"White Moustaches"

We make a child smile with a glass full of milk! The Happy Hearts Group of the Family Branch in Paraguay initiate a project

Entrega de leche en un Hogar de Niños Milk is brought to a Children’s Home Milchverteilung in einem Kinderheim
Dar una mano a los niños A helping hand to the children Es ist so wenig und doch so wichtig für diese Kinder
Un momento de solidaridad cristiana – y muchos corazones alegres A moment of Christian solidarity – and many happy hearts Ein Augenblick der Solidarität in Christus – und viele frohe Herzen Fotos: Sánchez © 2006

PARAGUAY, Augusto and Alexandra Sanchez/mkf. Let us make a child smile with a full glass of milk! It is so easy and so effective. "It is a beautiful experience and contagious. We do not receive money rather merchandise and for each delivery, we invite the godparents to come along. We take photos and then we send them a print." comments Alexandra Sanchez, of Asuncion, Paraguay. "We initiated the project in October of 2005 and we are fulfilling our commitment on a monthly basis; at the beginning it was only one home and now we help four." White Moustaches is a project which consists of providing milk to homes or shelters for needy children. The idea emerged last year from the group Happy Hearts of the Family Branch.

Now the group "Happy Hearts" has 85 godparents (who provide the milk) which reaches 170 needy children.

The "Happy Hearts" group is composed of six couples who have belonged to the Movement for six years, and the White Moustaches project is the apostolate of their group. It consists of providing liquid or powdered milk in a scheduled manner to homes or shelters for needy children that have been previously selected through certain criteria. Contributions are made by "Godparents for milk". They are a network of voluntary providers that make a monthly contribution for a determined period of time, with the coordination of a couple from the group or another active promoter. That is to say, other couples or volunteers, whether they belong to the Movement or not, are able to conduct fundraising activities, delivery, inventory control, and marketing. Happy Hearts Group will assist their efforts.

Each provider is obliged to make a minimal, monthly contribution which is the equivalent of twelve liters of milk. That is the same as two bottles of powdered milk, or a dozen 1 liter waxed cartons of liquid milk. The Godparents have a signed agreement for a specified amount of time - either a trimester, a semester or a year. This helps to keep a regular delivery schedule each month and makes the commitments to the children’s homes concrete. Each of the four homes have very needy children including those abandoned and orphaned.

The homes chosen are required to have an organization and basic administration with a proven track record that demonstrates that they are serious and trustworthy. They must also shelter a significant number of children and provide an education. These homes are pre-selected by the board of directors and administration of the program. The milk supply provided to a home will cover 60% of their monthly needs. That is the maximum allotment.

They cannot cover all the existing necessities in the Children’s Homes in Paraguay but they do what is possible to cover at least the necessities of some of them.

The "Happy Hearts" Group of the Schoenstatt Apostolic Movement decided last year to carry out this project with the fervent desire to embrace a social apostolate of cooperation with the neediest of our brothers. They are conscious that what they provide cannot cover all the existing necessities of the children’s homes in the country, but they have placed their faith in God and in Mary so that this initiative will gain many more volunteers and that it will continue to spread until it involves the entire country. They are sure that with their group effort, that of other Movement members, and the network of collaborators that this project could reach a very important number. They place all of this in the Blessed Mother’s hands so it may be accomplished.

The board of directors and the management of the Program are under the direction of the Happy Hearts Group, who will define the structure and basic organization that is required to carry out the program. It is not intended that the six couples create a gigantic "economic effort" to offer milk to the homes, rather it is to seek and to form networks of collaborators to create a raise awareness. In this way, each couple of the Happy Hearts Group is responsible for creating a network of committed volunteers. "On this point we make the qualification that our apostolate consists in the creation of a network of providers in order to make contributions to the children’s homes; it is not recommended that each couple make economic sacrifices, which would alter the program," they stress. "Rather it seeks to create a "multiplier effect" of responsibility and solidarity among the citizens."

To be the pride of the Schoenstatt Family in area of social action.

Although the volunteers commit themselves through a written agreement, they all have a genuine will to cooperate. They have a mission consciousness that stems from knowing that each one is a child of God.

Further details include the management of the operation. One of the couples of the groups is in charge of receiving the deposit, storage, and the control of the delivery of the donations and to maintain a strict control of the inventory. Another couple of the group is charge of the relations with the homes and is responsible for the established norms are carried out by those in charge of the homes. They organize the deliveries of the monthly contributions and of all the basic data and information that is required about the children’s home. Two couples who are members of the group are responsible for the administration and the finances of the program.

Based on the success of this effort, they are branching out to responsibly assist other centers that have solid reputations. As a long range goal, they want to replicate the provider framework in the general sphere of the country, constituting themselves as a non-profit foundation. If that is achieved they will be available to assist in the nutritional needs of children between 2 and 10 years of age in all of the Paraguayan territory. In this way they want to be "the pride of the Schoenstatt Family in the field of social action." They are planning to hold campaigns within the Movement and to have activities at the entrances to supermarkets on Saturdays and Sundays. They will pass out pamphlets at the entrance of businesses. They also want to make contact with brand name milk companies to see if they will donate 1 liter of milk to the campaign for every carton of milk that is bought. They also want to increase the quantity of milk that they can offer through donation agreements for surplus milk.

And why not dream bigger? In a later stage it might be possible to make agreements with people who are favorable to the project. One or more businesses could sponsor a campaign of collection, collaborating with publications, printers, or marketers, (for example the factory of Tetra Pack, the factory that makes cartons) giving them space in their institutional publications, to get air space in the communication media and to get the help of national or foreign non-governmental organizations. Why not? There are other great undertakings that started with something just as simple.

To change the life of many Paraguayan children

A glass half full of milk is seen in the pamphlet that they are designing. The text says: "Is this glass half full or half empty?" For the poor children the glass starts half empty for most of the year. Let us help so that their glasses of milk will always be full. Let us contribute so that the children from Paraguay who live in poverty may receive their glass of milk each day. Donating a carton of milk or powdered milk will probably not alter our economic condition, but it will surely change the life of a needy developing child. Let us ask ourselves how we can help them and make it possible. By donating one carton of milk with an extended expiration date or a box of powdered milk monthly, we can make the difference in the development of many Paraguayan children.

A group of six couples with apostolic zeal can make the difference…because they are six of the 1500 couples that are part of the Family Work of Paraguay. All of them want to make a difference in many ways. The covenant of love means apostolic action and creativity for them.

More information: unvasodeleche@hotmail.com bigotes@telesurf.com.py

 Translation: Celina M Garza, Harlingen, TX, USA - Christi Jentz, Milwaukee, USA