The Sisters Of Mary

The Sisters of Mary are devoted to helping the poorest of the poor in Asia, Latin America, and Africa. The religious order was founded by Aloysius Schwartz, the priest of the poor. The Sisters have been operating charitable programs for more than fifty years serving children with the greatest need who have the greatest potential. In 6 countries there are 400 Sisters of Mary caring for over 21,000 children with the mission of helping them break free from a life of poverty. This is one day in the life of a Sister.

Your Support Provides

  • Hope.
  • Clean water.
  • Medical care.
  • Dental care.
  • Three nutritious meals a day.
  • A safe place to live and study.
  • Clothing and school materials.
  • Help to break the cycle of poverty.
  • Spiritual, physical, and emotional care.
  • Vocational training tailored to local industries.
  • Protection from abuse, neglect, and exploitation.
  • Opportunities to participate in sports, music, and art.
  • Spiritual, social, and academic formation and guidance.
  • Education for students that leads to careers or college.

You Will Receive

  • A welcome package with information on your selected Mother Sister.
  • Information about the situation of the country in which she is serving.
  • Biographies from a few of the children cared for by the Sisters.
  • The peace of knowing you are being remembered daily in prayer.
  • Opportunity to share your prayer intentions with the Sisters and children. 
  • Continuing engagement in serving the poor and changing lives.
  • Mission and pilgrimage visits can be arranged to select locations.
  • Opportunities to send notes of encouragement to the Sisters and children. 
  • Periodic updates from the Sisters of Mary.

 *Please note: 

  • The Sisters love receiving notes, but as you can understand, it is often difficult for them to write back directly because of their commitment to caring for so many children.
  • In accordance with our child protection policy, all communications go through the WVC office in the U.S. (personal contact information will be redacted).

Sponsor Sr. Margalidia

Honduras

Tegucigalpa

Hello, I am Sister Margalidia. I serve the Sisters of Mary World Villages for Children at Girlstown Villa de las Niñas in Tegucigalpa, Honduras and we take care of over 700 young girls here.

I was born in Guatemala, and I am the 7th of nine children in the family. I am a proud graduate of the Sisters of Mary Girlstown in Guatemala. The years I spent at Girlstown were very special and I always thank God for that opportunity. For me, the Sisters of Mary were like angels that came from heaven. I consider the donors the same. The Sisters always reminded us as students to pray for the donors and their well-being every day. I learned a lot of good things from my Mother Sisters at Girlstown and I put them into practice now as I serve as a Mother Sister and care for my spiritual children.

I love being among my spiritual children, even if they are naughty at times. I know they are not angels and that they will sometimes make mistakes. I like to teach and talk to them about God. I like to play, pray, and laugh with them. I try to be a good spiritual mother to them.

My challenge every day is to be always available for the daily needs of my spiritual children and to keep in mind that each one of them is unique. It gives me great joy and pride to see their efforts every day to want to be better. We Sisters try to encourage the children to prepare themselves strongly spiritually, emotionally, and academically to be able to pursue their dreams without getting discouraged. God is always with them. We do whatever we can every day to help them prepare for the world outside, and as mothers, we are often afraid to let them go and face the world alone, but we cannot keep them protected at Girlstown and Boystown forever. Like all mothers, we give the children enough tools to live their lives and fight for their dreams.

By faith, we know that “whatever you do to one of these little ones, you do to God”. We are in this mission of doing God’s work together. All the people who support us are giving these children life and hope. Please be assured that I and my spiritual children pray for you every single day.

Learn more about the children

The children at our schools come from the poorest of the poor. Each child has their own stories of what their life was before coming to our schools and how their lives are being transformed by the Sisters of Mary programs.  Read the moving stories of our children in their own words. 

Meet Our Graduates

There are 160,000+  graduates from the Sisters of Mary Schools. Many of our graduates went on to live prosperous lives, helping their families and local communities. Read the inspiring stories of our graduates in their own words. 

Life At Our Villages

Learn more about how we help children break free from a life of poverty.