Viva Review 2009
ora edo M ctor
66 65.7 65
s
Roja
Alfrional DirAemerica Reg Latin Viva
62
61.3 61cm 60cm
Carolina was born to a mother struggling desperately with a drug addiction. There seemed to be little hope for her future. But now things are different. Now she is happy, she is healthy, she is loved. Now she is mine.
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There are more than 40 million children like my Carolina in Latin America: children who have been orphaned, abandoned, or born to families who simply cannot provide for their needs. So we have to say to ourselves: what can the Church do? We cannot just sit by and watch this problem as if it has nothing to do with us. So what is our part? And for us in Latin America, the answer to this question is Casa Viva! Casa Viva is a fostering programme which works with local churches to find and support families who can take a child into their home. Casa Viva provides each family with training so they can know how to care for their new child, and, vitally, the whole church commits to help the family and the child.This means that instead of an orphanage where they are just another mouth to feed, children are surrounded by the love and support of the Christian community and are able to truly belong to a family. So what is my role to play? I too am part of the Church. What is my answer to the problem? Well, for my family we decided it was right to join the Casa Viva programme. So back in 2006 that is what we did. My wife and I and our three children Josè Pablo (23), Daniella (20) and Andrea (13) were all together receiving the training to begin to foster a child, when there was an emergency call. A small baby, just six days old, was in the hospital all alone – her parents could not care for her and a family was needed to take her in. Initially it was supposed to be for just six months, and then it became a year. But soon it was clear that Carolina’s parents would never be able to help her and bring her up, and so we were able to officially adopt her and make her a part of our family forever. God has truly blessed us with this wonderful daughter!
There are still many children who need to be loved like Carolina, who need to know what it is like to belong to somebody.Through Casa Viva they can have this chance.We are currently training 40 new churches to become part of this initiative, and the model has been so successful that it has been given government funding for use in Bolivia, Guatemala, Costa Rica, and Peru. Casa Viva is changing children’s lives in such a permanent way – through offering them the love and stability of a family they have a new freedom to grow emotionally, spiritually, intellectually, and physically. Casa Viva is not simply a foster programme: it is an entryway for children to a future filled with possibility.
day, she is so ry ve e g in gh u la is “Carolina e some kind k li is e h s – ve ti chaotic and so ac Casa Viva t u o h it W ! e ak u q of tropical earth happy and is th e m o c e b e av she would not h .” amazing little girl
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