by Dionel Rodriguez | Aug 12, 2026
In the rural community of Villa 14 in Chipiriri, Bolivia, the Catholic faith remains a vital source of hope and unity despite significant economic hardship. Most families in the area are small-scale farmers who work hard simply to meet their daily needs, leaving little margin for major construction projects, even ones as important to community life as a permanent church building.
Despite these constraints, parishioners have made remarkable sacrifices over time to advance construction of a church that reflects their strong faith and commitment to their community, contributing what labor, materials, and funds they could manage. Maryknoll is helping complete the construction and furnishing of the church, along with supporting the ongoing development of parish ministries that serve the wider community.
Sacrificial contributions of labor and materials from local farming families reflect the Catholic Social Teaching principle of Solidarity, a community pooling its limited resources for the good of all. Completing this church also carries forward Maryknoll’s charism of accompanying communities toward self-sufficiency, helping bring to completion a project the parish began and sustained largely through its own determination and faith.
Gifts to this project help complete construction and furnishing of the Villa 14 church, creating a permanent spiritual home where families can gather for prayer, the sacraments, and community life.
by Dionel Rodriguez | Aug 3, 2026
Young people in Chipiriri, Bolivia, like their peers in many communities, face pressures that can leave them feeling disconnected from their faith and from a sense of purpose and community. Without structured opportunities for engagement, adolescence and early adulthood can become a period where young people drift away from parish life at precisely the time they most need guidance and belonging.
Maryknoll helps youth in Chipiriri grow as disciples and leaders through a range of programs, including retreats, educational workshops, sports activities, faith-sharing events, and leadership development opportunities. These varied formats are intended to meet young people where their interests lie, whether that means athletic competition, small-group faith sharing, or hands-on leadership roles within parish activities.
Forming young disciples and leaders reflects the Catholic Social Teaching principle of the Call to Family, Community, and Participation, inviting young people in Chipiriri to take an active role in shaping their parish’s future rather than remaining passive observers of it. This project also carries forward Maryknoll’s charism of forming missionary disciples, cultivating leadership and faith together so that today’s participants become tomorrow’s catechists and community leaders.
Gifts to this project support retreats, workshops, and leadership programs that help young people in Chipiriri build confidence, deepen their faith, and grow into the next generation of leaders for their parish and diocese.
by Dionel Rodriguez | Aug 3, 2026
In the rural community of Chipiriri, Bolivia, many families have long lacked consistent access to pastoral care and structured opportunities for faith formation, a gap that leaves parish life fragile even where the desire for spiritual community runs deep. Responding to this need, Maryknoll reached out to the Parish of Señor de Exaltación de la Santa Cruz to serve local communities and help revitalize the region’s spiritual life as shepherds of the community.
Through sacramental ministry, pastoral outreach, faith formation programs, and broader community engagement, the parish provides a welcoming spiritual home for individuals and families seeking to deepen their relationship with God. As a growing parish, it continues to require ongoing support to maintain its facilities and expand its capacity to serve the community.
Working in this parish reflects the Catholic Social Teaching principle of the Call to Family, Community, and Participation, giving a previously underserved community its own spiritual home and pastoral leadership. It also embodies Maryknoll’s founding charism of building up local Church structures where none previously existed, planting the institutions that allow faith to take permanent root rather than depending indefinitely on outside presence.
Gifts to this project help maintain and grow this emerging parish community, bringing consistent pastoral care, sacramental ministry, and faith formation to families throughout the Chipiriri region.
by Dionel Rodriguez | Aug 3, 2026
Devotion to the Blessed Mother holds deep spiritual significance in many Bolivian communities, shaping both individual prayer life and broader parish traditions. Yet many parishes lack a dedicated space that reflects and supports this devotion, one set apart specifically for prayer, pilgrimage, and reflection centered on Mary’s intercession.
Maryknoll is helping create a Marian grotto dedicated to Our Lady of Mount Carmel, designed to serve as a lasting place of prayer, pilgrimage, and celebration for the parish community and visitors alike. The grotto will provide a physical, dedicated space where parishioners can come for quiet reflection, special devotions, and communal celebrations tied to Marian feast days throughout the liturgical year.
A dedicated space for prayer and devotion reflects the Catholic Social Teaching principle of the Call to Family, Community, and Participation, gathering the parish around a shared spiritual tradition that spans generations. In supporting this grotto, Maryknoll continues its charism of honoring and strengthening the popular piety already alive within the communities it serves, rather than imposing devotional practices foreign to local culture and history.
Gifts to this project help construct a Marian grotto that will provide a lasting spiritual home for prayer, pilgrimage, and devotion, inspiring generations of Bolivian Catholics through Mary’s intercession.
by Dionel Rodriguez | Aug 3, 2026
For years, Catholic families in the small community of Mutoma have gathered for Mass under difficult and often makeshift conditions, without a permanent building large enough to serve their growing congregation. Like many rural communities in Kenya, Mutoma’s parishioners have limited disposable income, and construction materials and skilled labor represent a significant expense relative to what the community can raise on its own.
Despite these constraints, families have contributed what they can in money, labor, and materials over several years, determined to build a lasting home for their faith. Maryknoll is helping bring this long-held dream closer to completion. Once finished, the chapel will serve approximately 300 families, providing a proper space for Mass, the sacraments, faith formation classes, and community gatherings that currently have no adequate venue.
