Give a year, gain a lifetime of love: 2015 International Volunteer Program recap

By Vicky Medley, International Volunteer Coordinator, NPH USA

2015 was my ninth year working with our International Volunteer Program!  I sure do love my job; I have the pleasure of helping with the selection, placement and support for the International Volunteers that come from the U.S.  For Volunteer Appreciation Week 2016, I want to provide you with a program update and some highlights.

Overall, 2015 was another successful year for our International Volunteer Program.  Each year we make some changes and adjustments.  In 2015:

• We added more intercultural trainings to our preparation materials.  NPH is a complex web of cultures: the culture of the home country, the organizational culture, and the multinational, multilingual cultures that the volunteers bring from all corners of the globe to the volunteer community. With that in mind, all of our volunteers now complete the Impact Abroad Toolkit, an online course about effective intercultural partnerships.  Our volunteers also now participate in the Intercultural Effectiveness Scale to help identify strengths and areas of growth in intercultural settings.   
• We increased our recruitment efforts.  Like most volunteer programs, over the last two years we’ve received fewer applications. To counteract that trend, we visited more campuses and increased our online profiles and materials on many college career centers.  We’re also experimenting with targeted recruitment for hard-to-fill positions like therapists and Communication Officers.
• We now provide all volunteers’ international health insurance.  In the past we provided a subsidy, but we are now able to cover the entire cost. 

Our International Volunteers in action!

We currently have 29 volunteers serving alongside the local staff at NPH.  International Volunteers do not replace local staff, but they provide much-needed services that are difficult for us to ensure otherwise.  In 2015, we had a total of 58 volunteers who served at least six months, saving NPH an estimated $120,780. 

International volunteers serve for a year or more at all the NPH homes.  Some volunteers work in education as English and PE teachers, Preschool Teachers, Tutors, and Librarians.  Many volunteers work as Caregivers, or in special programs like Women’s Empowerment, Social Work or Youth Ministry.  We have several volunteers who provide physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy.  Volunteers also work in administration, serving as volunteer coordinators, visitor coordinators, project coordinators, or in the child sponsorship department.  Our medical volunteers serve as nurses, doctors, nurse practitioners and clinic assistants.

As you read through the volunteer testimonials, https://www.nph.org/ws/volunteers/testimonials.php?lang=en you will see some themes emerge: 

NPH really is a giant family, and our volunteers are an essential part of that family, not only providing professional services, but accompanying the Pequeños during chores, homework, meals, mass, and playtime. 

Most volunteers feel that during their time with NPH they have received more than they have given, and are transformed by their service.  They learn about patience, sharing, love and new priorities that focus on relationships rather than tasks. 

International Volunteers’ continuing involvement with NPH

Even after their service has been over for a year or more, most volunteers stay involved with NPH.  In 2015, former volunteers came up with new and creative ways to raise money, and built support for NPH:  

• In cities where there are regional offices, former International Volunteers help at fundraisers, translate, assist in the offices, speak at events, and meet with donors.
• We have Associate Boards in cities throughout the country.  Many former volunteers participate in the Associate Boards, helping organize pub crawls, trivia nights, and other events that appeal to socially conscious young professionals.
• In Seattle, many former volunteers are involved in NPH International’s Seattle Institute. This program helps develop a future generation of leaders for our NPH homes.  Their curriculum is based on principles of servant leadership and grounded in our NPH philosophy.  Former International volunteers serve as mentors, assist with retreats and events, and most importantly, serve as a comforting presence during the difficult adjustment period when the adult Pequeños first arrive in Seattle. 
• Each fall, a cadre of volunteers helps us with college recruitment.   In 2015, six former volunteers visited college volunteer recruitment events. 

How can you support our International Volunteer Program?

