UNSW has used landscaping products from elmich Australia

Mayte Ramos

"You have made us for yourself O Lord and our hearts are restless until they rest in you". This phrase from Saint Augustine is probably the best way to express my personal experience in the time before discovering my vocation: my heart was restless. For years I wanted to do something big and meaningful with my life, and I looked everywhere. But nothing, no friends, jobs or activities, could answer the longings and yearnings in my heart. It was in 1990, when I met the Fraternas, that I discovered what life could be like when you give it entirely for a noble cause. I felt very strongly that God was calling me to give Him my life. I joined the community in 1994. Since then I repeat to myself everyday: "How can I repay the Lord for all the good done for me?" (Psalm 116, 12). And I try to do it by putting every effort and all that is in my power, to fulfil His Plan. I want to become a saint and thus radiate His presence and His love in a world that is in so much need of it. I want to help others have an encounter with Him who is the Way, the Truth and the Life.
I made my Perpetual Promises on the Feast of Our Lady of Mercy, 24 September, 2000.

"I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee" (Jer 31, 3)
In 2003, when I was 23 years old, I decided to give my life to God by joining the community. Having searched for years for something which could fill my longing for happiness, I felt a strong need to give my life to others. After looking everywhere, I realised that nothing could fulfill the emptiness i felt but God.
I felt in my heart a deep calling from God to be a Fraterna and thus, I answered Him. I am totally sure that I could never be as happy as I am now, following God's Plan for me.

Ana Maria Palacio

Lorena Portocarrero

"If you are what you should be, you will set the world on fire"
Since I was a girl, I wanted to do something big and important for the people of this world. But I didn't know what to do or where to look for it.
When I met the Fraternas I could see that these people were really happy.
I saw that it was because of Jesus Christ our Lord and that to carry out the apostolate was at the very centre of their lives. With immense love, God showed me that I was called to remain very close to Him. I found out that I was born to be a Fraterna, and that by answering that call, all my longings will be fulfilled. I entered in the community in April, 2003. I am very happy.
I love carrying out the apostolate, expressing through all the daily activities of my whole life that the Lord is the one who gives ushappiness, hope and meaning in our lives. My whole life is like being a torch which beams the Light of God's love, which drives away the darkness of this world. Through me, this Light can touch all those who have not yet encountered His love which He is yearning to have with every single person.

I was always searching for happiness, for something else, for something that lasted for ever, something that was worth giving my life for, I tried with different things but none of them fulfilled my heart, I was missing something or someone.

It wasn't until I heard and internalize the Bible's passage of Jeremiahs' vocation:"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you..." that I saw clearly my vocation to consecrate my life to God as a Fraterna. How wouldn't I trust in God who created me, who knew what was the best for me? That

certitude brought peace to my heart and I joined the community in 2001. Now I can see how the Lord, during my whole life was preparing my heart to say yes to His call. I can see as well how Mary our Mother, since my childhood was protecting me and guiding me to her Son, the Lord Jesus. Her maternal love helped me to trust in God's plan and say yes as she did.