Photo Friday: Our top 5 “mom moment” photos!

Welcome to Photo Friday! Each Friday, we share photo collections of our favourite shots from our sponsor sites around the world.

Moms are extraordinary! They seem to have eyes in the backs of their heads, more hands than just two, and hearts so big that the outpouring of love encompasses everyone around them. This weekend in Canada, we honour moms by celebrating Mother’s Day. In anticipation of this special day, we’re sharing our top 5 “mom moment” photos, celebrating mothers doing what they do best.

#5: Landing the airplane in the hangar

At our CMAVIL site in Paraguay, mothers of sponsored children volunteer at the Open Centre each day, a community center for children. They cook and serve healthy, free meals, help with schoolwork, brush hair, and everything else the 70 or so children need to be happy, healthy, and ready for school. This mom is helping the little ones clean off their plates!

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COVID-19: Updates on India and Sponsor Sites

We at Chalice are closely monitoring updates on the current coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. We are working diligently to ensure that our operations continue safely. We will continue to update all of our supporters with the most recent information we have regarding our response to COVID-19.

Sponsored children and site updates

India – As the COVID-19 situation continues to escalate catastrophically, the sponsor site staff are continuing to serve the families in their sites. Following all government guidelines and using PPE, they are ensuring the sponsored children have access to education, nutrition, and healthcare. Families circles are not meeting.

Donate Now to help our sites in India provide families with food, cleaning products, surgical  three-layer masks, face shields, cloth masks, and hand sanitizer.

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From mother to mother – teaching skills through generations

Learning to knead dough until it feels just right, combining spices that make a meal pop, and turning over a new garden bed to get the most robust growth are just some of the valuable skills that mothers pass on to their children. The warm childhood memories that fill our minds of working side-by-side, as we soak in the knowledge of our mothers and grandmothers are priceless.

We then build our own memories as we teach these same skills to our own children, which connects us all forever. Traditions passed down will live on. Sometimes, they can even be turned a profitable business that can help the family thrive, as is the case with Lourdes.

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Photo Friday: Our top 5 “family entrepreneur” photos!

Welcome to Photo Friday! Each Friday, we share photo collections of our favourite shots from our sponsor sites around the world.

Even though we celebrate Labour Day in September here in Canada, many other countries celebrate International Workers’ Day on May 1, including many of the countries where we work! May 1 also marks the Catholic feast day of St. Joseph the Worker. In honour of these two upcoming occasions, this week, we’re shining a spotlight on workers.

Working during the COVID-19 pandemic has been a monumental challenge all over the world, especially for families at our sites who face barriers on the best of days. Every day, we’re inspired by the brave and creative individuals we work with who are innovating and adapting their livelihoods to provide for their families. Our top 5 “family entrepreneur” photos highlight just a few ways that families have started new businesses or persevered in their ventures this past year.

#5: A convenient container 

Thanks to kind donors through our gift catalogue, The Njiru Stars group of entrepreneurs from our Nairobi site in Kenya received a shipping container for their business hub. They have kitted out the space to be a convenience store, produce stand, barber shop, snack bar, welding shop and vegetable garden!

The young entrepreneurs are thrilled to be business owners. Their enterprises have meant steady work during widespread unemployment due to the COVID-19 lockdown. Owning the container has protected them from the stress of unpaid rents, and they are able to continue supporting their families!

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Clean water refreshes children and improves health at Holoby Village School

Children at Holoby Village School enjoy fresh, clean drinking water after a $55,426 donation repaired their contaminated water system.

For a long time, the parents of Holoby village near our Pochaiv site in Ukraine were incredibly worried about the health of their children. Over a span of more than 16 years, their children were born frail and sickly, which only worsened as they grew. Doctors struggled to pinpoint why the children were so sick. No matter what medications they tried, nothing seemed to help, either. A local pediatrician noted several concerning conditions such as allergies and intestinal and liver diseases which tended to become chronic around age seven.

After an investigation by the State Sanitary Epidemiological Service of Ukraine found harmful substances in drinking water, the source of the children’s diseases became clear. Years of drinking contaminated water and eating school lunches prepared with the same contaminated water was causing serious adverse health effects.

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Photo Friday: Our top 5 “volunteers on mission” photos!

Welcome to Photo Friday! Each Friday, we share photo collections of our favourite shots from our sponsor sites around the world.

It’s National Volunteer Week! We’d like to celebrate, thank, and pray for all of our volunteers who have worked with us at Chalice. Every person has been a blessing, bringing their unique gifts to help us carry out our mission here in and Canada and overseas.