• Help us spread the word about volunteering with NPH!  Share our information with your alumni network, your professional associations, on social media, or your place of worship. 
• If you are visiting an NPH home, pack a few treats for our volunteers!  They love surprises from home, especially holiday treats (like candy corn, inexpensive advent calendars, Easter candy, etc.), and treats that are hard to find in Latin America. 
• Ask volunteers about their time at NPH, and really listen to what they have to say.  You will learn all sorts of things about NPH.

If you’ve met any of our former volunteers, you know that they are deeply dedicated to the NPH family, and they are a creative, passionate, hard-working and humble group.  May we be blessed with their presence for many years to come!

Bringing “First Moments” to Donors and Sponsors as They Visit NPH Homes

Below is a reflection written by Gaby Driessen, Regional Manager of Child Sponsorship in NPH USA’s Midwest office, about the wonders of introducing new visitors to NPH homes for the first time. 

I directed my first trip to NPH nearly three years ago, so my first NPH visit experiences are long gone.  I don’t feel the nervousness of driving into NPH for the first time; rather, I feel comfort and familiarity.  I do not get anxious about meeting the pequeños for the first time; rather, I feel excited to see them again and pick up right where we left off a few months ago.  I do not get to fall in love with NPH for the first time; rather, I continue to fall more and more in love with the organization and its people.  Since I no longer have those “first moments” when I visit a NPH home, bringing new donors and sponsors to visit one of the NPH homes is, in my opinion, the best part of working for NPH USA.  To witness someone step onto NPH grounds for their first time, build meaningful relationships with the pequeños, and feel so at ease and at home is so remarkable.  With each trip that I lead, I am given the unique opportunity to see the light flicker in someone else’s eyes when they realize that by visiting NPH they are helping break the cycle of poverty.

In a recent trip to NPH Guatemala, I asked the trip participants to share their “aha!” moments.  What about NPH has surprised you the most?  What has made you realize the importance of you visiting NPH?  What has been your favorite moment thus far?  One participant, who was visiting NPH for his first time, shared that his “aha!” moment was when he realized that NPH is the Kingdom of God.  His answer left me speechless.  My entire education, kindergarten all the way through college, had been in Catholic schools, so at a remarkably young age I had been taught that the Kingdom of God was Heaven.  One high school religion teacher liked to say for those of different faiths, “The Kingdom of God is a place where love is all around.”  The trip participant went on to explain his reasoning for believing that NPH is the Kingdom of God – he witnessed Fr. Wasson’s pillars of unconditional love, shared responsibility and helping others in every child, caregiver, teacher, nurse, gardener, international volunteer, visitor, donor, and sponsor.  He explained that he had never seen so much love in one place, and, in his opinion, all this love could only mean that NPH is the Kingdom of God.  Throughout the rest of the week, I kept an eye out for Kingdom of God moments. 

On the last day of the trip, the youngest boys section walked past me, each boy carrying a large garbage bag filled with folded clothes.  When I asked where they were going with all the bags of clothes, they explained that they were walking into town to donate the clothes to those in need.  All of sudden that lesson from my sophomore high school religion class of love being all around made sense, as did the trip participant’s “aha!” moment; there, in the midst of the Guatemalan highlands, with a volcanic and mountainous background, on the grounds of a place that provides a home, healthcare and education for approximately 300 children, I was standing amongst a group of nine-year-old boys who were, and are, living the Kingdom of God.  

In the midst of the impenetrable darkness, there is indeed light...

Below is a reflection written by Upper Midwest staff member, Robert Sevenich, after visiting NPFS Haiti.

Haiti has faced indescribable political and environmental devastation resulting in abject poverty and myriad deaths. It’s easy to believe that there is irrevocable damage in Haiti when visiting areas of Port-au-Prince, namely Cité Soleil. Some criticize groups within the population for their lack of emphasis on commonality in the community in the wake of desolation. The need to survive often cripples the ability to mobilize for social change.

