PARAGUAY, dequeni.org.py. There are stories that inspire. This is the case of Mrs. Elvira’s children, whose story deserves to be told, because despite all the adversities that they are facing, they make a great effort to adapt and remain as an example for their classmates and for themselves.
Ulises (13) and Cindy (8) are the children of Mrs. Elvira Morro and Mr. Andrés Rolón. After the river flooding, they had to abandon their home located in the Tabti Tuya de Arroyos y Esteros community, along with other families who were also affected by the Mandvirá’s floodwaters. Now the family is temporarily living in a borrowed house in El Carmen.
The road that the children usually walk to reach the school is also under water. “Now, they are making an enormous sacrifice in order to attend classes,” Mrs. Elvira, the children’s mother, assures.
The best students in their grade
For her, her children’s staying in school was at risk because of the great distance, around seven kilometers (4.35 mi.), that they have to travel on foot in order to attend their daily classes.
Cindy, the youngest of the family, understands the situation very well and she tells us “I was sad to leave my house…now the school is very far away.” She attends the afternoon session of the “Don Octaviano Rivarola” school’s 3rd grade along with her brother Ulises, who is an 8th grader.
The limited access to public transportation is a significant barrier to accessing health and educational services in these rural communities, which are very isolated; they are twenty kilometers (12.43 mi.) from the urban center of Arroyos y Esteros. The residents travel by foot or horse.
Even in this situation, Ulises and Cindy stood out as the best students of their grade during the first part of the school year. On Cindy’s report card the teacher wrote: “She is an obedient girl, attentive and responsible with all the assigned tasks.”
We do not lose hope
They also receive support and school help, health care and proper nutrition. Mrs. Elvira hopes to return to her house soon. Along with her husband, Andrés, they make an effort to move forward; she is a housewife and her husband is a carpenter. She recalls: “…it is very difficult to go through this…but we do not lose hope, because we feel accompanied.”.
Dequeni helps this family with several services: the children receive support and scholastic mentoring, health care, and adequate nutrition. They also carry out workshops of personal development; the parents are accompanied in the commitment of their role, as can be seen in this story, with great will power and inspiration. With two scholarships – 50€ each – donated to Dequeni, someone has made it possible for Cindy and Ulises to go to school, and they can continue to do so. Dequeni, one of the social initiatives that was born of the Covenant, makes it possible for hundreds of children, who by receiving an education are helped to go forward in dignity; and hundreds of sponsors feel the joy of contributing a little bit to give children like Ulises and Cindy a future.
–>> Dequeni in the virtual tents of Covenant Culture
Original Spanish. Translation Celina M. Garza, San Antonio, TX USA
