President's Reception in Saint Paul

On the evening of February 28, 2012, not even freezing rain, flurries, and dangerous driving conditions could keep the close to 70 people from gathering at the Lexington in St. Paul for a night of celebration and recognition.


The President’s Reception is an event hosted by the Upper Midwest (UPM) Regional Board President to celebrate the successes of the previous year and to look forward with enthusiastic eyes to the many possibilities for growth in the year to come. At this time our dedicated volunteers are acknowledged and specially honored for the unwavering commitment and hard work that they tirelessly and generously give to help provide for the children of NPH.


This year we were grateful to be joined by Nestor Jaramillo (Interim Regional Board President), Sue Lovegreen (UPM Interim Regional Director), and John Iberle (Interim CEO). With many changes in the regional office, the UPM staff wishes to express its immense gratitude to those members of our board who have stepped up in a special way to fill necessary roles in this time of transition. It is because of this dedication that we are able to proceed forward under strong leadership.

Rose Schaffhausen and Nestor Jaramillo

The list of volunteers who deserve recognition within our region is extensive and seemingly endless! The Kautza family offered countless hours to help plan and run Faces of Hope in Iowa. Two of our volunteers, Andy Ottum and Rachel Olson, put on the Eau Claire triathlon. We would like to commend Vic Roers, for organizing the giving campaign that brought hundreds of stockings to brighten Christmas for the children of NPH Honduras. Another exciting initiative that began in 2011, and will continue in full force in 2012, is an increased presence on University campuses within the Twin Cities.


During the Fall of 2011 a group of pequeños from NPH Mexico traveled to Minnesota to share a little sliver of their lives with us. They traveled to many churches, schools, and businesses to promote ongoing support for their brothers and sisters. We would like to thank the Pequeño Tour co-chairs and Churches, so we extend our gratitude to Kathy and Richard Jordan and Fr. Steve Ulrick from Holy Name of Jesus as well as Mike Vievering and Fr. Tom Wilson from All Saints Catholic Church. Two other committee members that deserve special recognition for their outstanding efforts this past year are Anna Verhoye, Silent Auction chair for the Gala, and Kim Smith, a part of the Cinco de Mayo 5k committee.


We recognize all volunteers who offered 70 or more hours of their time to help in our office over the past year. Three people received this honor for the second year in a row: Larry Valley, Mary Kay O’Rourke, and Sylvia Harrington. Others who received the 70 Hours of Service Award for the first time are: John and Kathy Cleveland, Shannon Hollanitsch, Kate Romens, Jane Losasso, Cory Baird, D’Anne Briggs, Michael Rasley, LuLu and Dr. Peter Daly. Many of these volunteers have not only offered 70 hours of service, but their entire lives to supporting the children of NPH!

LuLu and Dr. Peter Daly

The Regional Above and Beyond Award is presented annually to a volunteer whose continued dedication and determination to transform lives goes above and beyond the call of duty. This year, we are giving this award to two individuals who have worked tirelessly to help us achieve our goal of raising children and transforming lives. The recipients of this award were: Deacon Larry and JoAnn Lawinger.


We recognize Mary Kasel for offering such acute attention to details, as she worked so hard to make the Angels of Light 25th Anniversary Gala a special occasion. In addition, Rose Schaffhausen was honored for 25 years of unwavering dedication to the children of NPH!
Over our 25 year history as an organization we have had such amazing volunteers. Many people who attended the President’s Reception were previously awarded Volunteer of the Year for their efforts, and are honored to still have them all actively working on behalf of the children of NPH. We would like to extend a special thanks to:
• JoAnne Zigman (1987)
• Mary Beth Mee (1992)
• Laurel Boerger (1993)
• Mary Kasel (1995)
• Jean Gray (1996)
• Gerald and Ginny L’Allier (1998)
• Gerald and Lucy Alfveby (1999)
• Larry and JoAnn Lawinger (2001)

