If we asked you to associate one word with Christmas, what would it be? Maybe light, togetherness, or food. Whatever it is, it likely wouldn’t be ‘loneliness’. Yet that’s the prospect parents at our Chiclayo sponsor site in Peru were faced with last year, when COVID-19 restrictions ruled out in-person gatherings. Parents at the site, however, were …
Category Archives: Latin America
Bernarda Bakes Her Heart Out
If you’re living near Chalice’s Arica site in Chile, and you’re in need of a birthday cake, you’ve got to check out Bernarda’s business. Her delicious cakes, pies and kuchen are well-known among friends and neighbours, who regularly sign up to purchase her tasty desserts. Bernarda is an active member of her parish and an angel to …
Helping with Hygiene
A 10 p.m. curfew, quarantining and phases for reopening. Sound familiar? There is hardly anywhere in the world COVID-19 hasn’t touched, and our sites in Chile have been hit hard. In fact, one in 10 families involved with Chalice in the country has had contact with the virus. Though the pandemic is ongoing, moments of …
Cecilia Becomes a Finance Wiz
Nerves have a way of fogging up your brain and making you forget things like your bank password. Cecilia, a lover mother of three, has figured out a strategy. She repeats her password, and that way, she always remembers. Before encountering Chalice and its sponsors, Cecilia never thought a bank card was in reach. “…I …
Sponsorship Gives Tobias A Leg-Up
Tobias and his little brother Andrew share games like any other siblings, but something makes then unique, too. In their family, the younger Andrew watches out for the older Tobias. Tobias lives with his parents and brother in a community near our Don Bosco site, where his parents take great care to keep him healthy. …
Optimistic Odalis Succeeds Despite Obstacles
Odalis lives with her grandmother, Doña Aurora, in a two-room brick house near our Luis Amigo sponsor site in Guatemala. Now 22-years-old, Odalis loves to read and play soccer with her friends. Since her Odalis was small, Aurora always dreamt her granddaughter would complete her studies and have a future full of opportunities. But Aurora …
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Hard Work Brings Lorenzo Home
Some people just have a way with words. If you’re not convinced, ask translator/teacher Lorenzo. In Chile, where Lorenzo is from, the disparity between low-and-high-income is often stark. At our Arica site, Chalice partners with religious organizations to offer medical checkups and skill training. And, of course, sponsorship. A generous donor has been sponsoring Lorenzo …
Ely Whips Up Success
Ely knows her way around a computer, a cake and a page full of numbers. Determined and hard-working, she’s not one to abandon her goals. But to achieve them, she took a bumpy ride. In Yapacani, Bolivia, children, adolescents and elders face abandonment. Many children only attend a few grades of primary school, and university? …
Juan Carlos Beats The Odds
With a smile as bright as the sun, Juan Carlos is an attentive and loving kid to his mother Marisol. He loves helping her around the house, and is a fast learner. You can’t see it on his face, but Juan Carlos has been through a lot to get to where he is today. …
Hard work pays off: Juan has a bright future
“I feel blessed to participate in the sponsorship program,” says 20-year-old Juan who is currently studying medicine in university. He has encountered many obstacles in his young life, but thanks to his sponsor and other Chalice supports he is very close to realizing his dream of working in the medical field. Growing up in Chiclayo, …
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