In the midst of the impenetrable darkness, there is indeed light. In the communities surrounding Kenscoff, a town located in the mountains 15 miles south of Port-au-Prince, hundreds of children and their parents rise long before the break of day to make the long trek up the mountain’s steep incline to attend NPH’s Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos (NPH) primary school. Often mothers will wake in the middle of the night, ignite a small fire to cook the only daily meal for her family – a meal that will help sustain the children during the long journey and day at school. Families make this quotidian sacrifice to secure the opportunity for their children to learn.

St. Helene Foyer is home to 376 orphaned, abandoned and disadvantaged children, and it also provides a primary education to nearly 484 external youths while employing numerous local people to run its programs. As an enthusiastic community center for learning and employment, St. Helene’s home and school are a true testament of the Haitians’ shared desire for knowledge and communal sustainability. For example, after the school day, children will study on the side of the streets at night to glean enough muted light to study. This is one of the many practices people prioritize to improve their education.

NPH’s programs, along with many others, challenges the notion that Haitians lack the foresight to create systematic change. There indeed exists a blazing yearning for education and societal advancement within the Haitian community. One of the key pillars of NPH’s mission is to teach children the importance of shared responsibility. More appropriately, however, NPH teaches Haiti – and every other nation it where works – the necessity and urgency of community engagement and noble leadership.

Twenty Years of Love

Below is a letter written by Gena Heraty, who has been working for the Special Need Program at NPFS Haiti for the past two decades!

Can you remember where you were this time 20 yrs ago? I can hardly remember where I was 20 days ago not to mind 20 yrs ago! But in this case I can remember more or less because you see I was preparing to come to Haiti.

I remember arriving in Haiti, the airport, the people that came to pick me up. I remember the trip up the mountain to the orphanage (and getting soaked wet in the back of the pick up). I remember the smell of the humidity, the smell of a mango (first time I had ever seen a mango) and I remember being hugged by Yvonne!

Funny to think back – I close my eyes and I see so many pictures of that first year. The most dramatic was meeting Eliane. This beautiful fragile girl was to change my life forever.

And so as I look back on twenty years I have to say that my greatest joy has been loving these kids. And my greatest pain has being in watching them suffer, being so powerless so many times and then the worst of all pain has been when they have died. In twenty years, we in Kay Christine have buried 9 of our children: Eliane, Magdala, Kervens, Marjorie, Darline, Audelina, Jonnie, Tifle and Olivier. If I talk about them it is because they have all marked my life in a very special way.

Living in Haiti is for sure challenging but I have to tell you that despite everything,; Hurricanes, Deaths, Kidnappings, Street violence, Earthquake, Cholera – despite all the disasters, I can honestly tell you that in twenty years I have never wished once to be somewhere else. I have been so so lucky. I am surrounded by people that love me and that I love. When I get fed up there is always someone to wrap me up in love and give me strength to keep going. My life is one of so many blessings.

Has Haiti improved? In some ways yes. There are more roads, we have more electricity, there are more banks, hotels, and big supermarkets! This current government seems to be trying hard to get infrastructure in place so we can invest more in the place. In terms of the poverty levels I would say it is probably worse – definitely not better. You just have to visit our hospital and you will see for yourself. Or come to a 7am Mass each morning and count the dead bodies lying on the floor – Father Rick blesses the dead each morning at mass and these are kids that die in our hospital and adults that die in the adult hospital. I would say that at least five bodies are there every day. And you know what, most of these have died from illnesses that could be treated if they had received help on time.

For me it would be easy to just get fed up with it all because the problems are so so many. But my goodness we have done so much! I mean imagine when I came in 1993 we had 9 children with disabilities/handicaps. Now our program in Kenscoff has 34 and we have two rehab centres that care for over 300 children with severe disabilities. Not only that but we have a beautiful Special Needs school for over 80 children that live with their families, we have a horse riding program, we have the kids in the swimming pool weekly, we have an art therapy program and and we have a school for children that have learning disabilities! So you see we have been busy the last twenty years! Learn all about what we are doing here.  

