The Blog of Casa De Sara

Hi Everyone:
Casa de Sara reaches out to help kids get an education and a future. We talk a lot about our “Escuelita (Little School)” in Bolivia, but we also have other programs that are just as important. Health care education, Sarita program, and scholarships are some of the other programs that we offer. I’d like to share a story with you about a special young man who is now living his dream to go to college through Casa de Sara’s scholarship program.
Johnny is a young man with a long and complicated history. After being abandoned, he grew up in orphanages for most of his life. He lived through some very difficult times and suffered many abuses along the way.
I met Johnny seven years ago before Casa de Sara was established. At the time, he was living in horrible conditions in an overcrowded orphanage. Through the years, I have kept in contact with him as he has moved from one orphanage to the next. It would be unusual for anyone to grow up with these hardships and come out unscathed. Although Johnny struggles with some emotional issues, he has a tremendous amount of drive and ambition. He is a survivor.
This year Johnny became the recipient of a full college scholarship thanks to a US solider who began donating to Casa de Sara while he was serving our country in Afghanistan. With the help of the soldier’s kind donation to Casa de Sara’s scholarship fund, Johnny now has a chance at making his future a lot more positive than his past.
Johnny started school in August, and there have been many challenging moments in preparing him for his new college life. We had to arrange a surgery for broken facial bones after he was attacked in the street. Since there are no dormitories at the university, we have had to secure a place for him to live. We are taking care of his medical and nutritional needs, and Oscar, our program manager in Bolivia, has pretty much become a surrogate father for the many daily issues that come up. We are committed to giving him all the support possible for him to succeed.
This is just one of the many examples of how your donations help to change lives!
Check out our website at casadesara.org to learn more about all of our programs!

~Lori Santoro
Founder and CEO (Volunteer)