Fernando José grew up in a boisterous household with five boys under one roof. His (no doubt) busy mother, Nicolasa, struggled to keep her sons well fed and equipped for school. In their community of La Paz, Bolivia, children from vulnerable households are at high risk of dropping out of school in search of work. Families have little access to education, healthcare, and basic services.

"But one day when I was six or seven years old a blessing knocked on our door," Fernando José - staff from Chalice’s Guadalupe sponsor site. Fernando José was going to be sponsored!

"The help that the sponsorship gave me is undoubtedly the best thing I could have experienced," he says. “Thanks to this enormous help I was able to have better school supplies, clothes, as well as food and even with some well-received gifts.”

Now 18, Fernando José has shone in the classroom, and credits his teachers for "nurturing” his creative and artistic talents.

I can only thank God and all those wonderful people who help people like me,” he says. “I will try to take advantage of all the help as best as possible to make a person with a good profession and great values in the not-too-distant future.”

Fernando José thanks his sponsor and Chalice, with a big hug, for “changing my life and giving me an opportunity in a conflicted, but beautiful, world.”

As a small gift to recognize their efforts, each artist will receive a tote bag with their piece printed on it – their very own ‘merch’!