Cross Catholic Outreach

Delivering food, shelter, and hope to the poorest of the poor

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Maria

March 27, 2012 by Cross Catholic Blog

When 8-year-old Maria first enrolled in Lady of the Star Nursery, she was unschooled, malnourished, anemic, and had TB.
When 8-year-old Maria first enrolled in Lady of the Star Nursery, she was unschooled, malnourished, anemic, and had TB.

Although leprosy may have been nearly eradicated from Filipino society, its stigma remains. Now referred to by its medical name, Hansen’s Disease, it still affects a group of Filipinos, many of whom live in Tala – a location designated as a ‘leper colony’ in the past. Most of the community is now composed of the descendents of those once afflicted by the disease.  Since they are still being impacted by leprosy’s stigma, these families have become the mission field of the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary (FMM).

When 8-year-old Maria enrolled in Lady of the Star Nursery, the FMM’s preschool and kindergarten program in Tala, she had never been to school. Maria was “shy, withdrawn, malnourished and anemic,” according to the director, Sr. Cecilia. Maria also had tuberculosis. Both her mother and stepfather have Hansen’s disease. With her mother earning 50 cents a day scavenging for recyclables and her stepfather earning less than $6 a month as an assistant inside Tala’s Leprosarium, her family was extremely poor.

At Lady of the Star, Maria was able to participate in the feeding program sponsored by Cross Catholic Outreach and also receive treatments for her TB. “After a few months in the feeding program she gained weight and will complete her TB treatment in March,” Sr. Cecilia said. “Now she has good appetite; she also sings and dances well. She is learning to write and read slowly. Although she is much older than her classmates, she is well-liked, accepted and respected by them; she initiates games and other class activities.”

The Sisters also ‘hired’ Maria’s mother. Instead of scavenging the streets all day in the hopes of finding enough recyclables to buy rice for the day’s meal, her mother now works in the nursery’s garden in exchange for a daily supply of rice.

-Nola B.

Filed Under: children Tagged With: children, Philippines

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Cross Catholic Outreach
2700 N. Military Trail, Suite 300
PO Box 273908
Boca Raton, Florida 33427-3908
800-914-2420
Cross Catholic Outreach is a 501(c)(3)
EIN 65-1156061

Audited Financial for Fiscal Year 2020

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