Delivering food, shelter, and hope to the poorest of the poor
A refreshing sip of clean water is a blessing to children in Guatemala’s Nuevo Bracitos community.
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Imagine knowing the dirty water you are offering to your children will most likely make them sick — but giving them that cup anyway because they must have water to survive and you have no other choice. That’s the reality families face in Guatemala’s rural Diocese of Suchitepéquez-Retalhuleu.
Together with the Church, you can help change this reality. Join us in blessing families with clean water and a Christ-centered pathway out of poverty. Together, we can offer practical solutions for brighter futures:
In Guatemala, 2 out of 3 people live on less than $2 per day, and levels of multidimensional poverty are even higher among the Indigenous Guatemalan population. While many of us have felt the pinch of global inflation, the situation is devastating for Guatemala’s poor farming families. Many have been forced to stop using fertilizer due to soaring prices, and that has resulted in lower crop outputs. Families who used to buy water can no longer afford it, so many are turning to contaminated sources that jeopardize their health.
In 2022, Cross Catholic Outreach supporters like you helped launch Stage 3 of our Community Transformation Plan in the Diocese of Suchitepéquez-Retalhuleu. Together, we blessed 162 families with clean water, enriched the minds of 46 children with life-changing academic scholarships, and laid the foundation for a new homebuilding program.
With your help, we can move to the next phase of our Stage 3 Community Transformation Plan, building on everything we’ve learned from past projects to provide practical solutions to fight poverty and restore hope in Christ.
Identified areas of greatest needs, testing out a home gardening program to determine the strengths and capacity of the local Caritas ministry.
Built a 4,300-square-foot distribution center and permanent pastoral center, allowing for future storage of food, medicines and building materials.
Built the first two solar-powered community water systems in the region, launched housing and education programs, and expanded food and agriculture programs.
We need your help to build the largest solar-powered community water system to date, along with launching a health program and expanding food, agriculture and education programs.
Our largest solar-powered community water system in Guatemala to date. Expanding an agriculture program to provide families with a new source of income. A foundation for a new health care program with a long-term goal of building rural medical clinics. These are just some of the ways you can transform lives in the Diocese of Suchitepéquez-Retalhuleu in 2023 and beyond.
Help build the area’s largest solar-powered community water system for 2,100 people.
Feed the hungry approximately 816,480 nutritious Vitafood meals.
Equip 400 families with training, livestock and farming supplies.
Help 55 boys and girls stay in school and learn job skills.
Improve access to medicines and medical supplies in rural communities.
The solar-powered clean water system will mirror the design shown here. It will include a deep-water well, elevated storage tank and underground piping that will run directly to homes.
Water woes impact Judith Recinos’ daily life. When we recently spoke, her oldest son, Edwin, had recently recovered from a painful waterborne illness. Edwin was fortunate this time. Tragically, 1 out of 42 children in Guatemala don’t live to see their fifth birthday, and drinking contaminated water is a potentially deadly risk.
You can end these water woes for 300 families like Judith’s — sharing Christ’s living water for those who pray for a clean, safe drink.
Proceeds from this campaign will be used to cover any expenditures incurred through June 30, 2023, the close of our ministry’s fiscal year. In the event that more funds are raised than needed to fully fund the project, the excess funds, if any, will be used to meet the most urgent needs of the ministry.
When you include Cross Catholic Outreach as a beneficiary in your will, trust, retirement account or life insurance policy, you will make a difference for poor communities by meeting both material and spiritual needs for generations to come. Create Your Legacy!
Our mission is to mobilize the global Catholic Church to transform the poor and their communities materially and spiritually for the glory of Jesus Christ. Your gift empowers us to serve the poorest of the poor by channeling life-changing aid through an international network of dioceses, parishes and Catholic missionaries. This cost-effective approach helps break the cycle of poverty and advance Catholic evangelization.