U.S. Embassy Donates Vehicle to Shelter Run by Sisters Adorers

Sister Pilar Martinez standing next to the van

"Every time I see the minibus van I get emotional," says Ana (name changed), a 12-year-old mother of a one-year-old son, the result of rape by her stepfather. She and other 14 teenage mothers live at Madre Sacramento, a shelter run by the Congregation of the Sisters Adorers in La Paz. The U.S. Embassy's Narcotics Affairs Section (NAS) has donated a van to this shelter.

This vehicle will transport the 15 teenagers from the shelter, located in Sopocachi, to the city of El Alto, where the congregation has a training center.

Sister Pilar thanks NAS Advisor Daniel Mortiz

Many of the young mothers are not physically or emotionally prepared for motherhood, but all of them make an effort and get trained to give their children a better life. "In order to attend classes in El Alto, they had to take buses and minibuses. Now, they will be given rides in this beautiful vehicle that the American cooperation has given us," said the director of the shelter, Sister Maria del Pilar Martinez.

Although the teenage mothers may not fully understand the huge responsibility of being mothers, the Adorers give hope and training to these 15 minors, aged 12 through 18, and their young children, who range from 1 month to three years of age.

Sister Pilar gets the keys to the van

They are girl mothers, whose childhoods were interrupted by pregnancy and the subsequent responsibilities of nurturing and protecting their children. Some of them were rescued from the world of prostitution, others were victims of trafficking in persons and some were raped by their fathers or stepfathers.

"We cut out a picture of a van from a catalog and put it below the image of Saint Micaela (founder of the Adorers). We prayed every day until the saint made the miracle," says an excited Sister Pilar.