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Las Manos Femininas | The Feminine Hands

Editor’s Note: Missioner SarahJane Cauzillo reflects on the beauty and strength of the women she has encountered in Cochabamba, Bolivia. An ode to the working women at Hogar Nuestra Casa, who have introduced me to the Feminine God I have learned to see God as feminine in the working hands of women— hands that create,…

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Women’s Wisdom

Editor’s note: Former DC Service Corps volunteer Chase Medelberg reflects on the women got to know during his last year living in intentional community at Casa San Salvador. My year at FMS was full of surprises–none bigger than living in a volunteer community with so many women. Before I came to DC, I sort of…

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God Has A Plan For Me

Missioner Hady Mendez reflects on a recent decision and upcoming transition.  It’s true I decided to go back home to the U.S. this December at the end of my two-year contract with Franciscan Mission Service. It’s hard to describe how I feel: happy, excited, sad, and nervous, all wrapped into one. I’m happy because I finally…

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Bolivian woman on mic

Handing Over the Microphone

“Les invitamos a escuchar a nuestras hermanas. Abrimos este espacio para que ellas puedan compartir sus experiencias. Ahora este espacio es para ellas.”  “We invite you all to listen to our sisters. We open this space so that they can share their experiences with you. Now this space is for them.” I was holding the…

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Prison Ministry – It’s No Joke

My family and friends laugh at me when I say,“ Talk to you later. I gotta go to jail,” “It sounds funny,” they tell me. But for me it’s the most natural thing in the world. It’s what I do. I started prison ministry roughly six months ago. When I first started going to jail,…

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Mission Monday: Sharing Stories in Sacred Spaces

A watercolor by Annemarie that was inspired by the women of Santa Rosa First-year missioner Annemarie Barrett reflects on the conversations she has had with the women she has come to know in Cochabamba, Bolivia.  Work. More work. Children. Husbands. Cooking. Cleaning. More cooking and more cleaning. Domestic violence. Machismo. More violence. And no justice.…

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2013 Anselm Moons, OFM Award Recipient – Sr. Pat Farrell, OSF

Photo by Jerry Martineau Friday, April 5, we held our World Care Annual Benefit & Celebration where Sr. Pat Farrell, OSF, received the Anselm Moons, OFM Award as part of the evening’s program.We had an inspiring night with Sr. Pat’s stories of mission work abroad and her most recent work with the Leadership Conference of…

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Christmas without Consumerism: The Wise Women of Christmas

For the second post of this series, Fr. David B. Couturier, OFM Cap. reminds us that those gifts we’re exchanging on Christmas do not in fact come magically on a red sleigh, hand-crafted by elves.  Before you buy that gift, take a moment to think about the worker who made it. Several years ago, I…

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International Women’s Day 2012: Empower Rural Women – End Hunger and Poverty

FMS missioner Emily Ward (Bolivia, 2006-2009) with women in the Tantakun bakery of Mineros San Juan in Ushpa-Uspha, Bolivia. Happy International Women’s Day! Today, organizations and individuals across the world recognize that securing peace, social progress, freedom and the enjoyment of human rights depends on the participation, equality and development of women. The United Nations…

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