Joanne Zigman and John Iberle

We are thrilled to honor Richard and Kathy Jordan as our 2011 Volunteers of the Year! Richard and Kathy are the epitome of volunteers who do it all and expect nothing in return. A big piece of each of their hearts is with the children of Miacatlan, Mexico. Richard has visited NPH Mexico multiple times with Holy Name of Jesus Catholic Church, and we are thrilled that this summer will be Kathy’s first trip to the home! Thanks to the Jordans and their efforts at Holy Name of Jesus church, over $20,000 was raised for the 2011 Holy Name of Jesus youth group trip to NPH Mexico and over $42,000 during the Pequeño Tour as a host parish. Kathy and Richard are also responsible for starting two Holy Name of Jesus school sponsorships, organizing fundraisers to support the sponsorships of David and Maria at the NPH Mexico home and coordinating correspondence between the classrooms and their godchildren. From walking taco sales after Masses to car wash fundraisers in the dead of winter, Kathy and Richard worked tirelessly to raise funds and awareness for Friends and NPH. In her limited spare time, Kathy came into our office in December of last year as a volunteer, making calls to lapsed sponsors and personally helping our office raise more sponsorship dollars in the month of Dec 2011 than any month in the past, ever. Richard was invited to join our local Board of Directors and has taken on various projects as a board member, consistently volunteering himself for different tasks before having to be asked. To know the Jordans is to know the meaning of humble, loyal, and supportive. They are beyond generous in giving their time, talent, and treasure to the children of NPH and the Upper Midwest office of Friends of the Orphans, and we are honored to know and work with them!


We would like to THANK YOU all so much for your immense generosity and the vital support that you offer to Friends and the children of NPH. Our office could not function without all of your hard work and determination to help our children. Because of your inspiring volunteer efforts in our office, on committees, at events, at the NPH homes, fundraising on your own, and many other ways we are able to continue raising funds and together transform thousands of lives!

NDP Students from the Southwest Region Spend their Spring Break Helping our Kids!

Submitted by Joseph Fagan, Theology/ Friends of the Orphans Club Moderator


If there is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends (John 15:13), then in the life of a high school student, “laying down one’s Spring Break for one’s friends” must be a close second, and fourteen members of NDP’s Friends of the Orphans Club did just that.


While many of their friends spent their Spring vacation on the ski slopes or the beach, DJ Seamans, Maura Kelly, Rhett Johnston, Maddie Frazier, Douglas Wong, Patrick Reilly, Allie York, Heather Huennekens, Natalie Wojtanowski, Edmund Wong, Annie Kaiser, Will Seamans, Francesca Decastell, and Daniela Cuellar, spent their Spring vacation at the Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos (Our Little Brothers and Sisters) orphanage in central Mexico. Part service trip, part cultural immersion experience, each of our students takes something different from the experience, but they all describe the trip as life changing. 


Throughout the week, we help the NPH children with their chores; do arts-and-crafts projects and other fun activities with the special education students; play sports with the older kids, especially soccer; we take some of the pequeños (little ones) out for pizza and a trip to a local water park; but most of all, the participants in this mission trip provide a level of one-on-one love and attention that just isn’t possible for the staff in a home of over 800 children.


The Friends of the Orphans Club prepares for the trip each year with a supply drive here on campus and this year we delivered fifteen large boxes of clothing and school supplies when we arrived at NPH Mexico in Miacatlan, Mexico. Some of our students who go on the trip (and their families) support a pequeño at NPH with letters of support and financial help through Friends of the Orphans as a Sponsor, and this trip allows them to meet and really get to know that child. While this financial and material support is essential to breaking the cycle of poverty in which the pequeños would otherwise be trapped, it is impossible to express the emotional impact it has on the pequeños knowing that they have padrinos (Godparents/patrons) who care about them, love them, pray for them, who will write to them, and who may visit them.


Midway through our day at the water park, after Rhett Johnston (NDP ’12) had spent three or four hours taking care of his seven-year-old pequeño, I asked Fernando who Rhett was to him. He beamed as he said, “My friend, my padrino, my Daddy!” I don’t think that Rhett or Fernando will ever see themselves – or the world – in the same way again.


