Sisters Isabel Peche and Louise Latin enjoy a visit with Sister Ana Garrigues, a general consultor from Rome The children at Tio Paco School in Guayaquil, Ecuador

"Go out to all the world and tell the good news (Mark 16:15)." Most of us have heard those words many times but Jesus' commission has taken on a new and very personal meaning in the lives of Sisters Louise Latin and Isabel Gortarzar.

On June 12, 2004, they left Spain to begin a new Mary Ward mission in Ecuador. Because of Ecuador's prolonged economic recession, the majority of the people live in extreme poverty. Between 1988 and 1999, the estimated number of 4 million poor rose to 8 million, most of whom live at what is called "the level of misery."

Louise and Isabel have now begun their ministry in Guayaquil, Ecuador. There they work collaboratively with Fe y Alegria, a movement undertaken by the Jesuits fifty years ago. Fe y Alegria is a "movement for integral popular education and social development whose activities are directed to the most impoverished." As part Tio Paco, one of the 66 Fe y Alegria centers in Ecuador, Louise and Isabel work directly with teachers, helping them to develop their pastoral skills and professional competencies

In addition the sisters are members of the pastoral team at Hogar de Cristo who minister to the poorest families in Guayaquil. With their co-workers, Louise and Isabel work to move people from extreme poverty into " poverty with dignity" by offering services in four areas: housing, work, education and health.