Special Needs House in Honduras

I received an email with new pictures from Nuestros Pequenos Hermanos this morning. They're making serious progress on the special needs house we're funding at the orphanage known as Rancho Santa Fe in La Venta, Honduras.

NPH has a wonderful record of accepting special children whenever possible, and the loving care they provide is the best we have seen in Honduras. After learning of an impending housing shortage last year we worked with staff at the orphanage and developed a plan for more space.

Now, the last fittings on the roof are being secured before installing the windows, flooring and the outer ramps. Once those steps are completed, they can begin to focus on the final touches of painting and outfitting the home.

By God's grace we have been blessed to be able to fund this important project, helping NPH to continue accepting special needs children at the orphanage. A big thank you to all of our donors who have made this possible.

Bob Perry 1932-2013

I just learned that Texas homebuilder Bob Perry died in his sleep last night at the age of 80. Many know his name from his political contributions nationally and in Texas, and I expect those will dominate the media coverage of his passing.  

Bob Perry

That's unfortunate, because there is another much more important side of Bob Perry. From Texas Monthly in 2007:

"Perhaps because he has made his money off those who can afford to buy their own homes, a significant portion of Perry’s charitable giving has targeted those who cannot. Ten miles across the border from Brownsville, through the teeming, cluttered streets of the booming Mexican city of Matamoros, is a private orphanage called the Matamoros Children’s Home. Also known as Casa Hogar, the home houses 186 orphaned, abused, abandoned, or neglected children from ages four through eighteen. It is run by a doctor named Saul Camacho and his wife, Maria. Its principal benefactor is Bob Perry.

Casa Hogar is not the only orphanage Perry supports outside the United States. There are many more in Mexico, in Reynosa and elsewhere, that I was not invited to tour, or even informed of. He supports another in El Salvador that he does acknowledge. On a tour of Casa Hogar’s brand-new, Perry-donated dining hall in January, I saw a Christmas tree covered with cards the children had made thanking Mr. Perry, as he is known, for his kindness. Perry may be alternately admired, feared, or loathed in Texas political circles, but here, he is loved. He is a frequent visitor, and the kids all know him.

According to Perry’s friends, the lesson I should draw from my tour of the orphanage is this: While it is typical of his philanthropic work, it is also just a small sample of the activities in which he has long been involved. “He has dozens and dozens of these things going at a time,” says Michael Stevens, a Houston developer who chairs the Governor’s Business Council and is one of Perry’s closest friends. “I have never called him to do something for people that he has not done. His charitable giving is far larger than what you have seen in the political arena.” He does not even tell his friends the full scope of what he does, according to Weekley. “I consider Bob a good friend, and I had no knowledge of the orphanages,” he says.

By all accounts, Perry is extraordinarily, and spontaneously, generous in his giving. It is driven by what Holm terms “the multiplier effect, the idea that he can go and help someone who is a net drain on society and turn him into a net plus. It is a version of ‘Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.’ ” Though Stevens, like Perry, does not like to acknowledge his charitable gifts, he offers two examples of projects he and Perry have developed together. One aims to give jobs to soldiers who have lost limbs in the war in Iraq. Stevens says the two men have sunk “hundreds of thousands of dollars” into the project. “We plan to roll it out in six months,” he says. “The plan is to get corporations throughout the U.S. to employ injured veterans.” The other project is typical of what friends say is the more personal side of Perry’s giving. When former U. S. attorney Michael Shelby, a man Perry and Stevens admired greatly, died after a long struggle with cancer, the two men made sizable donations to a college scholarship fund for his children. “This kind of thing happens all of the time,” says Stevens. Indeed, one of Perry’s classmates from Meridian High School says that this sort of private, personal charity extends to his old hometown. “Over the years, any of the people we went to high school with who had money problems, he helped them,” says Hiram Woosley, who played in the backfield with Perry for the Meridian High Yellow Jackets."

The book of John tells how "talking a good game" simply isn't good enough. 

We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters. If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion—how can God's love be in that person?

Dear children, let's not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions.

God's love was in Bob Perry.

