Casa del Niño: “It is here that I want to do my apostolate”

ARGENTINA| Gabriela Sarquis de Imperatrice •

Approximately 7 years ago I began as a volunteer at the Casa del Niño P. José Kentenich (Day Care Center) in Florencio Varela, after having gone to share and collaborate with the celebration of a Children’s Day. That day, when I saw the happy faces of the close to 300 children who attend the Casa daily, I thought … this is where I want to do my apostolate.  –

I am Gabriela Sarquis de Imperatrice. With Gustavo, my husband, we have 5 children and we belong to the Federation of Families of Buenos Aires. We are part of the family of the Shrine of Belgrano. I started as a catechist with other volunteer mothers. Every week we travel 40 km from Buenos Aires to Florencio Varela to be with the children. We tell them about Jesus, the Blessed Mother, follow the main dates of the liturgical calendar, read them stories with values, watch videos and much more. We also listen to them a lot.

In the Casa del Niño, there is joy, respect and the children mainly enjoy their childhood. All the staff and volunteers are aligned with the same goal: we want each child to develop his or her skills, sense of moral and social responsibility and become a good person.

At the Casa, in addition to receiving good nutrition, the children are divided into groups guided by counselors, with whom they have school support, do handicrafts, physical education, a park to play in, psychological support, pastoral care, medical control and much more.

From Casa del Niño one returns with a giant heart

Three years ago the Schoenstatt Fathers, whose regional house is 200 meters away, assumed the direction of the Casa and Fr. Carmona asked me to become part of the Board. I gratefully accepted. From Casa del Niño one returns with a giant heart. It is so much what we receive from each child that it cannot be easily explained.

This year, since the beginning of the “quarantine” on March 20, the Casa remains closed, but bags with food, fruits and vegetables are given to the families approximately every 15 days. Also from the catechesis we continue to be linked to the children through videos that we send them on the main dates of the liturgical calendar. The children pay us back by sending us drawings and letters. In the same way, we continue to communicate with the counselors and the staff of the House. Contact between the board of directors and the director of the Casa is on a daily basis.

Children’s Day in the middle of quarantine

For Children’s Day (in Argentina, the third Sunday in August) we gave away bags of sweets for all the children, thanks to the generous collaboration of many people.

We are always very grateful to the “friends” of the Casa del Niño, who collaborate every month, especially in these difficult times.

We ask the Blessed Mother to open many other hearts that can collaborate with their time and also with their economic donation for this fruitful and silent mission.

Board of Directors. The author, Gabriela Sarquis de Imperatrice, under the picture of the MTA, with a black jacket

Website: http://www.casadelnino.org.ar

A child in the House is one less child on the streets.