Both of Will Seamans (NDP ’15) brothers (Graham, NDP ’09 and D.J., NDP ’12) have been on the trip multiple times, but even so, Will says that it was a different experience than he expected. “I knew what we were going to do; that I would make new friends and that the trip would be fun,” he said, “but no one can really describe the relationships. You just have to experience that for yourself.”


Our students are right. This trip is life changing. For them AND for the pequeños.

NPH Peru in San Vicente de Cañete

On December 10th, 2004, our first two children arrived at NPH Peru, marking the birth of NPH International's eighth home. Since then, the NPH Peru home has grown and moved two times. NPH Peru is currently home to 101 children from all over Peru. Our family comprises children from less than one year to nineteen years old, speaking languages as diverse as Quechua and Aguaruna. Our family, currently the smallest of all the NPH homes, is rapidly growing and developing under the careful attention of our loving and dedicated staff of employees and volunteers. The seventh anniversary, which took place just this past December, was the first (of many) on our new property in San Vicente de Cañete.


Thanks to the support of all our Friends, we are gradually realizing our dream of completing this permanent home on our land in Cañete that will ultimately include a clinic, administrative offices, therapy center, sports center, communal kitchen and dining room and several family style homes designed to accommodate 16 children and two caregivers each. Building work will continue into the future to complete the complex that could house up to 500 staff and children.


On December 9th, 2012, in the afternoon, we began the celebration with a performance by cheerleaders. The groups practiced all week, and while some were nervous, all ended up doing very impressive choreography. The groups arrived carrying the flags of nine different countries that they represented and cheering their own teams. Even our youngest children and babies were able to participate in the routines. The children built human pyramids, jumped and tumbled; they also chanted and cheered calling out NPH and Father Wasson, our founder. Italy was the winner, followed by Ghana and The Dominican Republic.


The next morning on December 10th, on the official anniversary, the same groups participated in a set of games which included bobbing for apples, an obstacle course, a clown ball-toss game, and lots of water. The games were organized by the youth group. The children got wet, muddy and exhausted and were happily smiling. The last game was the tug of war. After making a big puddle, the place was ready for everyone to get dirty and all the teams wanted to win. It was a hard competition because no one wanted to let go of the rope. After the competition we enjoyed a delicious meal with a great banana split for everyone for dessert. During the meal the children talked about the games, the falls, the difficulties and the good moments. After lunch the NPH Peru family enjoyed a special mass to give thanks for all these years and remembered our founder, who is always with us.


This anniversary gave everyone the opportunity to get out of the daily routine and enjoy the seven years of life in Peru and show how grateful we are to be in our new permanent home. These activities teach the children the importance of teamwork, help to develop beautiful bonds and give the children the opportunity to spend a fantastic day with their brothers and sisters.

Fr. Wasson Angels of Light St. Anne Baby House

Read this wonderful piece about the St. Anne Baby House at NPFS Haiti, one of the many shelters Friends of the Orphans and NPH is proud to support to help give a home to children in need.


Thelesa, a serious five-year-old, concentrates on making designs with her crayon. She intently completes her assignment and shows it to her kindergarten teacher and other classmates. Thelesa arrived at FWAL on September 19, 2011. Previously her life was not what a child should experience. With both of her parents deceased, she was living with her grandmother’s aunt who was unable to care for her. Acknowledging this fact, the aunt came to FWAL to ask for help. Kerline, head of the FWAL social work department, completed the investigation and found Thelesa to be malnourished. The family did not have enough food and Thelesa often went hungry. There was also no money to attend school.

“When Thelesa came to live with us she was quite sad, afraid and very malnourished. She displayed this through an attitude of distancing herself emotionally and physically from the other children and caregivers. It took Thelesa at least two months to feel more comfortable and then she started to show the funny, loving and affectionate personality that she has. Her strong character is still there and comes out at times, but it has served her well because she has been through many difficulties,” explained Joanne, assistant for FWAL.

