By Patrick Downes | Hawaii Catholic Herald

It wasn’t something he expected, but after a couple of careers and more than two decades into retirement, George Brosky’s life changed dramatically. It happened about a year ago when the St. Ann, Kaneohe, parishioner was in the Philippines on personal business.

A friend wanted to show him something — a dilapidated orphanage in the village of Pangpang near Sorsogon City about 400 miles south of Manila. There, in a building badly damaged by a typhoon, six Somascan Missionary Sisters cared for two dozen abandoned girls. Sister Angie Bigtas was the director. The sight made Brosky’s heart melt.

Knowing the building could not possibly withstand another storm season, Brosky made a spontaneous pledge.

“I told the head nun, you get an architect and a contractor to make up plans and send them to me and tell me how much it is going to cost,” he said.

Two months later, back in Hawaii, Brosky received plans for a two story hollow tile and cement structure. And the price — 9 million pesos.

“About $250,000 U.S.,” he said.

That was money the retiree did not have. Nor did he have time to raise funds.

So Brosky, a widower, went to his bank and secured a reverse mortgage on his Kaneohe house for the full amount.

The construction took six months. Brosky returned to the Philippines this past July for the blessing and dedication of the new orphanage, named Jardin de Maria.

He had given a few instructions additional to the builders. Make it big enough to accommodate twice as many girls. Do not paint it institutional white. Let the girls pick the colors.

The top floor has two big dormitories that, with the addition of double-decker bunk beds, have the potential to house 80 children. It also had bathrooms, a play room and a library. The bottom floor has a kitchen and a big dining room.

“It was painted all pastel colors — really colorful,” Brosky said. “When the people walk in they are really amazed.”

The place now stands like a mansion among the village’s grass-roofed bamboo shacks. Attending the July 12 dedication and blessing were the governor, the mayor, the dean of the law school, a bishop from Manila and four priests.

“The kids were unbelievable,” Brosky said of the three-hour celebration. “There was singing, dancing, music, drama — it was beautiful.”

The sisters put their American benefactor in a chair of honor and each child presented him with a flower. Bronsky returned the gesture with “a kiss and a hug.”

During his visit, Brosky offered another instruction.

“All the kids had long sad faces,” he said. “I saw one girl who seemed to be a very good coordinator. I told her that I wanted her to set up a birthday party every month for those celebrating birthdays.”

Brosky’s directions were to buy a birthday cake, put the celebrants’ names on it and decorate it with candles. The appropriate accompanying gift, he said, would be shoes.

Brosky said that many of the girls are street children abandoned by their parents who are too poor to care for them. The sisters find them living on the sidewalks and bring them to the orphanage.

There were other expenses. The nuns’ only vehicle was woefully unreliable, and it cost $500 a month to feed the children. Brosky bought them a van at a reasonable price and now sends the orphanage $250 a month for food.

The contractor also went over-budget with essential extras — ceiling and wall fans and a cement walkway— expenses for which Brosky is still raising money.

Brosky, 83, is a former U.S. Navy commander who went on to work for 20 years as a hospital and clinic administrator for the state Department of Health. He has been retired for 23 years and is a lector at his parish.

He lights up whenever he talks about his project. He mentions how his heart went out for Carmina, a quiet withdrawn six-year-old whom he tried to cheer up with a hug. The girl responded with a gesture of respect, bringing his hand up to touch her forehead, and became attached to him during his 10-day visit. She cried when he left.

Why does Brosky do all this? His motivation is simple. He explains it with a familiar quote from Scripture: “Remember what you are doing for the least of my children, you are doing it for me.”