Today is a day dedicated to protecting the fundamental rights and freedoms of individuals around the world. The 2025 Human Rights Day theme, ‘Everyday Essentials,’ highlights basic human rights such as health care, freedom from poverty and hunger, and access to education. Chalice is continuously working to uphold these rights, providing opportunities that help children, families, and communities thrive through the sponsorship program.
Chalice’s sponsorship program supports a brighter future for children and their families. Sponsorship ensures children can attend and stay in school and improves their nutrition. For Edison, a sponsored child in Bolivia, by focusing on their education and nutrition, it strengthened futures, families, and communities.
Edison is a sponsored child who works diligently to achieve a friendlier, more inclusive, and more environmentally friendly place in La Paz, Bolivia. He has shown great passion for raising awareness for his community, human rights being one of those topics.
Ever since he started school at age four, his parents and teachers could see that he was keen to get involved in activities and diligent about his assignments.
“Early on, he showed leadership skills,” says Sandra, Guadalupe site director, “[he was] influenced by his father, who frequently took on leadership roles in the local community and at his children’s school.”
Now 16, Edison has cemented his role as a leader within our Guadalupe sponsor site.
“Within the sponsorship program, he has become a peer mentor on topics related to human rights and violence prevention,” says Sandra. He’s on the student council, where he focuses on organizing activities that build social bonds in his class. He also advocates for outreach activities with his classmates.
“He proposed activities such as collecting toys and cleaning common spaces, inspiring the entire school to join these efforts,” says Sandra. After severe floods devastated parts of La Paz in the spring, “the 16-year-old launched a campaign … to collect food, water, and blankets to donate to children and their families.”
“Edison has demonstrated a kind heart and strong leadership skills,” Sandra says. Through sponsorship, Edison has not only gained access to everyday essentials but has also shared his knowledge, energy, and compassion with his community, making a lasting impact for human rights.
When you become a sponsor, you connect directly with a child and show them that their future matters. Give a child “everyday essentials” when you sponsor a child.