Thelesa now lives at the FWAL St. Anne Baby house, home to 31 children six years and under. She receives an extra meal at 10 am each morning of soy protein and 21 essential vitamins and minerals to help combat her malnutrition and is enrolled in the FWAL onsite kindergarten. During the afternoons, she plays at the St. Anne home with her new friends and caregivers. There are daily organized activities such as, singing, dancing, coloring, playground time and games.


Madame Fortuna has been caring for Thelesa since she arrived. “Life is complicated. If you are a child you need people around you to make you feel important,” explained Fortuna. Before working at St. Anne’s, Fortuna worked for three years at the NPH home, St. Helene, in Kenscoff. She feels proud recognizing youths that she cared for who have now graduated from the St. Helene home.


Fortuna says that after the earthquake, there were many children that lost their parents and she wanted the opportunity to help. “This is how Haiti will change. When young children have the ability to come into a society with understanding. If the children learn that here, then they are ambassadors for change,” explains Fortuna.


Judeland, who also lives at the baby house, has experienced dramatic changes in just over one year. Arriving with severe malnutrition and neglect, she now is a vibrant, healthy, smiling 4-year old, who loves to be tickled and to color and dress up.


The St. Anne baby house has occupied a rented home in Tabarre, close to the St. Damien hospital and FWAL complex. This January, they broke ground on construction of the permanent site for the St. Anne home and kindergarten. The location is one block away from the FWAL campus and the entire FWAL kindergaten (200 students) will eventually be operating out of this new facility.

What’s it like to volunteer with NPH?

10 Reasons to Choose Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos When Volunteering Abroad
by Carrie Daut


Maybe you’re a recent college graduate. Maybe you’re mid-career and looking for a change. Maybe you’re retired and searching for the next adventure. Whoever you are, when you’re looking to volunteer abroad, the options seem endless. They seem overwhelming. I remember. :)


I’m Carrie, and from January 2010 – January 2011, I was a volunteer at NPH Guatemala. So, what’s it like to volunteer with NPH?


NPH’s international volunteer program offers many of the same things other international volunteer programs do. Work with children. Live in a developing country. Improve your Spanish or French. Teach English.


But NPH is also unique among volunteer abroad programs, and I promise you this: you’ll be hard-pressed to find an organization with the same affordability, support system and sense of family as NPH.


What makes the NPH international volunteer program so unique?


1. There is no fee. You pay nothing to volunteer. (Okay, so you pay to get yourself there and back. And you pay 35 bucks to process your background check. But that’s it.) Zero. Nada. Zilch.


2. NPH pays you. All volunteers receive a monthly stipend, which varies by home (usually $50 - $100 per month). I know it doesn’t sound like much, but when a nice Guatemalan hotel room only costs $8 a night and a 3-hour bus ride only costs $3, you’ll be surprised at just how far $50 can get you.


3. You get free housing and 3 free meals a day. That stipend now feels like a whole lot more, doesn’t it? :)


4. It’s a one-year commitment (or you can extend). A year is long enough to become fully immersed in NPH life but less intense than, for example, the Peace Corps.


5. Professional volunteer positions. If you want to teach English, that’s awesome. NPH certainly needs English teachers. But they also need physical therapists, psychologists, communications people (that’s what I did!), clinic staff, childcare workers, etc. with expert training in their field. A year abroad doesn’t have to mean putting your career calling on hold.


6. Options within the program. Each of the 9 NPH homes is different. Some have as many as 800 children and 25 volunteers; others have as few as 90 children and 4 volunteers. Some are located near tourist towns; others are extremely isolated. Some have hot water, washing machines and wireless internet, while others don’t. As a volunteer, you choose your experience.


7. Vacation. (I had 4 weeks of it at NPH Guatemala, allowing me to travel to Mexico, Belize, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador and all over Guatemala.) What other job is going to give a 24 year-old 4 weeks paid vacation?