A parish church stands as a physical expression of the Catholic Social Teaching principle of Community and the Call to Family, reminding believers that faith is lived not in isolation but gathered together as the Body of Christ. In helping complete this chapel, Maryknoll continues its charism of building up local Church leadership and lasting faith communities, rather than simply passing through, so that the community’s spiritual life can take firm and permanent root.
Gifts to this project help complete construction of a permanent, dignified worship space where the Mutoma community can gather to pray, celebrate the sacraments, and pass their faith on to their children.
by Dionel Rodriguez | Aug 3, 2026
In many parts of southeastern Kenya, clean water remains out of reach for daily life. Families, most often women and children, routinely walk long distances, sometimes several hours round-trip, to collect water from sources that are frequently contaminated. The time lost to this task keeps children out of school and limits opportunities for parents to farm, work, or generate income.
Contaminated water also carries serious health consequences. Waterborne illnesses are a leading cause of sickness among young children in the region, placing additional strain on already limited healthcare resources and household finances. Maryknoll is helping address this need directly by constructing a solar-powered well that will provide safe drinking water to thousands of people in the Ndonguni area.
Access to clean water reflects the Catholic Social Teaching conviction that Care for God’s Creation and the Dignity of the Human Person are inseparable; water is both a gift of creation to be stewarded and a basic necessity to which every person has a right. This project also reflects Maryknoll’s charism of responding directly to the concrete, everyday needs of the communities it serves, understanding that dignity begins with something as fundamental as safe water.
Gifts to this project help bring a dependable source of clean water to a community that has long gone without one, reducing illness, freeing up time for school and work, and laying the groundwork for healthier, more secure lives.
by Dionel Rodriguez | Aug 3, 2026
Southeastern Kenya is one of the country’s most drought-prone regions, where families depend heavily on rain-fed agriculture and livestock for their survival. As rainfall has grown increasingly unpredictable in recent years, communities around Kathyaka Parish face recurring cycles of failed harvests, water scarcity, and strained access to healthcare and education.
Rather than address these challenges one at a time, Maryknoll supports a coordinated set of parish development initiatives designed to build lasting resilience. Projects include clean water systems that reduce the hours families spend collecting water each day, agricultural improvements that help farmers adapt to changing conditions, renovations to local healthcare facilities, support for schools, and small income-generating initiatives that diversify family livelihoods beyond farming alone.
This coordinated effort embodies the Catholic Social Teaching themes of Solidarity and the Option for the Poor and Vulnerable, recognizing that lasting change requires addressing water, health, education, and livelihood together rather than in isolation. It also reflects Maryknoll’s founding charism of integral mission, understanding that proclaiming the Gospel and improving the material conditions of a community’s daily life are not separate tasks but a single, unified act of love.
Gifts to this project support practical, community-driven solutions, from wells to clinics to classrooms, that help families in Kathyaka Parish overcome recurring hardship, strengthen their day-to-day quality of life, and build a more secure and self-reliant future.
by Dionel Rodriguez | Aug 3, 2026
In rural Kenya, education can change the course of a girl’s life, but for many, simply reaching school safely is a daily obstacle. Long distances between home and school, household responsibilities, poverty, and the risk of early marriage all contribute to high dropout rates among girls, particularly once they reach secondary school age.
At Ntimaru Secondary School, many students walk hours each day to attend class, arriving exhausted and leaving before dark out of concern for their safety. Maryknoll is helping construct a dormitory that will give 300 girls a safe, supportive place to live while they pursue their education. With secure housing on campus, students can devote their evenings to studying rather than travel.
Rooted in the Catholic Social Teaching principle of the Life and Dignity of the Human Person, this project affirms that every girl possesses inherent worth deserving of protection and the chance to flourish. It also reflects Rights and Responsibilities, particularly the right to education. Maryknoll’s century-old charism of accompanying the poor and marginalized finds direct expression here, as missioners stand beside young women too often overlooked by systems built without them in mind.
Gifts to this project help complete the construction of a dormitory that gives an entire generation of young women the security and stability they need to finish school, pursue their goals, and grow into leaders within their communities and the Church.
by Dionel Rodriguez | Feb 8, 2022
A Catholic parish is more than a building where Mass is celebrated each week; it is often the central hub of community life, hosting everything from youth programs to educational classes to neighborhood gatherings. At Transfiguration Parish, however, the community has long lacked a dedicated space for these activities, limiting how fully parish life can flourish beyond Sunday liturgy.
To address this gap, the parish community is building a social hall designed to accommodate hundreds of people for a wide range of uses: faith formation classes, youth activities, educational programs, parish meetings, and community events that currently have no suitable venue. Maryknoll is helping bring this project to completion, supporting both the construction and the eventual furnishing of the space.
A shared gathering space embodies the Catholic Social Teaching principle of the Call to Family, Community, and Participation, recognizing that a healthy parish depends on more than Sunday liturgy alone to form genuine community bonds. In helping complete this hall, Maryknoll continues its charism of building durable local institutions capable of sustaining parish life and generating their own resources long after outside support has ended.
Gifts to this project help complete a multi-purpose social hall that will serve as a gathering place for faith, education, and community life at Transfiguration Parish for years to come.
