Meet Ellen

Emma and Ellen

Ellen has been a member of St. Paul's since 1989. She has been married to Peter for 37 years and they have three grown children, Andrew, Katie and Heidi. They have also been blessed with three grandchildren, Emma, Samuel and Peter (so far!). Her nursing career has been such a gift! She looks forward to sharing this gift with the people of Peru. This is her second medical mission (first mission was to Mexico). She looks forward to this wonderful opportunity to be the hands and feet of Jesus.

Meet Catherine

Catherine Desmond is the newest member of the team, although she's not a member of St.Paul Parish. She's a Catholic Worker at Casa Maria in Milwaukee and met Nancy Reinbold as she takes one of the staff shopping every month for their homeless guests. (Thanks for the grant from the St. Paul people) She's a retired RN and psychotherapist.

She and her family lived in Aguascalientes, Mexico for three years, some years ago, setting up a culture center through the LaCrosse diocese, and she's always glad to return to a Spanish-speaking country. She has four awesome grown sons, one is a priest, and five delightful grandchildren. 

She's so looking forward to this trip to Peru.

Meet Nancy

Nancy and her husband John have been members of St Paul’s Parish since 1985. Their children went to school at St Paul’s. Their children are grown now with families of their own and they treasure their six grandchildren.Nancy works as a registered nurse. She is currently at St Joseph Medical Clinic in Waukesha. St Joe’s is a free clinic that has been in existence for over 35 years.  She is the medical case manager/outreach nurse for the homeless and threatened homeless in the Waukesha area.

Prior to becoming involved with the Peru project, she was involved with and traveled to Guatemala thru St Paul Parish. She and John  have been  blessed in their lives and feel that it is now time to give back. They are thankful to be in a position to do so.

Meet Miranda

Miranda just turned 14 years and is finishing up her final year at Kettle Moraine Middle School.   She will be entering Kettle Moraine’s School of Global Leadership and Innovation in the fall.  She was recently awarded The Girl Scout Silver Award Medal as a Cadette. She was able to raise public awareness and funds to purchase over 40 musical instruments and recruit performing musicians for The Caring Place in Waukesha, an adult day care center for the elderly with dementia and other disabilities. This was a special service project as her grandmother is helped there. She and her family are active in the church and their community. She serves as an Altar Server and volunteers with the Interfaith Senior Programs.  During her time in Peru, she will be teaching dental hygiene to the children of Paita. Miranda organized a school drive for dental supplies and partnered with her Orthodontist, who donated dental and teaching supplies that she will be taking with her. She loves to spend time with friends and help others.

Meet Charlie

Miranda “Charlie” Spindt is organizing the medical aspects of this mission to Peru. She has been practicing as a Physician Assistant for almost 20 years in Family Medicine and Urgent Care. She is currently on staff with ProHealth Care in Waukesha. She also teaches PA students as an Adjunct Assistant Clinical Professor with Marquette University’s PA program.  She has a passion for service and helping others. She is a volunteer provider at St. Joseph’s Medical Clinic in Waukesha and One Touch Free Clinics.  She and her family also volunteer with The Interfaith Senior Programs.  She is happily married to Marc Spindt and will soon celebrate their 19^th wedding anniversary. They have 2 great kids. Nicolas is 10 years old and Miranda, who is joining her mom in Peru, is 14 years old.

Meet Deb

Picture will be added later today.

Deb met her husband Michael while working at AT&T. She retired in 1992, after 20 years of service, to become a stay-at-home mom. While raising their two children, she was able to enjoyed doing a variety of volunteer work in her community. She was an area leader for the Channel 10 (PBS) auction for many years, was a Big Sister for several young girls in Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Milwaukee, and transported seniors and adults with disabilities to the doctor though the Interfaith Caregiving Network.   

In 1992, Deb and Michael were members at another local Catholic church but was told about St. Paul Parish looking into twinning with a parish in Guatemala, in partnership with the School Sisters of St. Francis (SSSF). She called the pastoral associate, Len Grassmann, who had invited her to join them in this new venture. That was the beginning of a wonderful friendship with Len, the SSSF and St. Paul Parish. She and her husband have been members since 1992. She has lead several trips to Guatemala. Deb is the chairperson of the St. Clare School Outreach Team at St. Paul Parish. She's very excited about her second trip to Peru.

We're Getting Ready for our 2014 Trip

On June 21, eight people from St. Paul Parish in Genesee Depot,Wisconsin, will be traveling to St. Clare School, located in Paita, Peru, to provide basic medical services to that community. This is our first medical trip to Peru and our second trip to that region.

Paita is very poor community, located on Peru’s northwest coast and it is very desert-like. Many homes do not have running water, plumbing or electricity and most people have limited access to healthcare.

Our team will be introduced to you as each member submits their introduction. Please continue to check our blog for updates.

Donate Your Gently Used Walkers, Canes, Crutches, and Wheelchairs!

 Attention St. Paul Parishioners and Waukesha County, WI Residents!

There is a great need for these mobility devices in Peru. Please join the Peru Outreach Team to help change the lives of many people through your tax-deductible contribution. It will be shipped to Peru in July.

For pick up, please contact:

St. Paul Church — Genesee Depot, WI at
(262) 968-3865 or email deb_passino@yahoo.com

The New Patio at St. Clare PRONOEI School

Last year’s Lenten collection provided the funding for a patio floor for the St. Clare School PRONOEI School. This school helps 3, 4 and 5 yr. old children prepare for elementary school. The concrete floor was installed in February, 2014. The children can now dance, sing and play on a concrete pad rather than sand and gravel. Thank you!!

The PRONOEI school is located in a very poor area of Paita, Peru. The average wages are approximately $247 per month. Many of the people don’t have electricity, plumbing, or water. Water  must be purchased by each household from a delivery truck.

