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Disaster Unites Family Circles in Peru

F A L L 2 0 1 7 MoneySense Magazine rates Chalice Top Charity in International Aid and Development Category - seven years running.

Disaster Unites Family .............1 Circles in Peru

Sharing the Joy .........................1 of Christmas

Waiting in Hope ........................2

Faces of Faith .......................2, 3

Your Letters and Photos are ......2Treasured Gifts

Sharing Reveals the ..................2Kingdom of God

Give Water, Give Life .................3

Patience, Flexibility and ............3 a Sense of Humour

Santiago Women Returning .......4 the Gift of Kindness

Mobile Medical .........................4

In This Issue...

Sharing the Joy of ChristmasWith 56 sponsor sites in 15 countries no two Christmas celebrations are identical, but they all carry a com-mon theme of gratitude, faith and joy. The gratitude felt by the families re-ceiving the gift of sponsorship is deep and heartfelt. Many of our sponsor sites are eager to pay it forward and share with those who are less fortu-nate in their surrounding commu-nity. From visiting and sharing gifts with elders and those in hospital to hosting a prayer service with prison-ers, the children are so very happy to be able to share the joy of Christmas. “As long as we have friends like you, we will be thankful for life,” writes staff from Amanecer, Bolivia. “Thank you for always being there when we need you and for being our guardian angels who are always with the boys

and girls.” Another important component of most Christmas celebrations is a community mass or shared prayer

Earlier this year rains in Peru caused flooding in the Chiclayo sponsor site. The intense rains destroyed homes especially among the poorest of people living in adobe houses. Mud and garbage damaged buildings and contaminated the water, putting people’s health at risk. The Health Ministry declared Chiclayo a sanitary emergency due to water contamina-tion and an epidemic of Dengue (a mosquito-borne disease causing fever and illness). Family circles are in place at most Chalice sponsor sites, and are comprised of parents and guardians of sponsored children. The circles meet on a regular basis and share a sense of support, solidarity and responsibility through their participation in our sponsorship program. When this disaster occurred in Chiclayo, our family circles immediately started working and supporting their fellow circle members, as well as their commun-ities. This happened in a very organic way and fully integrated with the efforts of the sponsor site staff. As a result the sponsor site and family circles were able to provide emergen-cy relief to themselves and people in their community with the support of

our Chalice Disaster Relief fund. This story reassured me that organizing our families in family circles and doing family funding was the right decision for our sponsorship program,” explains Douglas Estanga, International Manager for Latin America. “When our site director, Gladys, started to contact our family

circle leaders, she learned they had already taken the initiative to contact other members of their circles, and members themselves were checking on each other. I believe this speaks to sentiment of belonging and car-ing that members of our circles have developed.”

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Family circle shows their team spirit in Chiclayo, Peru.

(Continued on page 2)

Sponsored child Maite celebrates Christmas in Amanecer, Bolivia.

time where the commu-nity is invited to celebrate the birth of Christ. During the Christmas celebration last year in Mangalagiri, India the site reported, “Sisters and staff were very happy to witness the joyful moment when the children exchanged small homemade gifts. They thanked the children for their great effort and good participation. Christmas is celebrated to remind us of God’s love to humanity. As children you need to share the same love with your friends.”

To bring Christ to the poor and the poor to Christ2 fall 2017

EricCAM1892June 12, 1999 Eric is 18 years old and lives in Kumbo, Camer-oon with his mother. His father abandoned them. Eric is a smart and active boy. He loves math and playing soccer. With your help Eric can pursue his dream of becoming a doctor.

PurityKJE1327September 5, 1997 Purity loves reading and going to school. Unable to pay her school fees without a sponsor Purity can’t finish school. She lives in a one room

house in Meru, Kenya with her parents, brother and three sisters.

JoshuaSFD1261July 21, 1997Born in Wa, Ghana, Joshua is creative and energetic. He loves school and wants to become a teacher but needs a sponsor to pay for his school fees.

LydiaKJE1636April 24, 1997Lydia is a friendly and hardworking girl. Spon-sorship will help her fin-ish her last year of high school. Lydia aspires to be a business woman.

PatrickSFD1276December 14, 1998Patrick is bright and loves reading. Born in Wa, Ghana, he recently moved in with his brothers after his parents died. To finish school Patrick needs a sponsor to pay his school fees.

