Our Stories

“We visited the family of Yency. She is the youngest of five and is in her last year of high school. She lives just down the road from the centre, facing the lake. A great location, right? No. 

Not only is it surrounded by car repair shops, but its not even a house, not even a mud brick hut. It's a shack made from metal sheets put together. It's about 16 feet by 16 feet and about five and a half feet tall. You have to crouch inside, or just sit. It's just big enough for two makeshift bunk beds. She sleeps in one bed with her mother, and her three sisters sleep in the other beds. 

The mother makes a bit of money by cleaning and selling items she finds. The area around the hut is walled in and looks like and smells like a dump, but it's her mother's work. They have no toilet, (perhaps an outhouse?), no water, no heat, and the only electricity is an extension cord coming from their neighbour which runs one light bulb. When the wind blows from over the lake, it works its way through the cracks and chills them. 

The girls are all trying to further their education, but it is difficult. 

I share this with you because it really impacted me... This family and their situation helped me to see my indifference to others, to the poor. It exposed my coldness of heart, that heart of stone. It forced me to reflect on the way I was living, and to change.” 

- Paul Bruneau

Paul Bruneau is the son of Canadian lay missionaries Denis and Liane Bruneau, who were instrumental in the founding of the Mary Bloom Center.

"My time teaching at the Mary Bloom Center was genuinely a really fun and wonderful experience. The staff, the kids, and their families were all so kind and caring towards me and the rest of the group. I’ve never been away from home for so long, and being included in such a kind, loving, and supportive group of people helped me feel comfortable and at home while in Puno. It would take me millions and millions of words to fully describe how wonderful everyone at Mary Bloom is. Everyone there has a heart of gold, and I’m so lucky to have met them for even a short time. I think about them all constantly still."

-Sarah Rasmussen