During our week with Project Mexico, fasting came up a number of times. It started with the effort to find food in the airport which did not contain meat, inspiring a few conversations about the idea of ‘travel mercies,’ the leniency granted to travelers who may not be able to find options which fulfill the fast. The conversation continued at the Orphanage. Due to government regulations imposed by the Mexican government, a certain amount of meat must be served each week at Orphanages. Our host made it clear to us that the primarily Catholic staff of the orphanage would do their best to make Lenten meals for us, but may at times forget, and for us to be gracious. He further pointed out that our presence in building a house was itself a fast, a ‘work of mercy.’

Tania Bouteneff and her daughter, Kristina

The U.S. Department of Justice is in the process of organizing symposia with partners from Central and Eastern Europe, and with a number of Asian countries, in an attempt to reduce and, gradually, to eliminate trafficking in and sexual exploitation of women and children.

Dee Jaquet, Dimitry Manea, Barbara Latsonas, Presvytera Liliana Andronescu, Father Lou Christopoulos, John AKarubus

Hogar Rafael Ayau

Hogar Rafael Ayau—or simply the “Hogar” which means “the home” in Spanish—is named after the guardian of orphans, the Angel Raphael. The Hogar is located in the deteriorated old center of Guatemala City, Guatemala. It is a compound of eight buildings covering a full city block and surrounded by an eighteen-foot-high brick wall. It is an oasis of flowers and green, laughter and innocence, faith and prayer, love and hope, just the thickness of a brick away from the desperation of the streets around it.