Kavisree is two years old, and is the daughter of Sathish, a Skills @ Chalice faculty member in our Madurai sponsor site. When not teaching with Skills @ Chalice, Sathish has been doing freelance work to support his two daughters, his wife, and his widowed mother.
Continue reading “Kavisree’s breathing is made easier with an oxygen machine”
Ranju is the proud mother of Pronami and Dharitri, both Chalice-sponsored students. She has been suffering from severe stomach pain since January and has been diagnosed as a uterine tumour.
Continue reading “Ranju’s uterine tumour was successfully treated”
The Mombasa site works in a community called Kikambala, which has a relatively high proportion of elderly men and women. These elders were kept from accessing basic education, and they are in turn unable to teach their children literacy skills. As a result, there are generations of low-literacy adults in their community.
Continue reading “Increasing the level of adult literacy in Kenya”
Raymark loves going out in his neighbourhood of Laoang, the community base of our Samar sponsor site. When he can’t go out, his sister Racelyn often sees him socializing from afar.
“He is always excited to look at people while peeking at the window,” she describes.
Raymark was born with cerebral palsy which affected the development of his speech and motor skills. He relies on his mother, Rachell, and grandmother, Corazon, for his day-to-day needs. Rachell pursued a degree in education so that she can support her family as a teacher. But she struggled to make ends meet and could not afford special devices for Raymark.
Continue reading “Raymark’s wheelchair is the gift of sunshine and socializing”
“Once more Christmas season has motivated Neema site to draw pictures of love and charity to the children of God,” writes Sr Mary-Grace, director of the Tanzanian sponsor site.
Continue reading “Sharing the love of God with their whole community”
Tanusri is excited to celebrate Christmas with her family of four as well as her entire community, in a small village near our Bangalore sponsor site in India.
Continue reading “The true ‘essence’ of Christmas, according to Tanusri”
When Christmas comes, it seems that the whole world has a birthday,” writes the staff at our CMAVIL sponsor site in Paraguay. “In every house children and adults prepare the party: some set up a manger with a small child, others also decorate a tree with lights and stars. The streets and houses sparkle with lights and garlands.”
At our PINIFE sponsor site in Peru, “Christmas is an important day for families, as they celebrate the birth of Jesus and have the Holy Family of Nazareth as their model,” describes the site staff. 2021’s celebrations centred around St. Joseph, as we came to the end of the special year dedicated to our universal patron.
The site staff organized an online day of reflection for each of the 22 Chalice family circles, held from December 6 to 20th. “These celebrations were very well received by the families, especially by the parents that learnt a little more about St. Joseph and they committed themselves to live the sacred family of Nazareth’s virtues at home as well as to instill in their children the values of love, respect, responsibility and reconciliation.” Sponsored children submitted videos to share. They sang Christmas carols, offered Christmas messages and poems.
Continue reading “A special Christmas hamper full of solidarity”
Our Konta sponsor site in northern Ghana is a Catholic organization which supports children from low-income families and children with special needs. At Christmastime, the community loves to have a special Mass, where they can offer prayers for “the Chalice family, the generous donors, the beneficiaries, the new converts at Kpongu and the community as a whole,” writes Nicholas, the sponsor site director. “We asked God to protect us against Covid-19 and bless us all in the coming New Year 2022.”
The Christmas party started after the Mass, where they enjoyed drinks, biscuits, and a meal among sponsored children, parents and the community members.
The Wa staff wanted to create an experience for the children where they could “embrace their culture” and so they arranged to visit the Sampaa Naa Palace, the home of the local chief. The Wa Naa oversees the Waala traditional council in the upper west region of Ghana.
Continue reading “Children got an exciting field trip during Christmas”
The “Sagrado Corazón de Jesús” daycare is a splash of colour among the brown buildings of Cochabamba, Bolivia. The centre offers pre-school education and, importantly, nutritious snacks and meals daily, with support from Chalice’s nutrition program.
For the littlest ones, trying new foods can be challenging. Fresh produce isn’t always easy for their parents to buy, so many children are tasting certain fruits and vegetables for the first time at lunch. And, being children, vegetables are not always their favourite!
Continue reading “Parents and their children fall in love with gardening in Bolivia”