8. Free access to healthcare. All NPH homes have onsite clinics. From minor colds to broken bones, volunteers have trusted medical access where they live.


9. Support systems both in-country and at home. The NPH program is extremely established, supporting volunteers before, during and after their service. Before you leave, Friends of the Orphans helps with packing lists, what to expect, and arranging language school. While you’re there, your in-country Volunteer Coordinator points out the market, where to get a cell phone, and how to use public transportation. They’ll also organize volunteer retreats and ask for your feedback on the volunteer program. When you return, Friends provides follow-up support and checks in to see how you’re adjusting.


10. A built-in community, or better yet, a family. NPH volunteers live onsite at the homes, surrounded by dozens – more likely hundreds – of kids, staff and fellow volunteers. Through the good, bad, terrifying, exhilarating and touching moments, you are never in your volunteer experience alone. There’s a phrase we use at NPH: Somos una gran familia. We are all one giant family.


So if you’re ready to volunteer with NPH, get to it! (Or if you know someone else who’s looking to volunteer, send them this list right now!)


Visit the Friends of the Orphans website for more details on the international volunteer program. And one last question: just what are you waiting for?

You will find the experience worthwhile...

Below is an excerpt written by great Friend and Godparent, Jason Topp.He writes about his recent trip to NPH in the DR with his wife and children. Jason is an avid golfer and writes a monthly column on a golf website about his travels and of course couldn't resist sharing about his DR trip.


The baseball facility reminds me of a place where children are given the chance to lead a productive life that is not dependent on their baseball skill. Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos (NPH) gives children from extraordinarily difficult circumstances a home, food, education and love. The organization is tremendously successful with such efforts and my family regularly visits their homes located in countries throughout Central America, Haiti and the Dominican Republic.


The purpose of our visit was to meet two children we sponsor in NPH’s Dominican home – Esterlín and Anna Maria. Esterlín is 11 years old, small, loves soccer and has a gang of friends that are rambunctious and friendly. Marks on his head bear testament to a difficult early childhood. Anna Maria is ten, very shy and timid. Her caretakers report that four sentences a day are her maximum – residue from parental neglect.

We attend a wedding with the children, and enjoy a celebratory dinner and awkward communication. I resort to the old parent tricks of rock paper scissors and a game where everyone puts their hands on a pile and the bottom one moves to the top. It is unclear what Anna Maria thinks of us and at one point she leaves us. We look around for her and she returns holding a friend’s hand and instructs her friend to give each of us a hug. She then brings her friend back and returns with another. She repeats the process until we had hugged about a dozen little girls.


We return the next day and all of us are more comfortable with each other. The boys bring my son and me to their baseball fields for a sandlot game. My 45 year-old shoulder no longer is capable of a throw from third to first. After a couple of hours we transfer to the soccer field and I learn I stink at soccer and am out of shape.


I must admit that the motivation for sponsoring these kids is not entirely charitable. When I was a child my mother bought The World Atlas of Golf as a coffee table book. The name Cajuiles struck me as magic. The idea of seven holes jutting out into the ocean seemed beyond comprehension. Ever since that time, I dreamed of playing the Teeth of the Dog and recognized that the Casa de Campo resort was not far from the NPH home.


Teeth of the Dog at Casa de Campo is my February course of the month. Our family has a general rule that we never travel to the same destination twice. That rule will be broken in this instance. I look forward to returning again soon to see Estelín, Anna Maria, winter baseball and feeling the warm breezes off the Caribbean Sea. I hope the kid in the batting cage gets the loop out of his swing. I am more optimistic about Esterlín and Anna Maria’s prospects.


You will find the experience worthwhile regardless of whether you visit Casa de Campo.


You can view Jason's full article here.

He opened his eyes wide, smiled, and took my hand and melted my heart...

Here is a blog entry from NW sponsor, Joanna Mummert, about Godparents’ Month. Thank you Joanna!


