Meet Paloma

Paloma Castilleya, 19 years old, was left at Casa Hogar Elim orphanage by her mother when she was 12 years old. She has not seen her mother since she was 13. She has a younger sister who is in a different orphanage - Paloma doesn't get to see her very often.

Paloma is one of the college students that All Saints has helped support - in fact she just graduated with her nursing degree in December. Since her graduation, she spends her day working at Casa Hogar and doing community service at the University.

When asked about her daily schedule, Paloma said she wakes up by 7 am. She is responsible for feeding the babies, caring for Gladys who is a special needs child, changing the bedding in the baby/toddler room, and cleaning the bathrooms. She then heads off to the University from noon - 8:00 pm to do Community Service. When she arrives back at Casa Hogar later in the evening, she puts babies and toddlers down to bed followed by more chores. In addition, she is responsible for the children if they are sick or injured. Paloma also loves to paint - she dreams that someday she might be able to do some paintings that she could sell in an art show.

When we asked Paloma about her dreams were for her future, she said she wants to continue her medical education and work at Casa Hogar to give back to the orphanage. When Paloma was asked about Mama Lupita, she got very emotional and said Mama is like her real mother and she loves her very much!