New Informational Video

Thanks to the volunteers at the Universidad Espiritu Santo (UEES), Damien House has a new informational video. Click on the video above to watch.

Thursdays, Banana Days!

Hard Yakka!

Hij doing some work, for once..

Every month, a truckload of donated bananas are delivered to the Foundation. It´s then our job to unload, move and store them. It usually takes about 3hours and by the end we are all exhausted. The first day we finished up, Hij, Simon and I thought that there´d be enough bananas for about a month, when we returned the following Monday about half of them had been used in meals! It´s just a small example of how the foundation runs and relies on donations and how important they are to it´s existence. The other great thing about banana day is that sometimes Brendon makes his famous Banana loaf!!
Shamus (aka Chamu chamu)

Feliz Compleaños Trinidad!

Hi everyone! 

We are in the middle of the raining season here in Guayaquil and it rains almost every single day. 

It was Trinidad's 85 years old birthday on the 27th on January.
So we had a small celebration for her and had a great time together!

Happy Birthday Trinidad and let's wish all the best to her!

Cheers,

 

My 1st post

I am Hijiri from Japan and I am currently studying at UEES as an exchange student from Australia.


Firstly, a big thank-you to Damien House for welcoming us and providing us with such a great opportunity to work here.

To be honest , before working here, I was not really aware of the situation of Hansen's Disease here in Ecuador, as in my country only one or two people are infected by the disease annually, therefore it's almost a forgotten disease in Japan. So I was actually very surprised by the fact that there are still a number of people suffering from the disease in Ecuador. 

At the beginning, I had some difficulties to have conversations with the patients due to my poor Spanish skills, however, now I believe that our conversations are slightly getting smoother than before, each time we talk. Also, I started getting to know about the circumstances of the disease and the patients. 

Here at Damien House, although, the patients receive an excellent support from the workers and the center, they still need more support financially and in removing the stigma from the disease. 

Actually, we only have a few more weeks to work here, so we are going to do our best supporting the place. 

Thanks,

Hijiri

New Australian and Japanese Volenteers at Damien House

2011 has rolled around and Damien House has welcomed 3 volunteers, Simon, Shamus and Hijiri all on student exchange from Australian universities have been introduced to the patients of Damien House and are working alongside staff to ensure the smooth running of the center. 

 

Farewell to Volunteers Hillary, Elizabeth, and Mel

Damien House recently said farewell to three extraordinary volunteers who returned to the USA after spending a semester studying at the Universidad Espiritu Santo (UEES) and volunteering at Damien House. Hillary Krombel (Manhattan College), Elizabeth Navarro (Washinton State), and Meláni Glassman (Boston University) brought a tremendous amount of energy, care, and dedication to their work. Hillary will be remembered for her outstanding work in the wound care room, Elizabeth for her painting, decorating, and ability to energize the patients with her bright personality, and Meláni for her work on the newsletter and for the connections she built with the patients. All at Damien House are incredibly thankful for their hard work and dedication and pray that God may bless them in all their future endeavors.

Thanks to Cabrini College for their visit to Damien House

Damien House was recently blessed with a visit from eight students and two staff members from Cabrini College in Pennsylvania.  The staff and patients of Damien House enjoyed spending time with these special visitors just before Christmas. The Cabrini group showed their Christmas spirit by singing classic Christmas carols such as Rudolph the Red-nose Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman to the patients. The patients and staff at Damien House thank Cabrini College for their visit and wish them all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.