Maria hails from the province of Huancavelica in the remote Andes Mountains and is currently in the final year of her studies in Business Administration at the Northern University of Peru. But to reach this point, she has had an arduous journey. Her mother was so poor that she had to give up Maria and her sister over to the care of The Daughters of Saint Mary of The Heart of Jesus, a religious order in Chaclacayo, near Lima. Today, she works to pay for her room and board, and The Last Shall Be First covers her tuition and fees. She will soon join the multitude of success stories made possible through the generosity of the O’Connors and The Last Shall Be First foundation.
