Viatorian Center

Lunch program for Students
The Centro Viatoriano serves lunch to 30 students who
show great promise in their schools. This group is in
the last week of school before they will receive their
report cards and head off for their summer vacation.
They will need to bring a copy of their grades in to
the Centro Viatoriano in order to be placed on the
lunch list for next year. A great success to a small
beginning for the new lunch program that is now up and
running.
We are busy preparing the vegetable gardens so that
we will be ready to use some of the vegetables when
the students start back to school February 1, 2004.

Que Dios los bendiga!!! Padre Brian

This is the Centro Viatoriano Team that ministers to the people through the food package distribution (110 packages per month), powdered milk distribution (100 cans of powdered milk per month), peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (200 sandwiches every Friday), run programs for the elderly, school lunch program (30 children receive lunch each school day). All of these activities take place in the Centro Viatoriano. This group also plays the guitar and is part of the choir in the Parishes of Delicias and Tierradentro in the countryside. They travel with Padre Brian every Sunday as well as handle the catechesis program in both parishes for the First Communion classes and the confirmation classes. All volunteer ministry.

St Viator Mural

Mural of St. Viator in the Centro Viatoriano.
Also shown are Volunteers wearing the Centro Viatorio
T-Shirts. Click on photos for large view. The shirts have the
picture of St Viator on the front.
(L-R) Fr Brian, Gladys, Betty, Ancisor, Mercedes, Miguel, and Robinson. These are the volunteers that
minister to the people at the center.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Volunteers

Photos show the ladies and young people who come and help prepare the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches every Friday. We serve around 200 sandwiches to children from around the neighborhood.

Raffle Day for Tooth Brushes and Tooth Paste (Reminder: Click on photos for large view)
Shown are the children who are receiving the sandwiches.

Dr. Dan Brezinski ( a friend of FR rian’s stateside) donated toothbrushes and toothpaste that we raffle off every Friday at Peanut Butter and Jelly day. The children have to guess a number to win the dental kit. The raffle is free of course.

Peanut Butter and Jelly
In addition to the food packages and powdered milk, we have been distributing the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to around 150 children every Friday afternoon.

Click on photos for full view

Fighting Lice
This past week the local pharmacy volunteered to wash the hair of children who were infected with lice. They washed the hair of about 50 children in the Centro Viatoriano. The pharmacy also sells us the powdered milk at the lowest price possible and usually donates other medications to the center.

This is a 2 story building ( was once an elementary school )
which has been leased to father Brian for 5 years
at no cost by a St Vincent DePaul group. Father Brian has named
it the Viatorian Center and has set up a lunch room to
serve free lunches to 50 needy children.

We will use the building for distributing food packages,
powdered milk, school supplies and all other assistance.
All of these projects are up and running because of the
generous donations which the people of Libano are so
very grateful. We are now distributing 120 food packages to
very poor families every month as well as 90 cans of powdered milk.
Also we are in the process of helping 400 students with notebooks, pens and other supplies
so that they can study.

The children have been very helpful in
clearing the rubble from the building
which had accumulated over the years of non-use.

Friday night April 10, 2003 we celebrated
the inauguration of the Center with
the Rotary Club and other invited guests.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches
In addition to the food packages and powdered milk, we have been distributing
the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to around 150
Every Friday afternoon we make and hand out to children
Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches. They have never tasted peanut butter before
as it cannot be found in the Libano stores. I pick up the peanut butter when I am in Bogotá.
This here is certainly a very different world from experiences of growing up in the United States.

Eye Examinations
Photos from the eye examination day at the Centro Viatoriano. We examined over 100 very needy children. We found one young girl who needs an eye operation or she could go blind within two years. We have sent her for a more thorough examination.