The small, landlocked nation of Bolivia comprises rugged Andes Mountains and vast, high-altitude plateaus to the west (including a portion of Lake Titicaca, the largest high-altitude lake in the world) and lush, lowland plains of Amazon jungle to the east. Despite its wealth of natural beauty and resources, Bolivia bears the scars of centuries of conflict, beginning with the Spanish conquistadors and followed by almost 200 years of wars and internal military coups. Political and economic instability have brought about considerable poverty, resulting in widespread malnutrition, crime and disease. Sucre, Bolivia’s constitutional capital, retains much of the vestiges of Spanish colonialism, including many buildings erected by the conquistadors and the second-oldest university in Latin America. However, it is no exception to the poverty that plagues the rest of the nation.

For this reason, the Gattorno School serves as a beacon of hope to the surrounding community. Founded in 1882 by the Catholic Order of the Daughters of St. Anne, this prestigious school has long been a place where impoverished children of Sucre receive an education in a safe and supportive environment. The Sisters here strive to provide for the children’s immediate basic and educational needs so that students may rise above the difficult socioeconomic circumstances from which they come and break the cycle of poverty.