About 3 years ago, one of our staff members, Alejandro, taught a literacy program workshop for churches in Maracaibo. One of the attendees, Mercedes (pictured above with her family) walked about 5 miles from home to attend the workshop with her two young daughters Genesis and Luisana. A few days later, Alejandro got a call from Mercedes. She had already surveyed her community and discovered that several children were not attending school.
Mercedes and her family live in Palo Alto, a small agricultural community, where children work with their parents by helping shepherd goats and cattle. Seeing a great need for education in her own community, Mercedes and her two daughters started a literacy program teaching reading, writing, math, and biblical discipleship for 60 children. After they started, they were amazed to find ten and twelve-year-old children who had never used a pencil before.
Both Luisana and Genesis teach, while Mercedes cooks and serves meals five times a week (Mon-Fri). It’s impressive to see the level of commitment this family has to care for their community.
They put in a lot of hours and sometimes use their own money to buy food for these children. They definitely show us that you don’t have to have much to make difference, you just need to be obedient.
