Vanessa Calviño

Vanessa Calviño is a local celebrity in Panama where she is a news anchor. She even had her own retail cosmetics brand. The constant stream of photos I see on her Facebook page tells me that she is an avid competitive runner. And I was so very fortunate that Vanessa was my co-producer for Portraits in Faith in Panama, along with her childhood friend, Marcela Pang. Together, Vanessa and Marcela took me to meet members of indigenous tribes, as well as the Catholic archbishop, to record their wonderful stories of human life and their spiritual journeys.

It was a special moment when Vanessa shared her personal story with me and I learned of her struggles in childhood. I was touched deeply when Vanessa shared the singular healing idea that saved her: “I realized that even if I didn’t have love from my parents the way I wanted, I was God’s favorite child and I always had that in mind. His love was enough for me.” This idea that each of us is God’s favorite child is so powerful, especially for those whose parents were not emotionally or physically available to love them. What was even more meaningful was to hear our translator, Marcela, crying when her best friend shared long-held truths about her life.

I also knew that there was healing happening in these videos: one person making themself vulnerable so that another person could hear the story and say, “That is like my story. Maybe I can put my pieces back together, too.”