Above: Rosanna turns her family’s struggles into strength for the next generation.
What keeps me going is simple: Children’s smiles, leaving a better world for them, doing my part — and making my family proud, including my parents, who from heaven may know I put into practice the best of them.
My paternal grandmother had to raise her younger siblings because her father took them away from their mothers and left her with the burden. She only met her mother once — and never again. My mother was just seven when she was sent to a convent boarding school, only seeing her parents on summer vacations. Every time I hug my children, I do it on their behalf — for the hugs my grandmother and mother didn’t have and certainly needed.
Every time I write a story or create content from our communities, I do so in the hopes of contributing something positive to children’s lives.
Too often, children smile through struggles we can’t see — a reminder that poverty and suffering don’t look the same everywhere.
We are all responsible to protect children — all children, all over the world, rich and poor, no matter the colour of their skin, those who look in need and those who seem to have everything. Each of us, no matter where we are or what we do, can play a part — and even the smallest action can spark big change.
Together, we are giving children in Paraguay the chance to grow up safe and free from violence. I am grateful for you.
Want to help more children be safe?
Support survivors of gender-based violence