New Pictures of Special Needs House

Got a an email today from Ross Egge, Deputy National Director of Nuestros Pequenos Hermanos Honduras. They are making great progress on the new special needs house we are building at NPH! Below are pictures of the construction. When finished it will be home to up to 16 special needs orphans.

Why I Couldn't Fall Asleep Last Night

This is my sixth trip to Emmanuel. We've seen seventeen orphanages now in Guatemala and Honduras over the past two years. We've met incredible people doing amazing things for damaged children. We've heard tragic stories before, -- often directly from the children, and for the most part in this blog I've chosen to focus on the positive. But for some reason, more than any other trip, we learned the awful backstory on how so many ended up in the orphanages we visit.

Last night, as I was trying to get to sleep their stories ran through my head.

The child I met whose mother who sold her when she was under five years old to a man who used her for sex.

The children we met who were born of orphans who became pregnant because guards at the government orphanage took bribes to let gang members enter and rape them.

The child named Francisco, who at 14 months looked like a newborn - suffering fetal alcohol syndrome.

Lupita, whose mother made her sniff glue as an infant to quiet her cries for food. The doctors said she would never walk or talk.

Or the 18 year-old boy who came from a government orphanage weighing only 50 pounds, bedsores down the bone and two weeks to live.

He died on New Years Eve.

When we're tired, or we have our doubts about what we're doing they drive us. Motivate us. They ignite our need to do everything possible to help the caregivers - ones like those here at Emmanuel who love them and help them begin to heal.

They are God's children. And they deserve everything we can do for them.

Madre Anna Vitiello Orphanage

We didn't know what to expect on our first visit to Madre Anna Vitiello. The missionary traveling in Guatemala with us to make introductions and translate told us it was an orphanage for HIV positive children, and that it was run by a Catholic order of Nuns in Sacatepéquez, Guatemala.

We were greeted by Sister Anna Marina who runs it and we sadly learned that they had just lost an 18 month old child the night before. It was the second chid in a week.

We began by explaining our reason for being there. We simply wanted to build a deeper relationship with them. We wanted to get to know them, who they are, how they came to be, and most importantly how we could be a part of it.  Most of these children have been abandoned because their parents’ cannot afford the medication needed for their condition. Other children live there temporarily until their parents’ learn how to care for their child and how to treat them with the proper medication.

The first children we met were infants, and we decided not to hold the babies because we thought some of us might have colds. With compromised immune systems we didn't want to take the risks of getting a  any child sick. Complications from other infections and viruses are often the biggest threats.

The orphanage is warm and inviting. The group of 15 sisters who belong to an order known as Small Congregation of Redemption Apostles, go about the business of caring for the children with a calm love that is palpable. They live on-site to care for the 63 children.

Medications are a big ticket item for the orphanage and some medications are donated from samples obtained from doctors in Guatemala. As you scan the shelves you immediately notice the medications are organized and labeled by child.

Shelves of Medication Labeled for Each Child

Donated Samples

The home was built in 2005 with many additions and improvements over the past 7 years. Their stated mission is to care for children is to provide housing, balanced diet, clothing, medicine, academic education (K-6 at the orphanage), recreation, moral and spiritual and warmth of a home. They have all areas covered in spades.

Primary School

I happened to come across the video below. It's a beautiful slide show of children at the orphanage in 2010. 

The Sisters at Madre Anna Vitiello reminded me what religion ought to be -- love in action.

World Orphan Fund Team with Sister Anna Marina

Nuestros Pequenos Hermanos - Guatemala

Thursday started with a bang. Neighbors to the orphanage figured they had waited long enough and began popping off mortar rounds at around 5 AM.  Guatemalans do love their fireworks this time of year.

Jan Leiritz, the director of the orphanage stopped by at about 7:45 and for the next three hours we talked about the orphanage. Jan was born and raised in East Germany, his father was career military as were many others in his family. He had a different calling. Nine years ago came to Guatemala, met his wife Maria Jose and says he can't imagine ever leaving the children. He became National Director for NPH Guatemala three years ago. Did I mention he's like 6 foot 7?

