25 February 2013
Dear Family and Friends,
Saludos de Montero, Bolivia! I hope this letter finds you
and your family well. I am writing to you from my new home for a year – the
orphanage, Hogar Sagrado Corazón.
The hogar is run by the Franciscan Sisters of the Sacred
Heart of Jesus, and is home to over 120 girls, between the ages of 0-20. The
girls come to the orphanage for a variety of reasons: their parents were unable
to financially provide for the girls, harmful situations in the home such as
abuse, or the girls were abandoned or lost their parents to death. The hogar
provides the girls with meals, clothing, school, health services, activities
and religious development.
As part of my ministry here at the hogar, I was given the
responsibility of running our Madrina,
or godmother, sponsorship program. With this program, a padrino/madrina of a
girl pays $45/year and corresponds with
his/her godchild at least twice a year. This money covers the costs of
medical expenses, shoes, celebrations of holidays, mail, as well as birthday
gifts that we buy here in Bolivia. The program is unique in that is a
continuous sponsorship of a girl throughout her years here at the Hogar.
Madrinas are so important to the children. The girls are
always eager to hear from their madrinas and eager to make cards for them. But
more than this, a madrina is an amazing gift because it gives the girls someone
who they know loves them and is thinking about them. To be a madrina/padrino
takes commitment to continue to correspond and support your goddaughter. This year, we
really want to emphasize the meaning of the program—godmother. Usually a godparent has the ability to be a constant
presence in the life of his/her godchild. While we do not have that ability
through this program, we are going to try our best! We are looking for
dedicated godparents to be this presence to these girls: little notes letting
her know you are thinking of her, a postcard from your vacation spot, or
shooting her an email with a picture. We're going to try to finagle skype dates
in as well.
This truly is a
special program, and we would love for you to be a part of it all! If you or
someone you know would be interested in becoming a madrina/padrino for one of
our girls, shoot us an email at sagradocorazon.hogar@gmail.com,
and we can answer any questions you may have!
Please consider our Madrina
program with an open heart. So many of our girls here are in need of the love
and care of a godparent. You can make such a difference in the life of our
girls here.
God bless you,
Lainie Sanker,
Salesian Lay Missioner
Hogar Sagrado Corazón
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