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Committing to a Lifetime of Service: Fr. Frank
Fr. Frank Smith has been a missionary priest working among the poor in Ecuador for most of the past 35 years. Por Cristo staff and volunteers first met Fr. Frank in the 1980s when he was located in the barrio of Suburbio, one of the many slum communities that make up the sprawling city of Guayaquil.
In the early 1990s, Fr. Frank moved to the fledgling Isla Trinitaria, which was one of the newest squatter communities of the city. Fr. Frank soon invited Por Cristo to the area, and we have been there ever since. It was in Isla Trinitaria that we encountered both the challenge and the opportunity to be of assistance to a growing population living in very poor conditions, mostly in cane housing with no running water, sanitation, electricity or paved roads.
In cooperation with Fr. Frank, Por Cristo established its nutrition project in an effort to treat the many children of the area suffering from the effects of malnutrition.
After some early success, with Fr. Frank's guidance and partnership, we built the Por Cristo Nutrition and Health Center. One thing has remained constant throughout these many years: Fr. Frank's unwavering commitment to caring for the people of Isla Trinitaria.
We at Caritas Por Cristo are proud to call him our friend and partner. |
