Justice Issues

 

Guatemala Outreach


Hello, I am Sister Donna Marie Korba, a member of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart since 1982. Although I am presently ministering in the United States as Director of Justice and Peace at the IHM Center in Scranton, PA, I am deeply committed to the mission in Chichicastenango, Guatemala.

I first arrived in Chichicastenango, a town in the western highlands of Guatemala in 1994 to collaborate in the mission of the Sisters, Dominicas de La Anunciata. The mission consists of a school (600 students) and a living residence (200 girls from distant villages). All of the children come from families with few opportunities economically and educationally.

The mission offers an education to those young people who would otherwise not have the opportunity to study because of poverty, a lack of school in the villages, distance or a lack of family financial resources.

Dignity, Christian values and the development of the human person are some of the base objectives of the mission. Because some of the most marginalized in Guatemalan society are women, emphasis is put on the education of the indigenous woman.

The mission depends on the generosity of sponsorship (generous people who desire to help a child financially each month with school tuition, food, clothing, school supplies). Through the generosity of such sponsors, the Sisters are able to offer a Catholic education to over 600 children in grades kindergarten through high school as well as a place to live during the school year to 200 indigenous Mayan girls.

After returning to the United States in 2007, I continue to collaborate with the mission in Chichicastenango, where I ministered for over 12 years, through immersion experiences with Sisters in my Congregation, service trips in conjunction with Marywood University, Scranton, PA, and in collaboration with Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Raleigh, NC

Internado de Ninas Indigenas Centro Educativo Anunciata brochure (pdf )

If you wish to receive information on how you can help, please write to me at:

Sister Donna M. Korba, IHM
korbad@sistersofihm.org

 

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