In 2004, children living in two very different versions of Bolivia started to hear about Chalice sponsors. That year, we opened our Amanecer site in the busy city of Cochabamba and the rural heartland of Yapacaní. Since then, we expanded to multiple sites in Cochabamba, as well as other major cities, La Paz and Sucre. 

“We have been working in Bolivia for almost 20 years, where we have walked along with thousands of families,” says Douglas, international operations manager for Latin America. “We have seen how many of our sponsored children and families have improved their lives. Many of our sponsored children, now young adults, have become professionals and have graduated from our programs.”

Bolivian children from low-income families face great pressure to drop out of school and enter the workforce. Therefore, our sites focus on after-school support programming to keep children in school until they graduate. 

Now we can see that dedication paying off. Sponsored students are sticking with it and pursuing university education. Some are even forming their own Chalice family circles, which have traditionally been composed of mothers. The new generation in Bolivia is eager to join them as community leaders.

“These young man and women were an inspiring group of individuals,” Douglas says, “who are committed to their education, to the improvement of their families’ situation, to their country and a better planet.”

“It is possible to have such new type of family circles," Douglas says, “when we stay in a country for as long as we have in Bolivia. So, twenty years of hard work in Bolivia have made this possible.”

“Meeting our older sponsored in Bolivia makes me hopeful for the future! They are a testimony of the how sponsorship helps creates opportunities for children and families and strive for a better life.”