Feed 300 families in Tupaciguara Brazil

Sara came across her life’s first obstacle shortly after she was born. At the tender age of one she went through her first heart surgery. Now she’s six and is awaiting the chance to undergo two more surgeries that will be necessary for her to live a healthier life. Sara is a very cheerful girl who always demonstrates her bravery despite her struggles and circumstances that sometimes require serious measures to be taken in order to ensure her safety as a patient with a severe heart condition. 

Sara and her family had to depend on us to supplement her diet for the past four years, due to her special needs. She lives with her grandmother, parents and siblings in a small and simple home. She is extremely fond of her grandmother having been closely raised by her and takes a particular enjoyment in playing house with an older sister and brother in their house’s backyard. Summer is her favorite time of the year and there is no doubt she loves being the family’s center of attention, especially on her birthday and Christmas, cozy occasions that makes her happy and reenergized. 

Sara may look frail and vulnerable sometimes, but she never loses her curiosity. She observes and talks with us during the follow-up visits which we perform to ease interaction with assisted people. She is also full of creativity and enjoys picture books, as despite not knowing how to read words they allow her to make up her own stories. She still has a long life ahead of her and while for now her grandmother, Aurora, is here to support her and her siblings, as both the protector and breadwinner of the house even while the peripheries of her own life are scarcely avoided as she fights against cancer, this may not always be the case. We hope that we can support her until she can support herself. 

Sara is one of 163 children we have tried to help in a personalized manner. That is one of the reasons we raise money for famine relief through the project “Feed 300 Families in Tupaciguara Brazil”, and thanks to your contribution we served 93 food baskets reaching out to 320 people in May and June. Other 90 in-kind donations items like juice, soup, mayonnaise and sweets were added on the baskets and 11 of them were enriched with gifts for mothers. Along with the baskets, 67 fleece blankets were delivered because some families expressed a lack of resources to cope with the winter that has been one of the harshest in the last decades. 

We all deserve the ability to be brave and keep going no matter what storms rage outside. Sometimes this bravery can be found in those you have the closest bonds with, even if it be in your grandma’s dog, Nina, such as in Sara’s case. Awaiting the future and its endless possibilities, she hopes to become a veterinarian, alongside her brother. In our mission to support them and others, one of our biggest concerns is that there aren’t enough volunteers yet, partially due to a high level of Covid-19 expected to persist until September, when the winter ends. A small team of 21 to 23 volunteers has covered all Centro’s welfare services including the delivery of lunch boxes to the homes of needy families. Though the high inflation rate has already impacted food prices, we are still optimistic on growing our assistance to at least 150 families in the next months. These will be challenging times ahead and if you encounter someone going through difficulties, it’s only natural to lend them a hand when we can afford it, so that one day a hand will also be lent to us when we need help. 

Links:

• Learn more about us