INSPIRATION FROM FORMER CASA JAVIER RESIDENT, JUVER CALLE FLORES

Attendees at the 2019 annual dinner in Cincinnati had the great privilege of hearing from Juver Calle Flores, former resident of Casa Javier, who joined us in Cincinnati from Peru. Juver’s story inspires: having grown up in a place of great need, he moved into Casa Javier, received a quality education and a supportive and caring home, and now gives back by caring and providing for youth who are in need in a remote area of Peru, called Piura.

Juver attributes much of his success in life to his time with Casa Javier: “First, it opened up for me various social and academic opportunities that I hadn’t even realized existed at all, opportunities that were typically, if not exclusively, afforded to only students coming from the highly privileged national and international social and economic classes. Second, while living in Casa Javier among some of Lima’s poorest children and adolescents, I saw how critical to near fatal a lack of an adequate education could be. Casa Javier provides many opportunities for a way out and away from a life of crippling abject poverty and fosters a better, more peaceful, more just world, a world where young people are not lost but grow in self respect and to become men and women for others.”

JUVER SERVES AS A ROLE MODEL

Beyond receiving a quality education and safe housing, Juver witnessed, through Paul and the team with ACJ, a model of Magis: doing more for Christ, and therefore doing more for others. This model served as a foundation for who Juver has become: a man for and with others. Juver now provides opportunities to young people, running a university education scholarship program for youth from indigenous communities in rural upper Amazon basin of northern Peru. Juver serves as a model for youth who will, undoubtedly, be inspired to make a difference with their lives.