In 2011 LAM joined forces with Dr Janeth Mendonza in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia. Dr Janeth is a fully qualified doctor who has given up her time to work in a very poor district of the city. There, shacks and homes are built on the flood plain of the river, beyond the city's protection wall. Most of the families are dysfunctional, with very little resources and often many children squeezed into one room . Dr Janeth has had a feeding program there for several years and provides a free clinic for basic sicknesses and last year she began a schooling program to help those who are unable to keep up with their normal school. Pastor Romario of the "Comunidade Crista Betel" in Petrópolis, Brazil (our local church) and his fellowship have worked alongside Dr Janeth for the last couple of years with the feeding program and when the school program was started LAM came alongside to help also. Last year we supported 10 children there, this year we have increased this to 15. Many of these children were sleeping on the cold, often mud floor of the shacks and friends of LAM in Dublin, Ireland sent money to buy beds for them. See the slide show below for the joy on the children's faces! |