These kids are so amazing! A few days ago I told them we would be accepting two new children into our family. Fernanda and Jeff are both abandoned in our hospital and in desperate need of a beautiful loving family. When I told the kids this they literally yelled with joy and went on to tell me how they would look after them, play with them and kiss them. So spontaneous and so beautiful! Now every day they hound me asking when I am going to get the kids. I have to wait til all the legal work is done, and then we will bring them to their new home.

Death is as part of our life as living and here in Haiti we are confronted with it all the time. If not in our home then in neighbourhood. People just die young here all the time. But it is never easy! Never! Most of you reading this will know what I mean – unless you have never lost a loved one. Our job here in Kay Christine is to give the kids a good home, a safe and loving place to live with good medical care and access to all that they need. We have to accept that the kids are fragile, that many will not live to be old. The theory makes sense. The reality is not so easy and the reality is that we have to keep going and keep opening our home and our hearts to new children. We have to keep saying yes to love.

To sum up my 20 yrs in Haiti? It has been a journey of learning and loving. I have been surrounded by wonderful people who have believed in me and in our work – and who have worked just as hard as I. We have worked as a team and ended up creating a family. A beautiful beautiful family.

I have been supported by people that have never ever met me and have decided to trust me because they also believe things could and should be better. I have been overwhelmed with requests for help, crushed by tales of despair and hardship and inspired by the courage of the Haitian people. I have watched in awe at mothers carrying their severely handicapped children to our centres – under the hot sun, on the dusty road – day in and day out. I have spent nights and days in the hospital with sick children and watched the amazing devotion of the mothers there with their beautiful children. I have watched them spend day and night there and at night time watched them rest their weary often hungry bodies on the hard floor under the beds of their children. True warriors of love!

In Twenty years We have done so much together – built and developed programs, built houses, sent kids to school, sent kids to doctors, paid for universities, bought clothes and food for those in need. Sent school buses to bring children to school. We have saved lives together. We have given hope together. We have shone a light on the darkness together. We have stood side by side with people in need and we have helped them get through each day. Together we have worked hard to help our brothers and sisters in Haiti and we have showed what can be done if people work together!You have been with me every step of the way. And I need you to keep with me. I am asking anyone and everyone to do me a favour. I would like if everyone reading this could donate a “dollar a year for each year I have been in Haiti” so that's twenty dollars. I know, times are hard, I know you have a ton of expenses. Believe me I know. But I also know that I really need your help. We have had to cut back our support to the families we are helping. Your twenty dollars will help us keep our programs going.. Your 20 dollars will help keep the Special needs Kids in school. Your 20 dollars will help us provide physical therapy to the kids, your 20 dollars will help us provide teacher training and therapy training – your money will help us continue and expand and reach more and more kids in need.

I want to leave you with something beautiful written by an author that for years has inspired and guided me – Jean Vanier. If you have never read anything written by him please do yourself a favour and discover him! As I spend these days reflecting on my twenty years of Love , twenty years of living with and working for children with severe disabilities I think this piece by Vanier sums it up very nicely. Loving someone does not simply mean doing things for them;it is much more profound. To love someone is to show to them their beauty, their worth and their importance; it is to understand them, understand their cries and their body language;it is to rejoice in their presence, spend time in their company and communicate with them. To love is to live a heart-to heart relationship with another,giving to and receiving from each other.

Love and thanks, 
Gena 

It is important to make sure the kids value their godparents and everything that they do for them even though they cannot see them.

Mariney Ocampo is currently the Head of the International Sponsorship Department at NPH Mexico. Born in the United States to Mexican parents, Mariney lived in California until she was one year old. Her family on her father’s side of the family lives in the United States while her family on her mother´s side of the family lives in Cuernavaca, Mexico. In Mexico, at the age of four she was enrolled in a bilingual school where she began to learn English, and at the age of nine she began to study French at a local language center. Since she was young, her dream has always been to be an interpreter, and her biggest goal - to interpret for the United Nations.