We Need You Old Prescription Glasses and Reading Glasses

Is it hard for you to read a page in the newspaper if you don't use your reading glasses? For those of you who are very near-sighted, the first thing you do in the morning before you get out of bed is reach for your glasses. Isn't that correct? Why don't you give others an opportunity to finally see without having to squint or struggle.

If you're a St. Paul Parishioner or live around our community, please recycle your old prescription and reading glasses. The medical team will be taking the glasses with them on their trip to Peru in June. If you miss this deadline, they will also be sending them down at the end of the year. There will be a box in the Gathering Space for drop off or stop at the parish office. 

Partake in the Medical Mission to Peru - June 23 through July 1, 2014

When the St. Paul delegates traveled to Peru in June, Sr. Monica, director of St. Clare School, expressed a concern over the lack of health care in her community. Many families don’t make enough money to feed their families, yet alone, go to the doctor. One of her dreams...Provide basic medical treatment and physicals provided by a medical mission team.

St. Paul Parish is going to do just that. We’re going to make Sr. Monica’s dream come true. Our first medical trip to Peru will be leaving on June 23 and returning on July 1, 2014. Are you a healthcare professional such as a doctor, nurse, or pharmacist and would like to partake in a medical mission? It is not necessary for you to speak Spanish. We are also in need of bilingual translators. Interested?? Please email Miranda “Charlie” Spindt, PA-C, at  charlie@spindt.com.

Besides medical professionals, we are in need of many volunteers to help plan this trip, write letters to outside companies asking for donations, packing, communicating with the students of St. Clare, and much more. Would you like to help? Please email Deb Passino at zipperdmp@gmail.com.

“We never lose if we imitate Jesus, if we serve our suffering brothers”       
~ Pope Francis

 

We're Busy Spreading the Good News

St. Paul Parish and St. Clare School will be very busy over the next year establishing spiritual, cultural, and personal relationships with each another. This relationship will be fostered by frequent communication with letters, photos, and prayer intentions. Here are our goals:

1. Pray often for one another

2. Form a medical team and travel to St. Clare School sometime during the summer of 2014 (June, 2014)

3. Establish a pen pal program between St. Paul Parish and St. Clare School

4. Invite one early-childhood teacher from St. Clare School to travel to Genesee Depot so that our teachers can demonstrate some of their teaching methods

5. Collect and send supplies to St. Clare School (school supplies, medications, computers, etc.)

Are you interested in our new Peruvian Ministry? Do you speak Spanish? Are you in the medical field? Are you a good organizer? All people and skills are welcome!

Your help is really needed to make these things happen. Please email Deb Passino at zipperdmp@gmail.com if you are interested in helping or donating medical supplies for the trip.  

  How are we going to accomplish all of these things? Lord Jesus, may everything we do begin with you!

 

The Last of the Donations Have Finally Arrived in Peru!

In March, St. Paul’s collected medical and school supplies for St. Clare School in Peru. Many of the donations were taken to Peru in June, when our three delegates visited. However, there were many donations that couldn’t be taken due to luggage restrictions. The thirty clarinets, all the medications, and many of the heavier, bulkier, school supplies stayed behind.

In July, St. Anthony on the Lake had collected thousands of pounds of donations to send to their sister parish in Peru. They had some extra space and offered to send the five large boxes filled with the left-behind items. Thanks St. Anthony’s! This is the type of container they filled when sending their donations.

St. Monica shared some good news via email informing us that she received the five  boxes of donations. They were inspected by the Peruvian Customs personnel and she was grateful that their little fingers didn’t remove anything from the boxes. Thanks again to all of our donors.

 

 

How Will the St. Paul Lenten Collection Be Used at St. Clare School in Peru?

Thank you for your Lenten donation to help St. Clare School in Paita, Peru. The school supplies were delivered by our three delegates, Lisa, Sarah, and Deb when they traveled in June. Thanks to St. Anthony’s on the Lake, the non-prescription medications and 30 clarinets, are now being shipped via their Peru Program. Nick and Lucille, thanks for spending the time to inspect all the clarinets before they were sent.

The money collected during Lent is going to purchase a patio floor for the St. Clare School PRONOEI program. This program is to help 3, 4 and 5 yr. old children prepare for elementary school. The floor will be placed beneath the canopy in the printed picture. When the new floor is installed,, we’ll publish an updated picture.

The PRONOEI school is located in a very poor area of Paita, Peru. The average wages are approximately $247 per month. Many of the people don’t have electricity, plumbing, or water. Water  must be purchased by each household from a delivery truck.

Patio Floor will be placed here, under the canopy.

 

 

 

 

A geranium is being cared for by the preschool children.



 

 

Prayers for Fabiana

We met a little girl at St. Clare School on our trip in June.  Her name is Fabiana and we just received some information regarding her medical condition. She has Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB). This is an inherited connective tissue disease causing blisters in the skin and mucosal membranes.  She develops blisters, like that of third degree burns. She has wounds that never heal and suffers daily due to the pain of her wounds. She has major medical problems like anemia and other complications from her wounds. Every time she moves around, her wounds are traumatized.

There are all sorts of studies here in the United States. There has also been clinical studies, performing bone marrow transplants, that have been successful in eliminating EB. Many of the studies are with adults because the FDA has very strict rules about using children in these studies. We're not sure how we can help her. We are doing some research on this.

Thanks to Charlie, we're forming a medical team to eventually travel to Peru. Charlie is a Physicians Assistant with a good heart.  Where there's a will, there's a way. Charlie (with the help of God) is looking into getting help for Fabiana. For now, all we can do is help Fabiana through prayer.

For more information about EB, please click on the link below:

http://dermatology.stanford.edu/gsdc/eb_clinic/trials/index.html