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Christmas News from Sayaricuy Home |
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Tuesday, 16 December 2008 |
Sr. Carol is a staff member at AMANECER, an orphanage network in Cochabamba, Bolivia. She is involved in the Saint Louis sponsored program, Pan y Amor.
 Dear Friend,
With much thanks and gratitude, we want to tell you about Sayaricuy Home, where we welcome children from the street who are suffering and abandoned. They are the marginalized, the forgotten, dressed in filthy clothes, ragged and neglected, roaming the streets. Their daily bread is suffering, hunger and cold, despised and avoided by people who pass by and considered as having no rights. There is no one to talk or cry out for them. All they have is clefa (drugs), the pain, and silence. It is they who come to Sayaricuy Home asking for the opportunity to better themselves, to be happy, to believe in something, and to be able to live free from all that has hurt them in the past.
Sayaricuy works to make their dreams a reality with a committed staff that offers socialization, education, healthcare and therapy. The children begin their process learning about hygiene, cleanliness and responsibility. They help in the kitchen and participate in other chores at the Home, such as washing dishes, cleaning the dining room, the bathrooms, etc. The objective is to acquire and develop a sense of responsibility. They are offered academic help so they can overcome their learning difficulties. The children and young men participate in individual and group therapy with the staff members to guide them in personal growth, even though at times they hit a rough patch.
We have a boy Carlos, aged thirteen, who is with us because his mother is an alcoholic and is not able care for him. He wants to learn and goes to school. He used drugs on the street; however his stay in the Home has helped him overcome this problem. Since coming to Sayaricuy, he has been anxious to be better, to change, and to some day be a professional. Because of his strength and dedication he is ready to pass on to San Martín, the next home of the program.
In Sayaricuy, the boys participate in recreational activities, as do all the children of Amanecer. There are sports, athleticism, gymnastics, dances, races in small cars without motors, etc. The children participate with much joy and enthusiasm, trying to be the winners in each discipline, and are rewarded for their efforts with applause and hugs. Everyone who works at the Home participates, showing their interest in these sporting events.
After a great deal of work, both on the part of the children and the staff, most of the boys are ready to move on to the next stage of the program.
We are most grateful for your unconditional support and this Advent we write to you asking for your generosity once again. Here in Bolivia, we are experiencing the world economic crisis and, in addition, Bolivia's own problems that include inflation and devaluation of the U.S. dollar. We are confident that with friends such as you, it will be possible for our children and young men to be offered the promise of a new day and opportunities for the future.
We wish you and your family a Blessed Christmas and New Year full of Peace, Love, and Prosperity.
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Archdiocese of St. Louis: Mission Office
20 Archbishop May Drive, Saint Louis, MO 63119 • missions@archstl.org
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