Mariney studied International Relations at the International University in Cuernavaca. During this time, she also studied German, Italian, and Russian. She received a scholarship to participate in an exchange program through Virginia Tech where she studied International Development before returning to Cuernavaca where she graduated in 2004. In 2005, she began to work for a German NGO, CBM, in Cuernavaca whose mission is to support local projects for the benefit of disabled people in poor countries. Mariney worked as the coordinator of the projects in the Caribbean for three and a half years. After her experience with this company, she moved to England where she received her Master’s degree in Conflict Resolution, a branch of International Relations, at the University of Bradford. During this time she was also able to study Arab with a friend from Syria who was also living in England.

Following her graduation from Bradford in 2010, Mariney returned to work with CBM to aid in their relief efforts after the earthquake in Haiti that year. The organization opened an office in Haiti, and she worked in displacement camps there for six months. Because there was no infrastructure, the people had gone to live in plazas and parks, and it was in those displacement camps, or “tent cities,” where she helped coordinate the construction of infant shelters. Since there were no schools, hospitals, or homes remaining, health, educational, and rehabilitation services were offered in the tent cities. Mariney’s job was to hire people to install structures for the thousands of orphaned children, where they could receive meals, shelter, and therapy. At the end of 2010, after the heavy experience in Haiti, she returned to Cuernavaca because of her desire to be with her family.

She began her job search, only knowing that, “I wanted to work for a non-profit because I had always worked in this sector. I was never involved in the governmental or private sector because I have always liked philanthropy.” She found an opening at NPH, not realizing that Nos Petit Frères et Soeurs (the organization that built Saint Damien’s Hospital in Haiti, which had survived the earthquake and where she had gone to attend meetings while working in Haiti) was not a French or Haitian organization but had originated in her home country of Mexico, and in Spanish was called Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos™, or NPH. Having come to this realization, Mariney was very interested in the position, came in for an interview and had a tour of the home in Miacatlán. She fell in love with the home and the social objectives only to begin working as the Volunteer and Visitor Coordinator in March of 2011.

Mariney held that position until December of 2011 when she began to work in the sponsorship office because she was asked to support in the transition of the retirement of the previous Director of Sponsorship of 28 years, Mayi. Mariney worked as the assistant to the director for six months, and in June of 2012 Mayi invited Mariney to be the Head of the International Sponsorship Department. Day to day, she dedicates herself to obtaining new international sponsors, or godparents, for the children of NPH Mexico. Every day there are new requests for sponsorship, and it is her responsibility, along with her team of three, to facilitate communication between the children and their godparents. Every day they receive letters and packages from International Sponsors, and together they work with the children to write letters, thank you responses, translate them, and send the responses. Another part of Mariney’s job, and one that she enjoys a lot, is being responsible for the organizing of the spending of the “Sharing Fund.” This is a fund made up of monetary gifts received by international sponsors and used to fund activities and celebrations in the home. Mariney has the responsibility of giving out birthday money at the end of each month, Christmas money during the holidays, allocating money towards activities like BBQs, First Communions, summer activities such as ceramics, taekwondo and theatre.

Mariney says one of the biggest challenges of her work, but one that she fully enjoys, is that “this office is a bridge between the godparents who are far away and the children who are here. We have to make an effort to build those relationships from a distance, and to create a consciousness in the kids because to them the sponsors are so far away that they are almost invisible. It is important to make sure the kids value their godparents and everything that they do for them even though they cannot see them. We are also going to begin the Godparents Party so that the children realize that all the good things that they have here, and it this is an important part of that. It is a way to show thanks to their godparents.”

What she likes most about her job is knowing that her work helps so many children and having the opportunity to get closer to the kids, "I enjoy knowing that the money from the godparents is spent on fun for the kids and knowing that my work has an impact, and helping to ensure that this can continue to benefit the children. I think about that every day. If it is a boring, or sad, or a busy day, I always remember that I am working for all the children that are here, and that is what I like."

