About

The childhood

In the city of Cuenca, Ecuador, on May 3rd 1944, Hector Enrique Piedra Alvarado was born. He was the third of five boys of Hector Antonio Piedra Hurtado and Victoria Cristina Alvarado Vasquez. He comes from a family of reduced economical conditions where the essentials needs were covered by his father. Birthdays, graduations, celebrations of any kind were nonexistent. But Christmas was a very happy time for Enrique, - baby Jesus was born. The festivities in the city, the church and the school were enough for everybody to be happy.

The stores in the town displayed all of the toys that any child dreamed about but for Enrique it was just a dream.

The church of Maria Auxiliadora of the Salesianos had a program for Christmas that gave free toys to the poor children in the neighborhood; Enrique was one of them, so the father of the church (Padre Crespi, now on the way to sanctity) made the children choose one toy from many options.

The dilemma for Enrique was that the father said I had to chose between a ball to play football or baby Jesus. “Now what?! I like the ball but if I take the ball, baby Jesus is going to be upset with me because of my rejection to him. So I had to chose baby Jesus and be happy and doing this I had peace of mind.”

Coming from a strict catholic background, at the age of 8 Enrique had his first communion, fact that until now is the strongest pillar of his life.

“I like the ball but if I take the ball, baby Jesus is going to be upset with me because of my rejection to him. So I had to chose baby Jesus and be happy and doing this I had peace of mind.”

Although his parents weren’t rich they lived in a two story house where they occupied the second floor and the first floor was for his two aunts and their families. His parents never charged any rent for this. For his parents to help somebody in need was a priority and frequently done, even when the needs at home were extreme.

The youth

Enrique's passion to be a medical doctor was present since he was very young, at approximately three or four years old. His mother used to prepare chickens or any other animals to eat and he was always present to learn from his mother and was able to see all the internal organs. He tried to understand how and why each organ works and obviously many questions without answers were in his mind.

How does the heart work? How do we think? How are we able to memorize? How do we grow? Why do we get sick and How can we get better, Why do we get old? Etc etc. Who created us? Who created the plants? The birds? The animals? The marine life? Who created the whole universe? And we know how everything is so complicated, intricated, fascinated and it is easy to realize that just the grandiosity of GOD can do so much.

When he was 19 years old, he was in the second year of medical school and his father had a heart attack and died. The five sons were studying at the university and suddenly they had to confront a new reality: Who is going to support the family?

They decided that all of them should continue with their studies and the youngest brother should take over their father`s business during the day and study at night. After the oldest brother graduates, he would help take care of the others.

The medical education

With the finances under control, all the brothers finished their careers: two engineers, one economist, one teacher, and Enrique a medical doctor. Three months after the graduation from medical school, The World Health Organization WHO, offered him a full scholarship in Puerto Rico to study Nutrition and Public Health Administration, and he graduated with a Masters Degree.

At his return to Quito, Ecuador the National director of nutrition of the country offered him his job with a very good salary and benefits but he declined the offer to avoid any temptation of illicit enrichment.

At the University of Cuenca, School of Medicine, they offered him a full time teaching position but he declined this offer also, because he wanted to practice medicine.

At the age of thirty Enrique married Cheribeth Piedra and he had to relocate to Ponce, Puerto Rico for three and a half years for post-graduation medical studies in family practice and abdominal surgery. He was offered a full time job as a teacher of post graduate students in OBGYN at Ponce District Hospital in Puerto Rico and once again he declined the offer and moved to Missouri, USA to practice medicine in Lamar, Missouri. He practiced medicine for ten years, working approximately sixteen hours a day, seven days a week in his Medical Clinic.

A Memorial in his honor, together with other Doctors is on display at the new Lamar Memorial Hospital.

