Having completed a two-week visit to the city last year with volunteers from the Diocesan Office of Religious Education, Vilt said she was hooked on the people from Sucre and determined to return. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

“I had a baby named after me. (While working at the orphanage,) I hear someone knocking. I opened the door and a lady from the judge’s office was there with a baby—maybe 2 or 3-weeks-old. She was found abandoned, and they brought her there.”

 Laurie Vilt, 28, presently of Joliet, comes from a family of givers. Her mother, Jeannie, is a librarian at a book depository and her father, Ken, is an office manager at Commonwealth Edison’s Braidwood nuclear plant. While there were no great, selfless movements attributed to the Grundy County couple, Vilt said her parents’ spent a lifetime performing gentle and compassionate acts, sharing and giving to neighbors, fellow parishioners and members of the community. To their daughter, these acts exemplified the Catholic philosophy of assisting others or simply pitching in to lend a hand.

 A graduate of Joliet’s University of St. Francis, Vilt grew up to be a social worker. She spends her days tearing down, piece by piece, what seems to be a mountain of woes that are complicated by unemployment, under employment, substance abuse and confrontation. Vilt is employed at Lincoln-Way High School in Frankfort and at Provena St. Joseph Medical Center in Joliet. She also volunteers as a member of the hospital’s crisis team that responds with a sympathetic ear for those recovering from a trauma. 

 Still, that’s not enough to fill Vilt’s appetite to help others. The situation in Bolivia is so different. They are 30, 40 or more years behind the U.S. in regard to transportation, health care and social welfare, she explained. And the poverty is so much more intense. 
 
 A member of St. Mary Nativity Parish in Joliet, Vilt said her desire to make a positive difference for people was all the motivation she needed to dedicate herself during the months of June and July to work with children in two orphanages in Sucre—one for infants and children up to age 6 and another for older youngsters. In addition, she assisted several Catholic families belonging to parishes in nearby mountain communities by delivering donated goods and supplies, such as shampoo, toothbrushes and toothpaste.

Fairly adept at the Spanish language, she worked at the orphanage called  San Juan de Dios, where she took an opportunity that full-time providers don’t have to cuddle and rock babies. She also supervised field trips to the city park for the 4- to –6-year-old group—a trivial experience for youngsters in the United States—but one that is nearly an impossible undertaking for children living in ill-funded, overcrowded and understaffed conditions in one of the poorest country in South America. 

Armed with four, 75-pound boxes of health care-related supplies donated by Will County churches, Vilt embarked on the second sole mission trip ever made on behalf of the Diocesan Office of Peace and Justice to Sucre. Having completed a two-week visit to the city last year with volunteers from the Diocesan Office of Religious Education, Vilt said she was hooked on the people from Sucre and determined to return. 

Mary Jeanne Lindinger-Olsen, missions coordinator for the Diocesan Office of Peace and Social Justice, characterized Vilt’s diligence as nothing short of remarkable. “With all her initiative, she was determined to work beyond the orphanage, and she got to know better the parishes that we haven’t had much contact with. She was becoming for us a diocesan liaison, which we love to have.”

Vilt’s efforts in Sucre define the kind of solidarity in faith that missioners represent, added Lindinger-Olsen. “To go back for that length of time is sort of a living, breathing form of solidarity with our brothers and sisters,” she noted.

But it wasn’t all work for Vilt. “You get a lot out of it. You get much more back than you give,” she added. 
Bottles of bubbles, stickers and small toys filled her deep pockets and daily were distributed by the volunteer social worker to those at the orphanage and youthful street beggars who quickly grew accustomed to receiving token gifts when she passed. 

During her visit, Vilt used money donated in the United States to purchase a merry-go-round for the playground. That simple piece of playground equipment, painted bright red, blue, yellow and green, evoked shrieks of glee and delight, she recalled. Her heart was further touched when she hand-delivered each boy a stuffed Panda bear and each girl a cheerfully smiling doll. The children were so elated, said Vilt, adding that they never get a toy of their own—they have to share everything.
While having the chance to play Santa Claus to a very receptive audience was wonderful and having an opportunity to interact personally with very needy children was certainly gratifying, Vilt noted that she found true acceptance as the gift she most appreciated.

“I had a baby named after me. (While working at the orphanage,) I hear someone knocking. I opened the door and a lady from the judge’s office was there with a baby—maybe 2 or 3-weeks-old. She was found abandoned, and they brought her there.” The next day, the Sisters of the St. Antonio of Padua Congregation, who operate the facility, surprised Vilt. They gave the baby her name. Vilt said she intends to sponsor the little bundle, called Laurita, Laura in Spanish, who was placed in her arms. She plans to provide special care packages from the United States for her namesake. 

For Bolivian children, the likelihood of adoption is certainly not a far-fetched idea, added Vilt. Although policies between the Unied States and Bolivian governments make it difficult for couples in the North to adopt these children, Germany and several other European countries have less restrictive relationships. 

The government in Bolivia indeed is strained, said Vilt, because drugs, corruption, riots and uprisings continue to mar economic progress. Meanwhile, churches and church-based programs are key to easing the stress on families and individuals in that country.

“I want to definitely go back in two or three years.…I want to see my kids. I feel invested,” she said.