Mariney is about to complete one year in her position as Head of the International Sponsorship Department and we would like to congratulate her on this mark in her career at NPH and thank her for all her hard work and dedication that she has given to us.

Reported by Elizabeth Caletka, Communications Officer

Always a child showing the way, always a child brightening your day.

Children
by Gena Heraty

Always a child showing the way
always a child brightening your day.
Always a smile shining on you
always a child there loving you.
The years come and go
grey hairs replace brown,
so many problems around
easy to feel down.
But you stop for a while
and you look all around
and you see all that love
waiting to be found.
Its there in the kids
whole fountains of hope
these innocent children
how do they cope?
No mothers and fathers
to hold them at night,
no cuddles and kisses
no arms holding them tight.
Bright shining eyes
look straight to your soul,
dare you open your heart
dare you become whole?
For these kids are your teachers
they have so much to say
they’ll mold and they’ll shape you
til you find a new way.
They may not say a word
but their message is clear
just open your heart
you have nothing to fear.
These kids will see through you
through the masks that you wear
they will reach right to your center
Listen to them if you dare.
Here in these mountains
where the air is so clear
hundreds of children
so cute and so dear.
Hundreds of children
reaching out to you in love
wrapping their arms about you,
like angels from above.
They don’t care about your profession,
or if you drive a fancy car,
they don’t care where you come from
be it from near or afar.
They just want to sit and touch you,
run their fingers through your hair.
Tell you that your are beautiful
or maybe you are hairy as a bear.
“Your nose is oh so pretty
but really it is so long
and your belly is very big
and sure let us entertain you with a song.
Will you please take our photo
sand show us how we look?
Next time you visit
will you bring me a present – even a book?
Will you tell me about your life
and the world where you live?
will you ask about mine
will you receive what I give?
Will you be a part of my life
even though you are not here?
will you spare me a thought
when I am far and you’re not near?
Will you help me grow up
help me survive in my life?
help me see many tomorrows
despite the troubles and strife?
You see I am your family
I just need a chance
I will make you so proud
so happy you will dance.
I will reach for the stars
and say hi to the moon
I will be a witness to your friendship
morning night and noon.
O what is their future
in this troubled land?
who will walk the way with them?
Who will lend a helping hand?
I look at their laughing faces
watch them as they play
and I thank God for NPFS
for the joy they know today.
And I try not to worry
about what tomorrow has in store
some things are out of our control
But I will always wish for more.
I will always wish for these children
that they have a chance in life
to enjoy this time of childhood
before the world unloads its strife.
I pray people will stand behind us
support us every day
help us help these children.
Educate them and guide the way.
I thank god for all the donors
that support us through the years.
Without them we can do nothing
we’d never move beyond the tears.
And life is surely a mystery
some things just make no sense
and yet helping little children
Is for sure a good defense.
Defense against the injustice
that sure likes to have its way.
Defense against the darkness
that could pervade each day.
So as we think of these wonderful children
entrusted in our care.
Lets pray for strength and guidance
lets offer up our worries in prayer.
Lets keep our hearts so open
and our minds full of hope.
Though the budgets are causing us stress
lets believe we will cope.
Lets keep our faith firmly planted
in the arms of God above
Lets continue in our mission
as we try to be a people of love.
Lets listen to the children
as they smile through every day.
In their smiles are valuable lessons
a smile lights up the darkest way.

Welcome Elzer!

Jose Elzer Sabillón came to NPH Honduras with his older sister at the age of four. Since graduating from university and receiving his teaching certificate, Elzer has been working hard and gaining experience teaching in Tegucigalpa. Knowing Elzer, his love and dedication to NPH and the rest of his younger brothers and sisters, he was approached to help us in two key areas; projects and visitors. 


