Andrea’s Journey to Feed Her Daughters

As a single mother, Andrea’s main focus has always been her two daughters, Isabella* and Maria*. After years of searching for a safe place to raise her children, she finally settled in a place she could call home — Colombia.

While living in Venezuela, Andrea* struggled to get food to support her daughters’ daily diet. There were times she had to make food from different scraps, salt and vinegar.  She worked in town making rice pudding, mango candy and milk.

As her youngest daughter got older, Andrea knew she needed to make a change. She then moved to a small community in Colombia. Attending the Mercy dining room in town, Andrea and her daughters receive Rise Against Hunger meals every day at noon for lunch distributed by partner Rotary e-Club of Houston, Texas.

Today, Isabella, age 6, and Maria, age 2, are now healthy and have more energy throughout the day.

Every morning, Isabella wakes up to help make breakfast for her mom and sister, and then heads off to school. Maria spends time with her mother as they explore town, water the garden, take care of the livestock and cook dinner.

Since living in Colombia, Andrea was also able to build a home with the help of her neighbors in the community.

“God blessed me, they gave me a door, a window and that’s how I built my house with the help of the people in the community,” Andrea said.

Andrea plans to add on more rooms to the house and add a new water tank in the future.

Andrea’s hopes are to continue on this new journey, remain faithful and return to Venezuela one day. In the meantime, she is very thankful for the support of her community, nutritious meals, and a place to call home.

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*Names in this story have been changed.

*Photos taken by Cindy Catoni.