MwinyelKPH1165Jul 20, 1999Mwinyel is 18 years old and lives in Wa, Ghana. Mwinyel is passionate about becoming a nurse so he can help people. He loves playing soccer.

YulianaYAP2730December 4, 2000Born in Yapacani, Bolivia, Yuliana is 16 years old and wants to be a doctor. She lives in a small house with her mother, brother and three sisters.

ChristianGDL1724December 8, 2006Christian is a 10 year old boy who lives in La Paz, Bolivia with his parents and brother. He is in fourth grade and enjoys mathematics.

MariamuMOM1995July 21, 2002Mariamu lives in Mombasa, Kenya, with his mother, two brothers and two sisters in a tiny one room house. Mariamu is a smart and active boy. He loves English class.

Through no fault of their own some children in our sponsorship program wait a very long time before they are chosen by a sponsor. Whether it’s because they look too healthy, too happy, too old or their story isn’t relatable, some children go out on appeal after appeal, are posted on our website and remain unsponsored. To help some of these children who have been waiting the longest

we have included them in our Faces of Hope and Faces of Faith. Please read the child descriptions carefully, and pray a sponsor will be found for each one. Do you know a friend or family member who may be looking for a way to give back? This is a great opportunity to introduce the joy that comes with helping a child in need with someone you love. Thank you so much for everything you do.

In the age of email and social media, hand-written letters and printed photographs seem like rel-ics from the past. But to sponsored children and their parents, personal notes and family pictures are prized gifts, treated like treasures by the entire family. Recently, I was visiting several of our sites in south-ern India, and had the privi-lege to speak with scores of sponsored children and their care-givers. Each interac-tion followed a similar pattern: I would introduce myself and then pepper them with questions, trying to learn as much about them and their families in a limited time. Before we parted ways, I would always make sure they had a chance to ask me any questions, perhaps about myself, or Chalice, or Canada, or whatever was on their minds. To my surprise, their response never changed – I mean, never. Urban or rural, par-ent or child, recently-sponsored or long-time participant, their ques-tion remained:

“Can I please have a photo of my sponsor?”

They would then try to express their love and gratitude for their sponsors, and words often gave way to tears. I began trying to con-nect the dots – Why a photo, specif-ically? Why is it such an emotional matter for them? And then it slowly dawned on me – it is how they

pray for their sponsors. India is a vibrantly visual culture, and you are never more than a few steps away from a colourful church, shrine or temple. I began to comprehend that our Indian friends wanted a

photograph so urgently be-cause it allowed them visualize their sponsor during prayer. Their prayers are their means of returning the loving generos-ity they have received, so it is vital that their intercessions feel effective. It is only with a photograph can they feel that

their prayers are complete. Christmas is coming up; it always comes sooner than we think! What a perfect time of year to send a letter, a card, and (I implore you on their behalf) some photos to your sponsored child. If you’re not sure what to write about, think about universal topics: your family/children, sports you like to play, activities at your parish, etc. Pictures can be of yourself, your family, and maybe some natural landscapes of your local area - postcards are great for this. I include here a gentle reminder to avoid discussing or showing topics or items that highlight the disparity of your economic circumstances. When it’s ready to go, mail it to the Chalice office, and we’ll make sure it reaches your child. I have a feel-ing it will be the most cherished gift you send this season.

Kate Mosher,Creative Specialist

Waiting in Hope

Family in Kodaikanal India cherish Christmas cards from a sponsor.

Your Letters and Photosare Treasured Gifts

Finally the joy of Christmas shines from the faces of the children and their parents, as well as in the faces of those who received an unexpected Christmas blessing. In Baraka, Kenya, the site staff invited street children and street families from Nanyuki to celebrate Christmas at the office. “We gave a one hour motivational talk for the street children and after that they sang and danced and celebrated Christmas with us,” explained Fr. Raju. “It was a real joyful moment for them with 40 children participating in the function.” Father Raju also celebrated a Christmas mass with the inmates from the prison, “It was a beautiful moment when all people irrespective of their religion gathered together and prayed and witnessed

the love and compassion of Jesus.” Thank you to everyone who donated to our Christmas Giving fund. Because of you the communi-ties we support can celebrate the birth of Christ and teach our children to be compassionate and loving to their neighbour. If you would like to contribute to the fund this year please fill out the enclosed form or visit Chalice.ca to make an online contribution. May God Bless you all. “God never gives someone a gift they are not capable of receiving. If he gives us the gift of Christmas, it is because we all have the ability to understand and receive it.” Pope Francis