Jose Elzer is incredibly bright and dedicated. He is fluent in English and has the unique perspective of having grown up on the Ranch at NPH Honduras. He has had the opportunity to travel, visit other NPH homes, speak at fundraising events and assist Friends' initiatives in the US. This experience, his personality and work ethic, along with his heartfelt desire to serve his NPH family, makes him uniquely qualified to take on these roles. 


As Projects and Visitor Coordinator, Elzer will help to provide visitors, offices, and the entire international community direct access, based in personal experience, to the realities of life in our home. It is our hope that this perspective will help make more tangible still, the work that we are all together striving to accomplish for our children. So please welcome Jose Elzer to his new role! We are so proud of him and grateful to have him as part of our family. 

They've all captured my heart...

Below you will find a wonderful update from Allison, a volunteer physical therapist at NPH Dominican Republic.


Dear Friend,

Maybe you know what it’s like to feel called to do something. Ever since I graduated as a physical therapist, I dreamt about donating my time to help the underserved. One day I finally took the plunge…


I left behind a great job and wonderful friends in Atlanta – everything I knew. And I began an eye-opening volunteer year in the Dominican Republic. So here I am now, providing physical therapy for children with special needs at the Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos (NPH) orphanage.


I’m almost finished with an amazing year and I want to share what I’ve learned with you … because you share so much with the children of NPH!



I work with the children you support with your donations. I see firsthand what a difference your kindness makes in the lives of kids who’ve known desperate hunger. Kids who’ve lost their parents to violence. Kids who’ve found themselves horribly alone in the streets.


… Children like 8-year-old Massiel who uses a wheelchair. Despite her physical challenges, she has the biggest smile that seems to spread through her entire little body.


… Or 11-year-old Moises. Even though he can’t walk very well, he loves physical play. If I ask him, “What do you want to do today Moises?” He says, “Play!” He challenges me to keep up with him!


When I’m not working, I spend mealtimes and after school time with the pequeños hermanos – the “little brothers and sisters.” I live at is Casa San Miguel, home to a great group of 16 boys, all eager to teach me words in Spanish and impress me with their English. They each have different chores every day of the week. And they keep their home in wonderful shape!


Sometimes it gets really noisy, but as soon as someone starts the dinner prayer, all 16 boys start to sing.


It's hard to think of how sad and scary their previous lives may have been.
But coming here, I was so excited about what I could help the children accomplish during my time with them. I just wanted to give them the best therapy and care possible, because it had been almost a year since they had received any.


I work with 18 to 20 pequeños and I reach out to other kids in the community as well. Some are severely disabled. Others are more independent. And some only need a bit of help.


They’ve all captured my heart with their strength and joy. But I’d like to tell you more about Massiel and Moises, because I know they’ll capture your heart too.


Moises has poor vision and cerebral palsy affects his legs. I fell in love with him immediately. How could I help it? Every time I see him he says, "Me toma," - take me! And he talks so fast I can barely keep up!


Moises is so smart. He can identify someone across the yard by hearing their voice.
A few years back, Moises had surgery to lengthen the muscles in his legs. But now they are almost too long. As a result, he is constantly moving back and forth between bending his legs and hyperextending them.


In physical therapy school we learned that walking is something like a controlled fall. Well, my friend Moises has no control. So he falls all of the time. His poor scratched-up legs are proof of that. That’s why we're working on strengthening his muscles to improve his stability. We’ve been able to do some fun things that may not seem like therapy to him, but have really helped with his walking.


You should see the pride in Moises’ face when he does something well. We've been working on how to stand and he gets so excited when he does it right, he almost falls over again!


Then there’s Massiel. She is so glad to see me when I come to her house in the morning. Massiel makes the sweetest little sounds. It feels like I can have a conversation with her even though she can’t talk. She laughs at my best jokes. And she even laughs at my bad jokes too.

Massiel uses a wheelchair. I'm working with her to improve her head and upper body control. She’s making slow but steady progress keeping her body upright and strong.
I think she will be one of those little sisters who will be hardest to leave. She’s always so happy to see me, and then cries whenever I go.


