From live-saving medical care to vital educational facilities, MSCs in Venezuela are working to improve the quality of life for vunerable people living in areas of extreme hardship. Maracaibo City is just one of the regions that has benefitted greatly from the generosity of our mission friends in the Irish Province and around the world.
MSC missionaries in the region are dedicated to making positive changes in the barrios (slums) of the district – impoverished areas that are home to mainly Spanish-speaking and native Indian communities.
Local medical care
MSCs in Maracaibo have been working alongside lay associates in order to establish much-needed medical care for poverty-stricken families living in the region. Pre-natal care is now offered to women in the area; as a result, the infant mortality rate has dropped drastically, and mothers experience fewer complications and problems during labour.
While a group of sisters from Columbia staff the local medical centre on a daily basis, the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart are instrumental in funding the necessary medical equipment and the supply of medicines for the facility.
Sowing the seeds for growth
Education is another significant concern in Maracaibo, with MSCs working to ensure that local children have access to primary and secondary school facilities. Education is a crucial element in helping these underprivileged children to build a better future for themselves and for their communities; with the right knowledge and skills to hand, these children will have access to employment opportunities that will allow them access to a far better standard of living in the future. This will also help to encourage social development in the area, as the current work of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart sows the seeds for growth and progress in generations to come.
In Maracaibo parish, the church, the school, and the medical centre all work in partnership to support the local people, from youth through to old age. MSCs in the city work to provide physical and spiritual support to the local community, providing them with the joy of faith and hope for a better, brighter future. This would not be possible without the generous donations of our mission friends, and your continued support will allow the MSC mission in Venezuela to carry on this valuable work in securing an improved quality of life and a positive future for those in need.