When I was asked to write a blog for Sponsorship Month I thought it was going to be so easy. But once I started to put my thoughts on paper I realized how difficult it was to try to show the impact that one little boy has had on the course of my life. I’ve always been the kind of person who has wanted to reach out to help others in various ways, and the people of Latin America have always held a special place in my heart. I guess you could say I really didn’t know what was in store for me that one evening in 2008 when I called up my mom and invited her to attend an information night and a presentation by “Friends of the Orphans" with me.


At the presentation I learned that Friends arranges annual trips to visit some of the homes, and I was most interested in the upcoming trip to Honduras. The trip was about nine months away and the Sponsorship coordinator suggested that I become a sponsor to one of the children in Honduras to make the visit that much more meaningful. From the stacks and stacks of available children I chose Christian. His personal story struck me, and I knew that he was the one I wanted to reach out to. Right away I started writing letters and sending photographs.


I chose not to tell Christian of my upcoming trip. I was just too nervous that something would come up and I would have to cancel and let him down. My excitement grew and grew until we reached the Ranch and I almost found myself commandeering the group itinerary to get over to the “Baby House” so I could meet him. The long-awaited moment finally came. I couldn’t pick him out in the crowd but kept asking every little person around who Christian was until they sent him over. I crouched down and looked into his shy face and told him in Spanish, “My name is Joanna. I’m your madrina. I came all this way just to meet you!” It was that one moment that made sponsorship truly meaningful for me. He opened his eyes wide, smiled, and took my hand and melted my heart.


The entire week we were inseparable. I wanted to spend every moment I could just being with him to play games, draw pictures, and read stories. Everywhere around me I was struck by the happy children who were so content with what I perceived to be so little. I think they knew in their own ways that they were rich with opportunity. If they didn’t know it now, they would learn it later as made evident by the older children I spoke with. I started to realize that without sponsors and donors through Friends of the Orphans their lives would be very very different.


I have continued to foster that bond I started with Christian a few years ago, and I am going back to Honduras this year to visit him. Meeting Christian inspired me to look deeper within myself to see what I could do to make more of a difference. I took a year and a half off from my life in Seattle to live and work as an English teacher in South America, and now that I am home I have pledged to myself to visit Christian every couple of years. I also try to support Friends as much as I can financially but also with my time by helping out at events and trying to spread the message. Friends of the Orphans has been a blessing in my life and I just pray that I can help at least one little boy realize how much he is loved.

She told me that she was so grateful to have me in her life and that she loved me so much...

Jordan Hightower shares her story of sponsorship with us! Thank you Jordan!


I felt compelled to become a Godparent at an NPH Faces of Hope event when I saw a table of beautiful, smiling faces. Perusing the photos of the many children who had so much love in their hearts, and who simply wanted to share that love, inspired me to get involved. That night I wrote a letter to a little girl, Nadine, whose story drew me in.


Nadine had lost both her parents in the 2010 earthquake in Haiti when she was only seven years old. Her biography described her as a little girl who, despite the tragedy and heartache, was full of light and who loved to go to school and learn. I couldn’t wait to get to know her! 


About a month later, I received a hand drawn picture that now hangs in my classroom and a note so beautifully colored and so joyful that it took my breath away. Nadine relayed to me that she loved to play with balls in the play yard and to sing. She told me that she was so grateful to have me in her life and that she loved me so much. And I had no doubt it was true! Nadine’s letters continue to bring me joy, always arriving, fortuitously, on days when I need a bright light or a pick me up.


I had the good fortune to travel to Honduras with NPH this past summer and every child I met, I wanted to sponsor alongside Nadine. Although I am not sure I will ever visit Haiti, my good friend Rachel recently did and brought me back pictures of Nadine. (She is pictured below with Nadine.) She also gave me a great gift – Rachel used some very expensive cell phone minutes to call me with Nadine, and I got to talk to her in my somewhat broken French. It was an afternoon I will never forget!


