Home for Handicapped Children - Hogar San José

I was asked to say Mass this morning for the sisters that run a centre for handicapped children. These

are the Mother Teresa's sisters who came to Panama some years ago. The centre they run, called Hogar San José (St. Joseph's Home) is a very big operation. I'm not sure how many residents they have in the centre but it must be somewhere between 75 and 100. Many of these children have very severe handicap of one type or another. Most seem to have both physical and mental handicaps.

If it weren't for this centre, which is really a lovely place, I'm not too sure how these children would survive. Most Panamanian families just don't have the financial resources to provide for these children and the state is not in a position to help.While they do have a good public health service here, it doesn't appear to be working very well. People pay in to a social insurance scheme which, in theory, will ensure that they receive medical care for only a small fee. However, as I was reading in the newspaper here yesterday, the Seguro (the Social Insurance) has been the victim of corruption on more than one occasion. Most recently, it has come to light that a group of employees have creamed off more than $300,000. The paper makes the point that, once again, this has happened without any consequences other than the damage it does to the health service. Basic medicines are not available, the state can't afford to provide the basic medical and surgical services that are needed by so many, and people have no choice but to go to private clinics whose prices are beyond the means of most.

All of this means that the services provided by the sisters, and so many other church organisations, are absolutely vital for many Panamanian families. If the church were to withdraw from healthcare and the care of the elderly I can only imagine that things would quickly degenerate into social chaos. As it is, although the sisters do receive some state support, they are mostly reliant on donations to run their centre.

Many individuals and businesses are very generous in contributing but it does mean that the sisters are constantly on the lookout for help.

The sisters I met this morning are from India and the Phillippines. There common language is English but it is not easy to get an English-speaking priest to say Mass for them. That was the reason I was invited and we had a nice gathering. I will probably go back before I leave Panama.