Sister Valeriana García Martín, of Bogotá Colombia, founded the orphanage Hogares Luz y Vida in 1991 with one child, her now adult adopted daughter Rosita. In 1997, Colleen Morey, an educator from Fairfield, CT, met Sister and the then 40 children who lived in the orphanage, and fell in love…with all of them…and the Light & Life Foundation was born.   

Today, the orphanage houses over 200 physically and mentally handicapped children, from newborns through young adults.  Its adjunct farm 70 miles outside of Bogotá houses another 65 children and produces crops that feed the orphanage.  Its elementary school and three day care centers provide learning and four meals a day to the children who attend, plus another 1500 in the local community.