Our CMAVIL sponsor site has a complicated name, but a simple goal. The Centro Maria Auxiliadora – Villeta is run by the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, a group of religious sisters following the spiritual tradition of St. Don Bosco. Their’s is a zealous spirituality, transforming work into prayer and focusing on education with kindness and meekness.
“In the heart of Villeta, Paraguay, beats a beacon of hope,” says Antonio and Victoria, CMAVIL site staff. To them, the Sisters and the site’s work “invites us to reflect on the transformative impact that solidarity and commitment to the most vulnerable can have.”
Nair is a prime example. Sponsored since she was eleven years old, Nair and her sister are both in undergraduate degrees to become physiotherapists. She, like Victoria and Antonio, can trace a line from her sponsorship to where, and who, she is today.
“I noticed a change in myself since I started in sponsorship,” says Nair. “I have improved my grades…and in the ninth grade I got my first honourary certificate as outstanding student.”
She credits her mother, Rosario, who “despite the precariousness and the lack of many tools, my mother always strived to give us support for our education.” She also deeply values her sponsor’s support, “who never let go of my hand; her closeness was always a motivation to continue despite the adversities.”
“For me,” Nair says, “what my sponsor and Chalice — with the support of the CMAVIL site –gave me, was a great support.
“To all the people who make up this organization, who selflessly help young people like me, who dream of having a dignified and better life, my eternal gratitude.”
Antonio and Victoria are also grateful. “As members of the Chalice community,” they say, they feel privileged to have the opportunity support the Sisters’ and site’s collective goal “in perfect harmony with the synodal motto ‘Pilgrims of Hope.’”
“The work of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians of Villeta is an eloquent testimony of how faith, hope, and love of neighbor can move mountains,” they say. “Like pilgrims in search of a more just and caring world, these women have dedicated their lives to serving the poorest and most vulnerable.”
“Together we are pilgrims of hope!”