When I finish my year, there is no therapist to replace me, yet. So I’ve been working on the special needs program as a whole. My priority is to educate the older pequeños and their caretakers so that they may help the children do their exercises until another therapist arrives.


I wish you could meet these children. They’re so loving. And they’ve accomplished so much for kids who’ve come from utter poverty. It’s a testament to the care they receive from NPH – and you.


So thank you, for thinking of the little brothers and sisters in all of our nine homes who would have no home if it weren’t for NPH, for you, and for the gifts you give to Friends of the Orphans.


I’ve learned so much. I hope I’ve given so much too. I really want to continue to support the pequeños from afar, just like you do.


I hoped to make lasting change and allow myself to be forever changed … and that’s just what happened. I realize how much I’ve become invested in these kids. I feel proud when I see them working together. I feel hopeful when we talk about their futures.


I know that I would not be where I am in my life without the abundant love and support of my incredible family and friends.


And these kids would not be facing their futures with so much hope without you … and your support for them through Friends of the Orphans.


Thanks to you, they have families for life with NPH. And a sense of belonging.
They are loved unconditionally. And though many have been through terrible hardships before, they now feel safe and secure. They are learning to share responsibility. And they are gaining education, acquiring jobs, and contributing to society across nine countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.


Your support helps kids who would have suffered even more and lost their way if not for the love they’ve found in NPH homes. Please do whatever you can for them today!


With much thankfulness,


Allison Clark
Physical Therapist, NPH Volunteer, Dominican Republic

* * * HEROES WANTED * * *

In addition to making a gift to help our disabled children face the future with hope, you can also transform the life of a child by becoming a sponsor.

• NPH has welcomed 135 new children so far this year. Become a Sponsor for $30/month or more and you will have the opportunity to personally connect with a child and see your generosity in action.

For more information click here or call 1-888-201-8880.

Thank you!

www.friendsoftheorphans.org/hope

NPH Nicaragua

On a recent all-staff call, Friends of the Orphans was able to speak with Marlon Velasquez, the Home Director of NPH Nicaragua, ask questions and get some updated information straight from him! We thought we would share some of this information with all of you as well.


1. Could you please talk about some of the new programs that have been started in Nicaragua as a result of emerging government policies?


We have a new program call the Good Samaritan Program, which is a program that works with children with special needs living at the home. This program is run by volunteers who offer physical therapy and special assistance for these children.


In Managua we just started a new program called San Judas Tadeo. It is an after school program which we are working on in conjunction with the government.


We’ve also started to develop a special document that has to be signed by children’s parents and tutors. The government refers to it as temporal custody, and it stipulates that children have to visit their relatives more often we well as go home for the New Year’s celebration.

2. Is the home using this period as a time of reflection, and what are the results?


We have definitely taken this time to brainstorm and develop new strategies and programs we can execute next year.


We are trying to get approval to be recognized as a catholic community so our work could partner with the diocese of Granada.


We are also thinking of starting a program such as the one in Milpillas Mexico.


We are also looking into our legal documentation to change our title instead of calling the home an orphanage, we could change the official title to a school that offers room and board in hopes to keep more children at the home.

3. How many different facilities are there in Nicaragua and how many children reside at each? Also, what are the plans for the Ometepe property? Who, if anyone, is living there now?


Casa Asis, Casa San Jorge, Casa Padre Wasson, Casa San Judas Tadeo, Casa Santa Clara, Casa Santa Rosa de Lima make up the 6 facilities in Nicaragua. There are over 256 children residing at these facilities, with the majority (210) at Cada Padre Wasson. There are an additional 90 external children who come to NPH facilities for various programs and/or schooling.

4. Has visitor housing been constructed at Casa Padre Wasson yet?


Though construction is not yet complete, we will have a complex of seven rooms completed by the end of 2011. We approximate that these rooms will be able to accommodate 30 people.