Heather Little,Communications Specialist

Sharing Reveals the Kingdom of GodWhen Jesus heard what had hap-pened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick. As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.” Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.” “We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered. “Bring them here to me,” he said. And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children. (Mt. 14:13-21)

At Mass, our Sunday readings this year are following the Gospel of Mat-thew, which is divided into seven sections, the opening birth narra-tives, five sections on the Kingdom of God and finally the passion and resurrection of Christ. The five middle sections reflect the Torah, the first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures signifying that Christ is establishing a new covenant or testament, and new “Kingdom of God”. In the very centre of the Gospel message, in the “new Torah”, is the feeding of the five thousand. Now some scholars regard the miracle as being a multiplication of the bread and fish from a few small pieces revealing the divinity of Christ. To other scholars it as a miracle in the heart and soul of the people who were moved by Christ to share the food they had brought with them - food they kept hidden. We don’t know why but we might imagine that they were thinking that if they brought out their food supply they would have to share it and with so many there would be little left for themselves. Shockingly, to those of little faith, there was enough food for everyone! There were also great conversations in small groups and a remedy for the loneliness of isolation! (see Mark 6:30-44) Christ’s vision of Kingdom of God was revealed as being possible among those who overcome their fear of sharing. In this issue of our newsletter you will hear wonderful stories of shar-ing that reveal the kingdom of God is truly near even today; in the hearts and lives of those converted and committed to Christ. Christ is ever present in the most sacred meal we share, the Eucharist, and when we share our ‘bread and fish’ with others we bring the Eucharist into the world, we “bring Christ to the poor”. Thanks to all of you who are seeking to realize the kingdom of God or perhaps today we could say the world of God to come “on earth as it is in heaven.”

Father Patrick Cosgrove,President

Continued from page 1

Sharing the Joy of Christmas

Faces of Faith

Chalice 3www.chalice.ca

DachelandeNDS1997January 25, 2005Dachelande is a 12 year old girl who lives in Terrier-Rouge, Haiti with her mother after her father left them. She is in fifth grade and loves

reading and drawing.

RonaldoNDS1974November 16, 2010Ronaldo is a six year boy who lives with his mother and sister in Terrier-Rouge, Haiti. He just started kindergarten and loves learning and going to school.

AlexisLAS1827September 3, 2008Alexis is an 8 year old boy living in Paraguay. A bright student, Alexis’ favorite subject is litera-ture. When he grows up he wants to be a police

officer. He lives with his grandparents and his brother and sister after his parents died.

AdrianaTER4716November 16, 2010Six year old Adriana lives in Cherpylivka, Ukraine with her mother and brother after her father passed away. Her mom is struggling to provide for them by growing crops and casual work.

ShilviaTAO1013February 9, 2013Shilvia loves music. She is four years old and lives in Kongba, India with her parents. Her mother is a housewife and suffers from breathing problems.

NorbertNEM1307October 25, 1997Born in Songea, Tanza-nia, Norbert lives with his brothers after his parents died last year. Despite his circumstanc-es, Norbert is a bright student who loves geography, sponsorship will ensure he finishes school.

VladyslavVOL2769August 4, 2008Nine year old Vladyslav is a spirited boy living in Lutsk, Ukraine who loves music. After his father abandoned them, he moved in with his

grandparents along with his mother and brother. His mother recently lost her job and is struggling to provide for the children.

AldaVDM2235May 28, 2015Alda is two years old and lives in San Pedro, Paraguay. She lives with her grandfather who is sick, while her mother takes care of him and her father works in the market.

Jhe-AnTON2475May 28, 2008Jhe-An loves science. She lives in a slum outside of Manila in the Philippines and wants to become a doctor to help her family.

Give Water, Give LifeNever underestimate the difference one person can make in the world. This past spring three inspiring young people organized fundraisers to help build water systems. Joseph and Evany gave us a great start for the well needed to help 450 kids at-tending a primary school in drought ravaged Rikiau, Kenya and Nolan raised enough money to purchase a water system for a community through the gift catalogue. “Before I started this project I was thinking about how Kenya was so far away and I heard there were a lot of droughts over there and it was really dry,” explains 10-year-old Joseph from Guelph, Ontario. “I didn’t think there was anything I could do because I thought that’s just how it is and it can’t be fixed, it’s so far away I can’t do anything about it. A lot of kids might think that because they are one person they can’t do a big thing.” One day when Joseph complained about doing his chores, his parents decided as a family they would walk to the river, fill their buckets and come back home to see what it was re-ally like to do that every day. “We just have to walk to our kitchen sinks and turn on the tap to get some water. I think we take it for granted,” remarks Joseph. “But some people around the world have to walk a long way to get