Jan Leiritz

NPH Guatemala has 350 children who live on campus in Parramos, and another 130 who are either attending High School or College. Their college bound batting average is spiking next year going from 6 to 18. Impressive numbers. The on-site school is held in higher regard than the local schools attracting children from the local community attend. Most walk one hour each way with only one tortilla for the day -- the value of a good education is clearly understood. Additionally NPH has five vocational training programs: sewing, baking, cooking, metal working and wood working. NPH stresses vocational training at all of the 9 of their orphanages.

They have 100 children in K-6 and another 150 or so in 7-9 and vocational. Vocational training starts when children reach 12 years of age.

The Montessori school has 45 children. Finances come from Holland, and along with Harriett Neidermeyer (a German national who runs the program) there are four Guatemalan teachers. One of the teachers had been an orphan at NPH! The facilities are amazing.

Montessori School 

Their high school students live in houses run by the orphanage in Chimaltenango, Guatemala. Each house has tios (uncles) or tias (aunts) who oversee the children. But in a hallmark of NPH's model, they are constantly striving toward self sufficiency. The children are responsible for life skills as basic as getting to school, washing their clothes, and cooking their own food.

While the orphanage is situated on only 17 acres, they do an amazing job of growing half of the vegetables they need on site. The green houses and fields are first rate.  They have a herd of goats and four cows for milk and cheese. The main source of meat are the pigs they raise. The hen population provides all the eggs, and they make bread in their bakery for the children at the orphanage. Having a bakery operation on site for vocational training has it's benefits. A german baker comes over several times a year to train and bake. Locals hear about his coming and actually place orders for their brown bread!

Tomatoes in the Green House

Lettuce you can drool over

They have a medical clinic on site with a doctor and four nurses. As part of the training program in Guatemala, future dentists must give a year of service, the orphanage benefits by having on site basic dental care.

We were just as impressed by NPH Guatemala as we were by NPH Honduras. We also learned something new. There is a program run by the European Union called SES or Senior Expert Service. Through the program experts in everything you can think of sign up when they near retirement at age 60. SES then takes requests from places like NPH and lines up the expert they need to visit. One psychologist, Ruth, comes on a frequent basis to train Guatemalan employees on basic therapy techniques for handling the children's psychological needs. For example, they have started group therapy with the girls.

The World Orphan Fund will consider a proposal from NPH to expand their agricultural production and create an agricultural vocational program at the orphanage. We're excited by the possibilities.

After NPH we headed to Hogar Madre Anna Vitiello. More about then in our next post.

Welcome to Guatemala

Wednesday

3AM. The first miracle -- I'm out the door on time to catch my flight in Milwaukee.  Out of darkness of Interstate 94 I was greeted by a billboard I had never seen before. It simply said "Children are a gift from God." Talk about your signs, even I could get that one.

I had to run through the Atlanta airport to catch my flight where two of our directors were waiting. Thankfully Brenda had texted me the gate number. I was at Terminal B and needed to be at Terminal E. Brenda and her husband Phil had flown in from Minneapolis the night before and had a rough go of it. Radical turbulence and lot's of throwing up. They got to the airport at 1:30 in the morning and spent the night there - figuring it didn't make much sense to pay for a hotel room for maybe 3 hours sleep.

As the plane winds through the mountains on the approach to the airport in Guatemala City you can't help but feel you're about to enter a very special and beautiful place. Plus I'm seriously happy for the warmth, it was 12 degrees when I left Wisconsin.

We weren't entirely sure our NPH contact would be at the airport. When things are settled in this part of the world, you don't get that familiar American reassurance of "see you tomorrow." We walked out the door after customs to a huge roped off crowd. Some had signs, but no NPH. We called the orphanage, couldn't find anyone who spoke english. I started calculating which of the 20 people Then I finally saw the piece of paper in the crowd.

The drive to Parramos took about an hour. We were surprised to find that the orphanage had hot food waiting for us in the volunteer house (casa voluntario), and soon Jan Leiritz, the director appeared at the door. He's a big man, but has a charming german accent and an air of humbleness about him. He introduced us to Cesario who speaks english and took us on a tour. Cesario came to the orphanage when he was 8 years old. He's 22 now and says he came back to help his brothers. I've always been struck by how NPH homes stress they are one big family. Here at NPH, that family is 350 kids. More about the orphanage tomorrow.