News and Events
Join us at the Killarney Sports & Leisure Centre on Friday, October 27th as we spin and row to fundraise for the completion of the Chronic Care Medical Unit! If clocking mileage from afar, tag us in your spinning or rowing photos to show your support for the orphanage.
Click the link below to donate today! We have a generous matching donor who will double our total amount raised for this event!
Luz Y Vida is featured in a local news story that captures the heart of Sister Valeriana’s life mission. View the full news story here!
In the San Cristóbal Sur neighborhood, in Bogotá, there are thousands of stories of wonderful people, one of them is Sister Valeriana. Her work comes to life in a building in the sector, and although it is easy to explain what she makes of it, she admits that it is very difficult to execute.
Protect children with disabilities. They call her the earthly angel, however, she says that he has only dedicated himself to paying attention to her direct boss: "the manager" (God). Who has an office within the foundation, more like an altar.
And since he has a direct line with him (God) he knows well what his mission is; and every day 'from above', he sends her a message: put his gaze on those children who are invisible to others.
“This is a human recycling center because everything that is thrown away arrives here, everything that nobody wants; but here it is given the value that every human being can have” - Valeriana
At the foundation they receive children who are abandoned by their parents, but not only that, they also feed them, give them their life, heart and even their last name.
32 years ago he found a 5-month-old baby abandoned by her parents. "She was rejected twice because her mother gave her up for adoption and after her, the family that was going to adopt her found out that she was blind and they said that she was not."
Thus, Valeriana, as she called her, became part of her family, and incidentally, the cornerstone on which the Luz y Vida home was built. "I thank God for giving me the opportunity to meet her."
The nun is also the mother of 200 other children. Some have already reached adolescence and adulthood. “I am happy helping these children because for me they are angels, treasures that God gives me. Every time a child arrives, I hug him and say: thank you, Lord, because you gave me another one."
In that home, love is a mandate that feeds the work of doctors, nurses and other professionals who dedicate their hours to caring for them.
This foundation started in a small space, but “as the children came to me, I needed more space, because I built. They gave me a lot, a house next door, another lot…”. Today it is a great project that grew thanks to the insistence of this woman.
One by one, businessmen, neighbors and artists have joined, offering their talent in exchange for a smile. But charity is less than needs. "When there is no money to pay for accompaniments to hospitals, diapers, or not enough, I am distressed, but there is my God, my manager."
Mother Valeriana doesn't have anything great left and she got it into her head to start a clinic to care for all the children. For now, her work is focused on these children who have earned an earthly angel, stubborn and stubborn, who repeats to her manager every night that she does not intend to give up.
“Many times, due to so many difficulties, one thinks: no more, I close the house and that’s it. But I look at them (children) and I think, ‘Lord, you gave them to me and I’m going to fight for them as long as I have a little eye to open.”
Sister Valeriana inspects construction at the site for Vale Rosita Chronic Care Medical Clinic! This will soon be the 30-bed, fully staffed facility, inclusive of nursing and medical care services, intensive pediatric care, procedure rooms, and a rehabilitative therapy center that will change many lives. Click here to learn more about this amazing project.
Thanks to your donations we have purchased a commercial washing machine and commercial clothes dryer for one of our satellite homes in Bogota which houses over 70 special needs children from Hogares Luz y Vida.
The "Morey Atletico Sports Facility" at the farm provides the 60 children from Luz y Vida with a playing area for recreation and fitness.
Sister Valeriana Isabel García Martín and the children of Hogares Luz Y Vida invite you to the 30th anniversary of Hogares Luz Y Vida to celebrate the mission and defense of the rights of those most vulnerable. Together we will join Sister Valeriana as she gives thanks to the Heavenly Father for three decades of building Life through Love.
Please join us in the virtual celebration at 4:00 pm EST tomorrow, Friday, February 12th. We hope to see you there!
YOUR donations have funded the purchase of the much-needed refrigerated truck (that was stolen) to transport food from the farm to the orphanage.
We’re halfway there!
We’ve raised $30,000 towards our goal of $60,000
Thank you!
August 16, 2020 - Unfortunately, one of our staff health care workers tested positive for Covid 19 in early August. Immediately, the Department of Health tested the children in her care, and found 12 of those children testing positive for Covid 19. Fortunately, and yet miraculously, these children are asymptomatic, which truly is astonishing, given their complex and compromised health conditions. We are deeply thankful for this. However, with the immediate quarantining of the health care worker, added to the hesitancy of others to work with the diagnosed children, we have immediately, and in futility, sought nursing assistance from the Department of Health in Colombia. Therefore, we are in daily communication with Sister Valeriana in an effort to provide assistance - possibly in the hiring of private nurses, if possible.
Sister Valeriana maintains her posture of faith and trust during this time of trial:
“The challenges are increasing as we face this pandemic, which has us cornered; but we are trusting in God and praying a lot with the children - to protect us and free us from this situation, both inside our Home, as well as for you - our benefactors and angels, and all of your families.”
The first case of the Covid 19 virus was documented in Bogota, Colombia on March 6, 2020. One week later, during a phone conversation with Sister Valeriana, she explained, “If this virus comes through our doorways, it would mean certain death for any and many of our children.” And, in her wisdom, she immediately issued a full lock-down for the orphanage, where there are currently 230 children and adults, living in full-time residency.
The Light and Life Foundation has been communicating on a regular basis with Sister Valeriana and Nathalia, the resident doctor at Hogares Luz y Vida. We have offered support for the seemingly endless needs that are experienced on a daily basis within the orphanage. And, now that the availability of many of these items is both limited and restricted, we are diligently seeking resources in Colombia which may be able to assist us in providing these sorely needed items, which range from protective equipment to nutritional products. Financial support is needed, and we welcome and encourage all donors to join us in our efforts to finance these needs.
As Sister Valeriana wrote to Colleen Morey on March 24, 2020, "With the help of God, we are all going to get ahead, and together we will get out of this painful situation that has put our humanity in a corner. For this reason we pray daily with strength and a lot of faith, so that we can see each other once again and embrace each other."