water from a river, they think of it as very valuable.” Joseph challenged his classmates to take action by organizing a walk-athon to raise money to build a well for Rikiau. Overall, Joseph’s cam-paigned raised $11,356.80. In Alberta, seven-year-old Evany was given two choices for her birthday. She could pick a group of friends and they would go out to din-ner, a movie or other event or she could have a party at home and invite as many as she wanted and instead of presents pick

a charity she wanted to help. She chose the second option and picked Chalice to receive her donation towards helping the kids in Rikiau. Evany and her friends gath-ered on a beautiful day in late May at her home and raised an impressive $500 dollars! After the party when the family was discussing how much money was raised for charity Evany asked “how much more would it be if I added two fives”. When her Dad asked her why,

what do you have in mind? Evany re-plied “I want to send them my tooth fairy money.” “Everybody liked my party and thought it was a great idea,” said Evany. “I think everyone should have water like we do and I was excited to

help them.” Our final inspiring story of gener-osity comes from Nolan, an eighth grade student at Cloverdale Catho-

lic School in Surrey, BC. Last Easter inspired by his school motto for the year, “Care for our common home,” the enterpris-ing student decided to fund-raise to help someone in need. When he started planning his original goal was to buy solar panels but then he decided to go for a more ambitious goal, to help build a well. “This is also my way to practice one of the seven corporal works of mercy (Give drink to the thirsty),” he explained. “On behalf of my

school I hope this water well will make a huge dif-ference to the people’s lives.” Nolan orga-nized an Easter egg hunt that at-tracted

300 eager participants. Each student donated $2 to participate reaching his goal of $600! Thank you Joseph, Evany and Nolan for your enthusiasm, dedication and service to those in need.

Heather Little,Communications Specialist

When I was getting ready to visit Haiti to complete staff training to improve the quality of translation and corre-spondence, I got lots of good advice – things like get vaccinated, pack comfortable shoes, and don’t forget the bug spray! But just before I left, a seasoned traveler to Haiti sat me down and gave me the best travel ad-vice of all: “there are three things you simply HAVE to have when visiting Haiti: patience, flexibility, and a sense of humour.” The need for patience became obvious almost as soon as we arrived. I was excited to get started working with our staff on improving the quali-ty of correspondence and translations – until the heat hit me. It was hot, humid, and without even a breeze. I quickly learned why things move a little slower in Haiti – it’s just way too hot to rush! We started a bit late, water bottles in hand, and adjusted the pace of our work. By the end of the day the staff’s English had improved sub-stantially and we’d learned lots about building relationships between spon-sors and their sponsored children. But we certainly didn’t move at the pace this Canadian was used to! Flexibility became important when our flight out of southern Haiti was cancelled due to heavy rains. We made two attempts at the drive over two days before we were successful

at crossing the mountain pass. Being able to be flexible was key – both for us and for the staff who hosted us a little longer than planned! When we made it to the next airport just fifteen minutes before our flight to northern

Haiti, I was once again thinking like a Canadian – there’s no way we’ll make it. To my surprise, the staff was happy to usher us on board. Once we landed, we were concerned that our driver hadn’t been told that we had made the flight. Turned out he was very flexible – he was just operating on Haiti time! But keeping a good sense of humour was perhaps the most

important of all for me, as it led to my favourite memory from my trip. During a hot and busy morning visiting sponsored children and their families, we stopped for a short break to drink some water. Two little girls around five years old spotted me and had to get a closer look. They were fascinated by my pale skin and red hair. They had a little debate amongst themselves over whether my freckles meant that I secretly had brown skin under my white skin! They spoke mostly Creole and I spoke mostly French, so we couldn’t talk much, but we did exchange names and discuss our favourite colours. Remembering to pack flexibility, patience, and a sense of humour helped me to have a wonderful experience working in Haiti. I got to meet and work with our staff on the ground, helping children and families every single day. I got to meet so many wonderful children and families, working hard to get an education and build a better future for themselves. There is significant poverty and great need in Haiti, but there are also wonderful, resource-ful, and hard-working people – and I am blessed to be able to help them through my work at Chalice.

