Who we are and what we provide

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.

Meet Bedola

Tanzania

Kisarawe

My name is Bedola. We are seven children, I am the sixth child in our family. The first child finished until Form three and married, she is a farmer, and then we remain only six children who all depend to our parents. Our house is just a simple one with two rooms. In that room we live together with our parents.

Our parents have no permanent work to gain money. They are farmers, if they cannot work in the farm they wake up to find any work to do to get money for our basic needs, such as food, clothes and materials for schools and when my parents get some money we can eat two times a day, if not we only eat once a day. Other times, my parents would borrow money from my relatives to buy our basic needs especially food, which is also very hard because since they are also poor then they don’t have or refuse to lend.

Sometimes we cannot get enough food but we thank God for our life. Sometimes we even work in the farm from morning up to evening without eating anything. In reality, for me to reach this place where I am now living, here in the Sisters of Mary is really a great opportunity and for me this is really an expression of God’s love and his help.

Therefore, with my whole heart I would like to thank the Sisters of Mary School for helping me. I believe that through their help I can reach my dreams so that I can help my family through the skills and education I get from this school.

My dream is to be a doctor someday. When I become a doctor I will help my family especially my father and mother who is suffering from heart problems and to help others too.

May God bless the Sisters of Mary and bless too our generous donors. I will pray for them that God would give them long life and good health to continue their service to the poor like me.

Thank you very much.

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.