If you’ve ever felt the impulse to break free from everyday life and give back to humanity in a meaningful way, here’s a story for you.

A bubbly extrovert originally from Menomonie, Katie Marach earned a bachelor’s degree in education and English as a Second Language at St. Norbert College in De Pere. Her master’s degree from Viterbo University is in servant leadership, and she is currently studying for a doctorate, also at Viterbo.

She was teaching elementary-level ESL for the Eau Claire Area School District when she decided to request an unpaid yearlong sabbatical – as an educator, the year would help her hone her Spanish-speaking skills and fulfill a language requirement for her doctorate. As a Catholic, she was eager to volunteer at Casa Hogar Juan Pablo II, an orphanage in Lurin, Peru, sponsored by the Diocese of La Crosse and started by one of its priests, Fr. Joe Walijewski, who died in 2006. His cause for canonization opened in 2013.

Marach’s request for unpaid leave was accepted (a rarity she considers miraculous in itself), and she left the States and settled into life at the Peruvian orphanage. She was eager to learn about how the facility was structured, which is different than most – Fr. Joe built a large complex with eight apartments, divided the children according to age and gender, and then invited a married couple with children to live in each section and be house parents as their full-time job. Each couple took care of their children and eight others, and then had two days off per week to just be with their nuclear family. This structure gave orphans the experience of being part of a family and the consistency of spending most of their time governed by the same adults.

Fr. Joe’s model also included faith formation for children and financial assistance to ensure they were educated – money for books, schooling and uniforms – and had access to sports and the arts as well. Basically, his model ensured they could be integrated as fully as possible into the life of the community, the church and the family.

The current Diocese of La Crosse priest serving there, Fr. Joe Hirsch, offers Masses, catechesis and more for children at two orphanages. The orphanage is also the headquarters of an initiative to buy powdered Wisconsin milk – an effort called Project Milk – and use it in the orphanage as well as distribute it widely (via the Amazon River to jungle kids and others), to ensure area children have adequate nutrition.

Marach’s intention was to spend the year in Peru, but she hit an obstacle. After serving at the orphanage for six months, she traveled home to celebrate Christmas with her family. When she tried to return, however, she found the laws had changed effective Jan. 1 – the Peruvian government was trying to stem the flow of immigrants from neighboring countries – and she could no longer enter the country.

Stuck at home and unable to even volunteer at the school district per the terms of her sabbatical, Marach watched a movie, “Blue Miracle,” on Netflix, about a guardian and a group of Mexican orphans who join a fishing contest to save their orphanage.

“I get goosebumps just thinking about it,” she said of the movie.

She emailed the director of the boys’ home in Los Cabos, Mexico, and asked if she could volunteer there while she waited for her Visa issues to get sorted out. She was welcomed.

“It turned out to be a great fit,” she said.

So, through her Facebook page, Marach has been sharing her experiences – tasting Tajin (a spice blend of lime, chili peppers and salt that the kids eat on everything), getting a $3.66 checkup from a doctor for a soccer-damaged foot, visiting the tilma in Guadalupe and indigenous ruins and singing karaoke. She’s enjoying the seafood, the ocean and working with the children, but Marach’s sabbatical is nearly over. She will be returning to the States and her teaching job with the start of the new school year.

Inspired

When Marach arrived at Casa Hogar in Peru, she’d been traveling with a small group on pilgrimage and had met Sr. Salome Nambi, a nun who had been running an orphanage in Uganda for 10 years. Sr. Salome was interested in the structure of Casa Hogar Juan Pablo II; she returned to Uganda and is building an orphanage right now using the same family model.

The psych team at the Mexican orphanage, too, is interested in learning more about Fr. Joe’s model, and Marach said they are planning to set up a Zoom call. They are curious about whether the Peruvian children have fewer abandonment issues because they have consistent care from mother and father figures.

“It’s kind of exciting how it’s growing,” Marach said. Of her year of service, she added, “It was a really eye-opening experience, and I’m really glad I went.”

With Latin America’s political upheaval, violent drug-related crimes and immigration challenges, this is also a time of tremendous need. In a recent Facebook post, she shared the story of a kindergartener who was out alone on the streets and was rescued by a couple of teenagers. The child stayed at the Mexican orphanage until a social worker located his extended family in a Central American country. “They are now reunited,” she wrote. “Thank you to all the benefactors who contribute to protecting our children.”

Feeling called to help?

How can you help kids in Peru and Mexico? Prayers and financial support are always needed. Project Milk, a program that also supports farmers by selling their powdered milk, collects donations. To learn more, visit https://diolc.org/social-concerns/rural-life/project-milk.

Sponsoring an orphan is a way to make a difference in one child’s life. Sponsors are invited to come visit the children, call and send letters, which can be translated by volunteers, Marach said.

Those who feel called to follow in Marach’s footsteps – to serve as a volunteer – can go to the Peruvian orphanage for three to six months. To learn more about the program, visit www.homeajpm.org. The contact is Noel Furger at .

For more on the Mexican orphanage, see www.casahogarcabo.com. Jayson Stirrup, the director, can be reached at .

Katie Marach poses with a local in Mexico. Just finishing a yearlong sabbatical volunteering at orphanages in Mexico and Peru, she returns to her teaching job with the Eau Claire Area School District this fall. (Used with permission)