The opportunity to become a godparent through Friends of the Orphans is accessible and affordable. It will enliven your life in ways you can only imagine!

There is hope for Haiti, and that hope as it has always been, is the children.

Check out what Dr. Michael Koster, Friend from the MANE region, has to say about our child sponsorship program. Dr. Koster is a pediatric infectious disease doctor who has traveled down to St. Damien’s Hospital at NPFS Haiti many times in recent years to volunteer his service. In January he and a friend began co-sponsoring Nacia from Haiti. He just returned from a recent trip to Haiti and was able to meet Nacia for the first time. Below is his account of his journey. 


I have been to Haiti five times in the last two years. I have seen the destruction of the earthquake and the extreme poverty of downtown Port-au-Prince. I don't think this is anything one gets accustomed to, but seeing Haiti is different than hearing or reading about Haiti - every time. I have been to many poor countries in my life - India, Cambodia - but Haiti is still the extreme in terms of poverty, overpopulation, and lack of infrastucture. You will not see any foreigners taking tap-taps, the local taxi system, but there are plenty of UN and other vehicles that transport the numerous NGO employees and volunteers around. 


I had become involved with St. Damien hospital through a Brown alumnus Patrick Moynihan, who runs a top-notch free boarding school in Haiti for underprivelged children. On my first visit to Haiti in March of 2010, I was introduced to Father Rick Frechette, the national manager of NPFS Haiti and founder of St. Damien Hospital. When I first laid eyes on St. Damien Hospital it was like a jewel in the rough. As a pediatric infectious diseases doctor in a children's hospital in the United States, it was reassuring, if only a familiar scene, to see humanity shining in such a place. It is without a doubt the premier and only children's hospital in Haiti; the level of care and commitment of the medical, nursing, and administrative staff is unparalleled. Father Rick and the staff at St. Damien model the power of individual commitment and perseverance. I have since come to realize that, in Haiti, NPFS not only runs two hospitals, but also a rehabilitation clinic, and several orphanages.

A colleague and I, prompted by the kindness and generosity of a family who adopted an HIV positive patient, decided to sponsor a child through Friends of the Orphans in this family's honor. We co-sponsored Nacia this November and from the first letter and picture we have been rewarded beyond words. I knew that I would be traveling back to Haiti this January and wanted to have the chance to meet our new godchild. I had the delightful opportunity to ride up to the Kenscoff Orphanage with Maximo, the driver of a Land Rover defender 120, a tough truck. He was a pleasant gentleman, and he picked up several weary travelers along the way, which only solidified to me that he was a genuinely good guy. The travel from St. Damien in Tabarre to the orphanage in Kenscoff was about a 2 hour drive, and it lead straight up into the mountains of Haiti. As the port disappeared, the countryside opened up to a rural landscape with steps on the side of mountains and areas of agricultural bounty. The smog and pollution melted away into the cold air of the mountains as palm trees gave way to evergreens. 


When you enter the gates of the orphanage, an oasis opens up, almost seeming as if a mirage has appeared. There are enough buildings to house and school over 850 children. The campus is enormous and the backdrop is endless wooded mountainous area. Once we reached the orphanage, we stopped first at the Kay Germain house, a home for disabled children. Right away a teenage boy with spastic quadrapelgia caught my eye as he mustered up a salutation. Having grown up in a home with 2 adopted brothers with disabilities, and countless foster children, I jumped right into tickling and teasing this young man. We were both pleased with our interactions, and he was mimicking my English greetings with a giggle in his voice. I could tell right away that this was a place where all children are loved. 


