Something New

Something Different, Something Needed, Something New

Mariela

Mariela shows up for 6 kids every day: Let’s show up for Mariela

Mariela is incredible! At 27, she is not only rebuilding her life with her 2 sons after escaping domestic violence, she is also the legal guardian for her four little sisters who were given up for adoption due to extreme poverty. She currently works full time and is finishing her schooling for a certificate in accounting. Mariela’s kids and sisters are growing every day. Their smiles light up a room.

On top of helping her own family, Mariela is a friend and advocate for the other moms and children who participate in Nuevo Camino’s programs. She is always willing to help another mom find a new job, a new apartment, or a discounted price for school uniforms. She has visited other program participants in the hospital, at their houses, and at their jobs. 

There are hard days – days when she wants to take a break from it all.

“I’m not going to lie, sometimes I want to just take myself out to eat after work and not go home and feed the kids, but I know that’s not what is best for them or me,” Mariela confessed with a tired smile.  

But despite the hard days, Mariela keeps going because she knows that there are six young people watching her example and depending on her for support and guidance.

“The best example I can be for my sisters and my sons, is an example of someone who loves them and doesn’t give up.”  

Mariela, you ARE an example, not just to your children, but to all of us. We see you, and we support you!

Today, Mariela is just a few weeks away from graduating with her accounting certificate.  When she graduates, she’ll be the first person in her family to do so. Mariela just needs $1,200 to finish paying her school fees, and she’ll be finished.

Click HERE to make a monthly or one-time donation! Help Mariela graduate and help her family move forward. And don’t worry, we’ll hire a babysitter and take her out to dinner!  😊

Meet Mariela

Something New, Nuevo Camino, New Path, Women's Shelter, Cusco, Peru
Mariela and her two sons at the Shelter

Mariela has a gift. She’s a survivor, and she’s stubborn. Being one of 10 siblings growing up in a rustic village high in the Andes mountains with no electricity and no running water and having to eke out a living by tending to 200 sheep will give a person that kind of gift.

Like so many women who end up in abusive relationships, Mariela clung to the love she thought she found at 18 years old. Her husband served 3 years in jail for beating her up.

During his absence, Mariela worked at a clothing store 12 hours a day, 6 days a week, walking an hour each way between her workplace and her mud-walled home high in the hills surrounding Cusco. She made the equivalent of $156.25 a month.

That wasn’t much money for Mariela and her son to live on. And due to her parents’ crippling poverty, Mariela is also the court-ordered guardian of three of her younger sisters, ages 13, 11 and 8.

Her husband came out of jail even more violent. Though he abandoned her shortly after the birth of their second child, he still threatens Mariela to this day.

Mariela has an astonishing capacity to see the silver lining in it all, and she will find a way to survive. She. Will. Find. A. Way.

Spend a little time with her and she’ll make you cry, then belly laugh, then stand up beside her and join her in saying, “hands to the work.” Mariela is going back to school to become an accountant. She dreams of creating a better life for not only her and her two sons, but her three younger sisters for whom she is responsible.

Go HERE to support Mariela and the other mammas of Nuevo Camino!