Volunteers help us in our office, in their own communities and parishes across Canada, and at  our sponsor sites when they travel with us on mission. When gathering restrictions came in place in Canada, the move to volunteering from their homes did not phase our local volunteers. They still stuffed more 100,000 envelopes of child correspondence at Christmastime!

Today we’re sharing our top 5 “volunteers on mission” photos – highlighting all of the ways our volunteers share their expertise, passion and, above all, love with the children and families at our sites.

#5: Sojin’s new pals

Sojin volunteered her time and talents on a mission trip to Paraguay. She loved playing with the children at the Open Centre in our CMAVIL site. Sponsored children come to the Open Centre before or after school, where they receive help with their homework, a hot meal, healthy snacks and of course, lots of outdoor play time. So it was extra fun to have buddies from Canada for a whole week to push them on the swings, skip their jump ropes, and play soccer!

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Year after year, Chalice volunteers make huge impact

Volunteers are at the core of Chalice and make a huge positive impact on the work we do. From the parents who run feeding programs in our sites, to our Chalice Champions in Canada who fundraise and advocate in their parishes, schools, and communities, volunteers help us keep our costs low and impact high.

The ongoing pandemic has drastically changed how we work, but the enthusiasm and dedication of our treasured volunteers is stronger than ever.

Cathy, a Chalice Champion currently living in Nova Scotia was recently inspired by a bingo themed 50/50 fundraiser she participated in this past winter. “When I heard that one of the schools I visited on my mission trip to Tanzania in 2019 was raising money for a library I thought that I could use the same idea,” she explained. “Thinking that it was a good way to connect with family and friends across the country during these lockdown times, I put together an emailing list and sent a message.”

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Photo Friday: Our top 5 “gardening” photos!

Welcome to Photo Friday! Each Friday, we share photo collections of our favourite shots from our sponsor sites around the world.

In Canada, warmer weather is slowly but surely arriving across our provinces. Many of us are getting our gardens, pots and yards ready for planting all sorts of fruits, flowers, and veggies. Watching things grow is one of the most enriching and exciting parts of spring!

At our sponsor sites, gardening is an integral part of life for so many of our families and communities. Growing food is a cost-effective way for families to access a balanced diet, and extra produce can be sold for an income! This week, we’re sharing our top 5 “gardening” photos to get you into the spring spirit, and share some of the amazing gardening initiatives from our sites around the world.

#5: Overcome and prosper 

Many areas around our Mikinduri site in Kenya have been affected by droughts over the past few years, leading to a food shortage. Local children were hungry and malnourished, and their health suffered, as did school attendance rates.

With the support of many loving donors, Miurine Elementary School was able to start a school feeding program with a small garden! The excited students took it upon themselves to plant lots of vegetables and fruit trees. Fresh fruit makes a great snack, and the vegetables are added to school meals to make the food more nutritious!
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Vladimir flourishes in Paraguay with family and sponsor support

Defying all odds and surprising his doctors at every turn, Vladimir is a fighter. When he was born three months premature near our sponsor site in Asunción, Paraguay, Vladimir’s loving and faithful mother and grandmother were told upon his discharge from the hospital that he would likely only survive for a short eight months.

The doctors, however, didn’t consider the love and determination of Vladimir’s grandmother who used every resource available to her to care for her grandson. She poured her attention into Vladimir who thrived under her constant care. With faith and hope in God, the small family met and overcame every obstacle in their way.

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Photo Friday: Our top 5 “Grow Families” photos!

Welcome to Photo Friday! Each Friday, we share photo collections of our favourite shots from our sponsor sites around the world.

When a child enters the sponsorship program, the whole family benefits from the support. Families can grow together when they can all access nutritious food, health supplies, and send the sponsored child and their siblings to school. Knowing there is a regular source of support gives the family stability, confidence, and the ability to plan for future needs.

This week, our top 5 “Grow Families” photos celebrate God’s great gifts to us: our parents, siblings, grandparents and even our ‘families’ that aren’t related by blood. Through sponsorship, everyone can thrive.

#4: Building strong families 

Ethel is the president of her Family Circle at our Samar site in the Philippines. She lives with her husband and five precious children, three who are sponsored through Chalice! Thanks to the support of sponsorship, her children Liberato, Hazel, Erica, and Ella Jean are all able to attend school, while baby Aiden will have the support needed to grow up happy and healthy. Wanting to give back to the community, Ethel and her group-mates planted a garden at her children’s local school!
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