Matilde Davalos Ruck

Matilde is Bolivan, has a major in International Relations, has 7 years of teaching experience and has been part of Amparo for 3 years.

In 2017 as Matilde was working on a research assignment for her University she learned about the magnitude of sexual exploitation in Bolivia. Numbers revealed that she was living in the most dangerous country for women in South America, and that 1 every 3 girls would go through sexual abuse before she turned 18.

Growing up she was aware of violence against women. She understood it as common struggle for women in Bolivia, regardless of social class or age. Towards the end my time in college, God brought to her attention that the main victims of sexual and physical abuse were girls and the numbers were growing rapidly. At that time, she decided to do a research thesis about the human rights of victims involved in the sex trafficking found in Bolivia.

She still recalls the day she was typing the last page of the thesis. She was in tears realizing no one, not the Government or the law system, had been able to protect infants from horrible and devastating situations. Thus, she had a strong conviction God was calling her to work with women in Bolivia.

6 months later she had the opportunity to work full time at Amparo. God changed her perspective on loving people, preaching the gospel, and being his hands and feet on earth.

She is currently working in Amparo’s Outreach Program, visiting communities near and in Santa Cruz where there’s a high percentage of at-risk girls. She works on developing strategies to most effectively help them overcome poverty, illiteracy and to prevent them from being exploited and trafficked.