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

Easter is a time to celebrate new life! As the winter melts into spring and the first flowers unfurl from the earth, we are filled with hope. New life abounds in our sites in many forms, and our dedicated site staff work to nurture them all into an abundant harvest. Our top 5 new life photos celebrate the hope of Easter and a new and brighter tomorrow!

#4: Starting life out right 

Pregnant and breast-feeding moms need to be extra mindful that they are getting a complete diet rich in vitamins and minerals. In rural Kenya, mothers-to-be and new moms were facing malnutrition and it was affecting their babies. Thanks to generous supporters of Chalice’s nutrition fund, the Sisters who run our Mercy Care site provided 388 mothers with a complete package of nutritional staples they need to stay strong. All the pregnant mothers involved delivered healthy babies, and the babies gained weight properly. The breast-feeding babies were stronger, more active and healthy!  Continue reading →

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

Many of the families that we serve live in distant, rural towns far away from the hustle and bustle of central cities. Unfortunately, this means that they lack quick access to essential services such as medical care. When faced with further difficulties such as lockdowns caused by the recent COVID-19 pandemic, families face prolonged periods of isolation from food supplies, doctors, and other nessecities.

Thankfully, with the support of our sponsors and donors, our sites are able to quickly adapt in times of turmoil. Mobile medical clinics and on-the-go nutrition programs allow families to receive timely care when it matters most, while mobile businesses give families a chance to become self sufficient! This week, we’re sharing our top 5 “going mobile” photos to showcase some of these incredible initiatives taking place at our sites.

#5: Medicine on the move

At our Mercy care site in Kenya, a mobile medical clinic funded by kind Chalice donors is making a world of difference for children located in remote areas. Sr. Franclit, who works at the site, says when the mobile medical clinic came to the area, the situation was dire. With no other way to access health care, skin infections and other illnesses were going untreated. “Now, the children are very healthy, they are getting enough food, and they are getting enough medicine,” says Sr. Franclit.

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

St. Joseph, the foster-father of Jesus and husband of the Virgin Mary, is a model of loving fidelity for Christians throughout the world. Catholics believe that his prayers for us in heaven are so powerful, he was made the universal patron saint 150 years ago. To mark this special anniversary, Pope Francis declared 2021 the year of Saint Joseph. Today, March 19, is St. Joseph’s feast day. In Latin America, they celebrate Father’s Day today, too!

Besides being our universal patron, St Joseph is the patron saint of many paths of life. He is the patron of all fathers for his role in Jesus’ life, and for workers, artisans and carpenters because of his dedication to his skilled craft. He watches over travelers in remembrance of his journey to Bethlehem with Mary, and he protects migrants and refugees just as he did with his family when they had to flee to Egypt. Today, we share our top 5 “St. Joseph’s Day themed” photos to celebrate this beloved saint and ask for his prayers for the children and families at our sites. St. Joseph, pray for us! 

#5: Patron saint of migrants 

St. Joseph is the patron saint of migrants, and protects them in honour of their struggles just as he too struggled when fleeing from Egypt with Mary and Jesus. These children from our Santiago site in Chile give likeness to Mary and Joseph during a Christmas celebration! At our sites in Chile, we work with high populations of migrant workers from neighbouring countries who have been attracted to Chile’s growing economy.  Unfortunately, these families frequently do not succeed in finding work and struggle with poverty. Sponsorship allows children and families to find their footing in new communities.

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

From March 8-14, we’ve been celebrating Catholic Sisters Week. We are privileged to partner with many congregations around the world who live out their charism to serve the ‘least’ of Christ’s children. We marvel each day at their dedication to prayer, which fills them with the grace and strength they need to live out their vocations through acts of service and sacrifice. 

It would be impossible for us to highlight and thank each Sister fully for their work and inspiration, but this week we’ve selected our top 5 Catholic Sister photos from our sites. Each one shows how they live the Gospel through their daily activities. Inspired by the well-known passages of Matthew 25, we celebrate how Catholic Sisters saw need, stepped in and…

#5: “…and you welcomed me.” 

Sr. Mary Grace is the site director for our Neema site in Tanzania and a member of the Sisters of the Visitation, a Vincentian order. She oversees the site’s sponsorship program, which includes the Neema Visitation Orphanage, which welcomes girls of all ages who stay until they can support themselves on their own. Many come back for visits when they move away, because the orphanage has always been home, and the Sisters their loving family. The orphanage includes a school and a chapel, where the girls are educated and enlightened. The Sisters support their daily meals with a garden and small animal farm.

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

Earlier this month, we celebrated International Day of Human Fraternity by sharing our top 5 “brothers” photos! Now, we’re following up with our top 5 “sisters” photos to remind us of Pope Francis’s wise words; we are all brothers and sisters, “born of the same Father.”

The bond between brothers, sisters, and siblings at our sites are special. They truly know each other’s joys and sorrows, and how to comfort and care for one another like no other. We love watching siblings grow closer through the loving support of their families, our site, sponsorship, and the surrounding community. It’s incredible to see sibling relationships deepen and flourish when families have what they need to thrive!

#5: Jennylyn and Jeanalyn

Jennylyn and her twin sister Jeanalyn are 21 years old. Jennylyn has been sponsored since 2005, and is now studying to become an elementary school teacher! These strikingly similar twins are so close that Jeanalyn decided to study in the exact same program! They graduated at the same time and are now applying for teaching positions. They’re both so grateful for the support of sponsorship for allowing them to pursue their dreams together.

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

It’s nearly Valentine’s Day! The origins of this special holiday known for love and affection has drawn from many influences. In the Catholic church, St. Valentine is the patron saint of love, young people, and happy marriages.

To celebrate Valentine’s Day and St. Valentine, we’re sharing our top 5 “hearts, hugs, & kisses” photos from our sites! These adorable moments between family, friends, and children at our sponsor sites are sure to warm your heart and bring a smile to your face.

#5: Big hearts 

These adorable little ones from our Chiclayo site in Peru are arranged in a very special formation to show their love for their sponsors and the support they receive from the site! They are also gathered for an exciting reason. They’ve illustrated a children’s book together, created especially for Chalice!
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Welcome to Photo Friday! Each Friday, we share photo collections of our favourite shots from our sponsor sites around the world.

Yesterday, February 4 was International Day of Human Fraternity, a time to celebrate and strive for the peace, harmony, and togetherness of all of mankind. In his heartfelt address via virtual event yesterday, Pope Francis expressed that despite our differences in cultures and traditions, we are all brothers and sisters, “born of the same Father.”

In honour of this special day, we’re sharing our top 5 “brothers” photos from our sites! (don’t worry- we have a collection of “sisters” photos for later, too!) May the loving and joyful bonds between these brothers from all over our diverse and beautiful world remind you that no matter our differences, we are all born of the same Father and Christ unites us as our brother.

#5: Pasqual and Ramon

Little brother Pasqual and big brother Ramon are from our Dominica site in Paraguay. Pasqual is still in elementary school, while Ramon is getting ready to graduate high school! Ramon is also budding as a soccer star. He says that training keeps him away from common “teen problems” in his area, such as underage drinking and drug use. He tries to be a role model to his younger siblings including Pasqual, and motivates them to study and pursue their dreams.
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