Jenna LeBlanc,Sponsor Representative

Patience, Flexibility and a Sense of Humour

Joseph

Evany

Nolan

Faces of Hope

Jenna with sponsored child Jienie in Haiti South.

4 fall 2017To bring Christ to the poor and the poor to Christ

In the La Pintana District of Santiago, Chile, mothers and grandmothers of sponsored children are giving back to those who are less fortunate. Despite living in poverty themselves, these women come together on special holidays to cook and deliver food to people living on the streets. This generous activity began when the women, members of a family circle, started a small busi-ness selling food. Family circles are self-regulating groups com-prised of parents and guardians of sponsored children that meet on a regular basis and share a sense of support, solidarity and respon-sibility through their participa-tion in our sponsorship program. At first, the women struggled to prepare the food as none of them owned ovens. Every day

Santiago Women Returning the Gift of Kindness

Important Notice:Your 2017 Official Donation Receipts

We are making efforts to mail out your 2017 tax receipts as early as possible. Because of your overwhelm-ing generosity, we will need time well into January 2018 to process the large volume of donations received in December. However, you can expect your receipts to be mailed out no later than February 14, 2018. Please help us meet our deadline by sending your Christmas contributions early. If you

would like to receive your tax receipt electronically (via email) please email info@chalice.ca with Yes to E-Tax Re-ceipt in the subject line no later than December 31, 2017. Please include your supporter # and phone # in the email. Thank you for your patience and for your gift of life and love.

Jerome Pauig,Chief Finance Manager

Mobile Medical

Mercy Care was established by Franciscan Sisters with the sole objective of reaching the poor and disadvantaged members of Kamuwongo community in Kenya. This rugged, rural area has few health facilities and the clinics that do exist are either inadequately equipped or lacking personnel. Available facilities are also unevenly distributed creating a barrier to health care for the majority of the population. This often means that pregnant women, elders and children often stay at home without medical care and support. Through your support the Mercy Care Mobile Medical Clinic is able to reach out to people who live far from health care facilities. Since Jan-uary 2017 a total of 867 people have benefitted from this program and it is anticipated that more than 2000 people will receive help annually. “I see Jesus in every human being. I say to myself, this is hungry Jesus, I must feed him. This is sick Jesus. This one has leprosy or gangrene; I must wash him and tend to him. I serve because I love Jesus.” Saint Mother Teresa

After the disaster people were helping each other by recovering or moving their belongings, as well as, sharing food and shelter with those whose homes were damaged. Flor (the mother of a sponsored child) has received Chalice critical need funding for medical expenses, as well as help with construction of a new home. She was the only one in her neigh-bourhood who was still getting clean water from the tap. She opened her home and let all her neighbours take the water they needed. What a beau-tiful example of paying it forward. Families also worked together in their neighbourhoods to help clear the mud and to channel the wa-ter away from their homes. Family circle members worked with the site to identify families who had been affected the most and who needed more help in their communities. With the help provided by our generous supporters, neighbours helped each other repair their homes. Family circles also took responsibility for emergency food distribution with support from the site staff. “I feel inspired and hopeful by how our families reacted to this disaster,” says Douglas. “They did not sit to wait and see what the government would do for them, they started doing what they could within their means. The spirit of our families is just amazing, and it shows also that many of them will succeed in life.”

Continued from page 1

Disaster Unites Family Circles in Peru

Family circle member poses proudly with new oven.

they would go house to house, borrowing a neighbour’s oven. The women were determined to provide for their children. Thanks to donations to the Chalice Christmas Gift Catalogue, the women were given an indus-trial oven to help them grow their business. The women can now make more food to sell and pre-pare meals for their own families. Grateful for this blessing, the women wanted to return the kindness they received and help their brothers and sisters in need. The women noticed the large number of homeless people in their community and decided to make empanadas (a stuffed bread or pastry) to share with them. On Christmas and national celebration days they deliver the empanadas with joy, happy to spend time and talk to those of-ten overlooked in society, show-ing them they are worthy and loved children of God. “With our new oven, our circle group can grow our business and earn more money for our chil-dren to give them a better life,” writes a member of the group in their thank you letter. “Today we can also help more of our broth-ers and sisters in Christ that need love and we can help them more often. We thank Chalice and its supporters for this blessing.”

Nicole Janes,Co-op Student, Mount Saint Vincent University

Mobile clinic distributes much needed food rations in rural Kenya.