Thanks to the kind generosity of Mother Ines (Ayau), the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos Serbian Church in Recife, Brazil has established a philanthropic institution named: Friends of the Parish of the Dormition Recife, Brazil (FPDB). 

Mother Ines is Abbess of the Monastery of the Holy and Life-Giving Trinity, Lavra of Mambre near the City of Guatemala in Guatemala. She is the General Director of the Foundation Friends of Hogar Rafael Ayau, an orphanage founded in 1857 which has, since then, been revived and received into the Orthodox Church under the jurisdiction of the Antiochian Patriarchate, later under the jurisdiction of the Serbian Patriarchate. They are presently a part of the Diocese of Buenos Aires and South and Central America of the Serbian Orthodox Church. 

Archpriest Alexis Peña-Alfaro, parish priest of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos Serbian Church, serves as coordinator of the FPDB. This project is, as their website states, a “philanthropic institution that intends to develop its service programs in partnership with private and public institutions, with professionals to offer and meet the needs of young people, families, schools and communities selected in our projects in the areas of education, health, environment and social in this post-Covid 19 period to the years 2021-2022”.

“We want to establish partnership,” states Fr. Alexis, “with all those who want to exercise resilience and find solutions to the crisis!”