little girl, Maria, who recognized me. She seems so much happier and healthier now. I think we are doing a great thing.”
On this trip the St. Eleanor Health Clinic, built through donations from St. Eleanor Catholic Church in Collegeville, was dedicated. It has three treatment rooms, electricity and the only flush toilet in the community.
The previous day, the group visited the La Rica area where 200 homes are planned in several locations. Two villages with a total of 60 homes are completed. Fr. McGivney Village, which is named for the founder of the Knights of Columbus, was built largely with funds donated by Holy Family Council of the Knights of Columbus in Bridgeport, where Msgr. Schmidt is chaplain.
Four teens from Archbishop Carroll High School in Radnor represented the knights on the trip.
Frances’ Village was named in honor of the mother of donor Larry Jilk of Phoenixville.
“I didn’t know my grandmother; she passed away when I was very young,” said Mr. Jilk’s daughter, Karen Hartman, who traveled from Maine to attend. “It doesn’t surprise me. My father has done things like this his whole life, he just loves everybody.”
Fr. Edward Kelly, of Visitation Catholic Church in Trooper, dedicated Holy Family Clinic, which was donated by the people of his parish.
The final day included a visit to the La Dalia-El Hular area, where planned villages with 100 new houses are proposed, complete with sanitary facilities, a water system and resources to raise chickens. Because this area is yet to be developed, the group was able to better appreciate the extremely primitive conditions that need to be remedied.
“This trip has really changed me in the way I view my everyday life and how lucky I really am,” said Archbishop Carroll sophomore Sal DeGrazio. “Msgr. Schmidt returned home with a folder full of letters from poor people pleading for a new home. Somehow we know he and FFP will find a way to help.”
“The essence of this is the generosity of the good people and the priests of the diocese,” Msgr. Schmidt said. “My feeling is Food For the Poor is made of a great group of Christian people who are creative, compassionate and effective.”
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
If you would like to make a comment, please fill out the form below.