I was eager to meet Nacia and trotted behind the volunteer leading me to her class having time outdoors. I had grabbed some things to give to her and was happy that I had brought some skittles, stickers, and animal flash cards. These were the biggest hits, as everyone in their "house" or classroom shares everything. So I passed out some candy and started tacking clothes with stickers, which quickly became stickers on kids noses, faces, foreheads...I was literally swarmed with the young kids - and as a pediatrician and father of 2 young kids, I was so delighted to have all this attention. Nacia was in the bathroom for the first 10 minutes of my visit with her class, and when she saw the raucous I was hopeful she might find it amusing that her godparent was such a clown. After all the goodies were handed out, I started singing and chanting with the children. They sang me several rounds of alouette, but were most pleased when I pretended to fall asleep, snore and then they would startle me awake. They asked me for dormie, dormie, dormie (sleep, sleep, sleep)....now I am sure they have all sorts of fun and imaginative play with each other, but I hope that my silliness offered them a little more laughing material that day. 


I was able to spend about 2 hours with the group of children before the sun started to set and dinner was approaching. With the interactions of the kids I had a little glimpse of Nacia, and her personality. She is feisty, as one of her schoolmates tried to take her animal flash card, she let them know that it was hers, gave a real menacing face, and then went right back to smiling again. I had been away from my own kids for about 2 weeks and seeing her and her classmates was a real breath of fresh air to me!

I think some people have mixed feelings about the no-adoption policy of NPFS. How can you deny these kids families? To which I say - you have never seen such a large family! As someone who has dedicated his life to the health of children all around the globe, there is no better program to invest in the future of children than NPFS. While individual efforts and the dedication of people like Father Rick are vastly important, the most meaningful way to support excellent programs like NPFS and Friends of the Orphans is through sponsorship! I have been lucky enough to have a complete experience of my sponsorship, with the opportunity to meet Nacia, but I know that it's only through continued support that all the kids have a chance to shine. Also important to note, I have meet many graduates from the Kenscoff orphanage with my time at St. Damien, some now employed by NPFS and some whom have gone on to become doctors and nurses. There is hope for Haiti, and that hope as it has always been, is the children.

An eternal source of hope and inspiration...

Here is Rachel Prusynski's "Godmother Blog" about her godchild and her time in Haiti.


I lost a variety of possessions buried in the rubble of a fallen building, along with my ability to tolerate heights and my best friend in Haiti’s 2010 earthquake. But I gained a passion for an achingly beautiful and painful country and its people, a few Creole phrases, and a new family member in the earthquake’s aftermath. My godson, Kervenson, lost his family in the earthquake when he was 10 years old and was abused in a tent camp before being welcomed to the NPH family.


Kervenson and I first met when I returned to Haiti on the one-year anniversary of the earthquake. I arrived to the orphanage shortly after choosing to be his godmother and before my first letter had reached his home, so my appearance on the peaceful St. Helene campus caused quite the ruckus as 400 children went to hunt down Kervenson and produce him to me. A wide-eyed little boy with tiny legs and knobby knees in a ski cap and oversized sweatshirt shuffled up to me with a shocked expression. He listened as I struggled through my Creole explanation of who I was and why I was showing up at his home to offer him a bag of gifts and company for a few days of walks in the mountains, treats like sodas purchased nearby, and hopeful conversations with whispered hopes from my shy godson and joyful encouragements from his besotted godmother.


I returned again to Haiti a year later and was overjoyed to see how much difference a year of education, the NPH family, and proper nourishment can make! Kervenson had grown inches and was full of the spunk and confidence I would expect from a 12-year-old who is the first in his class at school. No longer as wide eyed, Kervenson laughed instead of whispered and chatted with me as much as my Creole skills would allow. He plucked my heartstrings with the tears he tried to hide both times I arrived, sniffling and smiling and wiping his eyes on his sweatshirt sleeve. Every few hours, he asked, “when are you coming back to Haiti?”


Between my trips, Kervenson and I have gotten to know each other through letters that never cease to lift my spirits as he tells me of summer vacation, his grades in school, and his goals for the future. He posted the pictures I sent him up in his cubby at school and made sure to show me during my latest trip.


Kervenson endured much more than I can comprehend and much more than a young boy should, but like so many of the children in all the NPH homes, he provides an eternal source of hope and inspiration. I can’t truly capture how amazing it feels to be a small part of what he was able to gain after losing so much.