On November 13-14, 2021, the board of the newly formed Asociación Para Mujeres la Preciosa Sangre (Precious Blood Women’s Association) met in Guatemala for its first in-person meeting. Sisters Ann Clark, Margo Young, Joyce Kahle and Terry Walter represented the Sisters of the Precious Blood. The board was given a tour of Casa Sofia — our residence in Guatemala City where women may live without cost while continuing their education — and heard the testimony of some of the women who live there. Sister Terry gave a presentation on Precious Blood spirituality and our foundress Mother Brunner. On Sunday, the board went to visit the Centro de Formación (school) where they met with the new directors. The board fully supports the mission and ministry of the Asociación.
We thank Sister Mary Faye Hellman, who established Holy Mary of the Most Precious Blood School in San Raymundo, for seeing the need to educate Mayan girls and to better their lives and the lives of others in Guatemala. Also, thanks to Sisters Terry and Joyce for providing the opportunity for some of those girls to attend college in Guatemala City.
A lasting legacy in La Labor
In 1995, Sisters Margo Young, CPPS, and Dani Brought, ASC, co-founded Proyecto de Salud Sangre de Cristo (Blood of Christ Health Project), a health care ministry in the area of La Labor, Guatemala, where the Missionaries of the Precious Blood also ministered. There are no longer any Sisters from either Congregation serving in the area. Sisters Dani and Margo continue to consult as part of the board. On Sister Margo’s recent visit to Guatemala for the Asociación meeting for our education projects, she also visited the health care project. At that time, they expressed appreciation for our commitment and presence there, along with their commitment to continue the project with the same care to those most in need. She received a certificate of appreciation which, translated, reads:
On behalf of the people of Guatemala, especially the communities of San Pedro Ayampuc, Chinautla, San Jose del Golfo and zone 18; we acknowledge that the Mission of the Sisters of the Precious Blood in Guatemala, has been a tremendous blessing for millions of people and thousands of impoverished families. Human and environmental health services, as well as training and comprehensive education in community health, have transformed the lives of families who have lived in extreme or inhumane conditions for centuries.
Your absence is profoundly felt and we regret that for the last few years the physical presence of the Mission of the Sisters of the Precious Blood is no longer in our sector of Guatemala; however, its Mission has been and continues to be outstanding and excellent, because we, with the help of God, continue serving socially excluded communities, with all the responsibility, appreciation and love that Sister Margo Young and her Congregation have taught us to live and share with persons, families and communities most in need.
May the omnipotent God and His mercy accompany and guide you along the path that He has laid out for your lives in this world, where human suffering makes us cry and teaches us to continue fighting for justice and peace for our communities.
Top, the patio of the Centro de Formacíon school; second, the Guatemalan Mother Brunner statue in the garden of Casa Sofia; third, Marjory Cordón, Principal, Norma Ac Chén, Assistant to Zonia and Zonia Garcia, General Director; fourth, Casa Sofia house; fifth, first in-person board meeting with Michelle Pereira (attorney), Sister Terry Walter, Kelly Anne Castellanos (board member) and Carol Garcia (board member); Sister Ann Clark photos. Bottom, Sisters Margo Young, Terry Walter, Ann Clark and Joyce Kahle gather for dinner in Antigua Guatemala; Sister Margo Young photo.