The charity corporation

The pressure to continue being a doctor was intolerable for him as a person; He could not be the father and husband that he always wanted to be. Consequently, he had to find a solution and decide to move with his family to Cuenca, Ecuador to give his children the opportunity to learn Spanish and the Ecuadorian culture, but his goals were never materialized; after eighteen months the children were not happy and neither was his wife. The life in Ecuador was completely different.

He tried to help the poor in need and opened a charity corporation and started a feeding program in Esmeraldas, Ecuador and built a nursing home in Cuenca.

The city honored the Doctor with a recognition for his altruistic work.

The hopes that his family would adapt to a new culture did not show any signs of improvement. All the children refused to go to school. His wife tried to teach them at home but it did not work either; everything was upside down. The life in Ecuador could not continue and without any other alternative, they decided to move back to Missouri, USA.

Now what? Going back to practice medicine was not the solution: his wife will divorce him if he does it. But there is another way to be happy.

Business. The exciting world of business.

The investments

Enrique bought a nursing home close to his residency and after he passed all of the tests he became a nursing home administrator. He was in charge of managing his new adventure. He was very successful doing this and at the same time he invested in many real estate properties and his business was going up fast. His private life was better, no major stress in comparison with a medical practice.

The good fortune was with him but his life without medicine was not complete. Together with his wife, they started doing medical missions in many different countries.

He had his own team: His wife was the translator and evangelist; - A nurse was his right hand. Another two persons were in charge of caring for and entertaining the children, and he was the medical doctor. Each medical mission lasted for ten days; they worked from eight in the morning until seven o’clock at night. In each mission they attended approximately one thousand two hundred patients. Everybody received vitamins and an anti parasite, and the sick received medicine; the children received toys, clothes, candy and medical treatment. All the patients received the word of God.

The medical missions

The medical missions were financed by the Piedra Family and the help of the church.

Medical missions were very special for Enrique and one of the countries that really had an impact on him was Ukraine. So much so, that the flag is still on display on his desk.

The year of 2017 was a tumultuous one for the Doctor. The relationship with his wife was coming to an end and they got divorced with the acceptance of his children. One year later he got married again, this time to a Ukrainian girl, Olena Piedra, at Maria Auxiliadora that was his childhood church. His business in Ecuador was poorly managed by his own family and was close to bankruptcy. Another big decision had to be made and together with Olena they moved to Cuenca, Ecuador. Presently they are managing the finances hands on and everything is coming back to normality. Their life of dedication to GOD is paramount and very soon they will become Eucharistic Ministries at their Church Maria Auxiliadora.

They will continue the feeding program in Esmeraldas, Ecuador for two hundred twenty children that was closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Eighteen years ago during his first visit to Uzhhorod, Ukraine for medical missions he had the opportunity to visit several government orphanages and realized the precarious situation of them. At the age of sixteen, the children are obligated to leave the institution and carry on with their lives by themselves. The missionaries that invited Enrique explained to him that six girls are going to leave the orphanage and his question was – “Where are they going?” – “To the streets”, the missionary replied.

“Truly I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did to me.”
Matthew 25:40.

He immediately thought that it is not possible. Some of the girls could commit suicide, some could refer to prostitution, and some could develop mental diseases.

His decision was to buy a house and to hire the “adopted parents” so they can take care of the needs of the girls. He bought two houses close to the border with Hungary. This way the girls would have a safe place.

This was a big challenge for everybody: The girls needed physical, psychological and spiritual help. They needed to learn good morals and ethical values. They needed to learn how to be good productive members of society.

Each one of the girls was so different with multiple different personal problems and all of them needed to be treated individually with the love and care that a mother and father could provide.

Mariya and Basil Lutso were the angels that came to the rescue. They have transformed the lives of ninety six girls to this day, and they continue giving glory to GOD with their service.

The future

The future for the Piedra Family is full of dreams and goals: Matthew 25:40 “Truly I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did to me.”

Projects are in the works for Ukraine, Spain, Ecuador and other Countries and with the help of GOD everything is possible.

Thanks to GOD for everything.