February 2012

Dear Pan y Amor Sponsor,

While Christmas seems a distant memory to most of us, almost 40 days ago, what remains fresh in the minds of 20 young boys are the Christmas presents of new shoes they received, thanks to the generosity of the 50 Plus Club of Sacred Heart Parish in Florissant, Missouri.

These 20 boys live at Casa Nazaret in Cochabamba, Bolivia. Just last Wednesday I visited them during my annual trip to Bolivia for meetings with our St. Louis Priest Missionaries who work in Bolivia. Casa Nazaret, Nazareth House, as it is translated in English, is located just about a 15 minute walk from the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers’ Center House, on the same grounds as the Maryknoll Language School. Our meetings in Cochabamba take place at the Maryknoll Center House.

On Wednesday afternoon, Jan. 25th, after lunch, I visited Sister Mary Catherine Feldewert, CPPS., who is Madre (Mother) to these 20 boys. They range in age from 5 to 11. When Sister Mary Catherine introduced me, she reminded the boys of their new shoes, and told them that I helped make contact between the donors from Sacred Heart in Florissant and her so that the boys could receive their new shoes. The boys were very grateful and said more than once: Muchisimas gracias! (Many thanks!)

When Sister Mary Catherine purchased the shoes directly from the factory, they gave her a discount due to the volume of the purchase – 20 pairs of shoes. Even with the discount the shoes cost $300.00 altogether. It is thanks to the 50 Plus Club of Sacred Heart in Florissant, MO that this Christmas gift could be given to these boys. I hope you enjoy the photos of the boys and the smiles on their faces.

Caring for 20 little boys is a labor of love that Sister Mary Catherine and her staff fulfill. While few of these boys are orphans in the strict sense of the word, none of them can live in their families of origin due to serious problems of various kinds. In some cases, the boys’ fathers are in prison and their mothers work long hours in marketplaces and cannot support their children on the little income they receive. Some of these families have been involved in the production of cocaine and are addicts. Most of these boys suffered abuse of various kinds in their families of origin.

Life in Casa Nazaret provides stability and the affection that many of them never received from their parents. The boys are getting ready to begin a new school year, and Sister Mary Catherine is busy enrolling them in the schools nearby, and also busy purchasing the school supplies the boys will need. In Bolivia the school year begins in February and concludes in November. Remember that Bolivia is in the southern hemisphere where the seasons are the opposite of seasons here in the USA.

With thanks for your support of these and other children through being sponsors of Pan y Amor, and asking God’s blessings on you, I am,

Gratefully in Our Lord,
Monsignor Francis X. Blood
Director, Pan y Amor