Project Life Caretakers: Meet Maria Luisa

STRATEGY

In 2018, I returned to Mozambique with Children’s Relief International to focus on documenting stories from the Project Life caretakers. We interviewed the caretakers in Project Life as well as shadowed them to document and photograph the work they do in the community.

When we returned stateside, we crafted individual profiles of each of the caretakers. We also created a web platform that showcased one story and provided a call to action to sponsor a caretaker.

RESULTS

Through the Project Life campaign, the leaders were able to not only get all of their caretakers sponsored, but they have added more caretakers into the program since then. You can learn more about their roles in the community below. It’s been a joy to see more and more caretakers sponsored, which has allowed funding for new caretakers to come on board and expand their work in Mozambique.

One of the stories I focused on was Maria Luisa. Her story below gives a glimpse into her life as a Project Life caretaker, mom, widow, and leader in her community. Be inspired. Enjoy!

STORY

PROJECT LIFE CARETAKERS

The Project Life program delivers aid to HIV-positive/AIDS widows and their families.

International partner, Noemia Cessito, explains why Project Life started:

"When awareness and the reality of HIV/AIDS first came to the Dondo Community, I saw despair in the eyes of the diagnosed. Some committed suicide. Others lived in a constant state of depression. Project Life brings hope.”

The Project Life caretakers walk miles to care for the sick and dying. They clean, cook, and bathe their patients. They provide hospital transport and fix leaky roofs. Through Bible studies and prayer, they offer encouragement to the family.


Most families in Project Life benefit from our food pantry services and Tessa Grace Nutrition Center, where they receive infant formula, vitamins, and supplements. For those without families, we provide a funeral and burial.

The sponsorships enable caretakers to serve. Each caretaker needs four sponsors to receive a salary and monthly food supply.

To learn more about the Project Life caretaker sponsorship program, visit here.

MEET MARIA LUISA

Meet Maria Luisa, pictured above. She not only serves as a Project Life caretaker, but she is a leader in her community and a momma. Maria was widowed several years ago, when pregnant with her youngest child. Abortion might have tempted her. However, she delivered her youngest daughter, healthy and full of life. Not only that, but she has taken in another daughter who was abandoned by her family.

Not only does Maria Luisa visit 30+ men, women, and children through Project Life. But she has opened her home to care for, raise, and strengthen her own children and the children of others. Project Life is more than a day job for her. It is a way of life.

Maria Luisa represents one of many adults who have taken on the role as Project Life caretaker. Men and women like Maria step into the darkest moments and care for the dying and the sick. Their community will always have hope because of their service.