Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos™ El Salvador™

NPH EL SALVADOR Begins

In 1999, Father Wasson founded the sixth NPH orphanage in Santa Ana, El Salvador. Like the other NPH homes, his decision was based on the needs of the many neglected and abandoned children. The rate of violence and crime is very high in El Salvador. Many children became orphans due to the civil war and had to live on the streets to survive.

Ten years have passed and we are committed to carrying out Fr. Wasson’s mission of giving children a loving, safe and nurturing home. NPH El Salvador currently cares for more than 470 children. In December 2004, the last of the buildings in Texistepeque were completed and our family is finally living together in our new home of Ciudadela Sagrada Familia. The property includes

a school, clinic, administrative offices, chapel, vocational workshops, dining room and kitchen, houses for the boys, girls and the babies.

Outside of school hours, the children now have lots of room to play. There are sports courts and grassy fields for games and they can take walks to the river running through the middle of the property. Other extracurricular activities include a very talented choir and dance group.Both groups have been invited to perform in various locations throughout El Salvador.

Message from our National Director

I still remember when Fr. Wasson asked me to take my own children and my wife to El Salvador. We had never left our community nor our country, but as my wife says, “You have to embrace challenges in your lifetime, even if you don’t know all the surprises”. Ten years ago, we were anxiously awaiting our first children to start a family; the NPH family in El Salvador. It has been so incredible that now we have 474 children. It has been ten years full of joy, love, tears, good and bad times, ups and downs, but all of this could not be possible without God’s help.

I want to personally thank all of you who have made a difference in our family; teachers, caregivers, year of service youths, sponsors, godparents, and staff members who have worked everyday for our children. It has been a pleasure to have all of you as part of our family. I also want to thank you for your help, support and commitment to our children and our homes. Without your help, our dreams would not come true. God bless you and God bless NPH. May it continue to bring hope and happiness to children for years to come.

Paty and Olegario Campos, with Juan Jose, one of the first boys who came to our home.

Staff show off their anniversary t-shirts.

Our 10th Anniversary was planned to be a huge event and we had the opportunity to share it with our brothers and sisters from Guatemala, which made it more exciting. They also agreed to join us for a small soccer tournament. Saturday June 27th, turned out to be a rainy morning, but it was not an obstacle and we continued with the games.

The first game was between the boys from Casa San Jose and our youths in their year

of service. The winners were the boys from Casa San Jose. The next game was between our university students and our brothers from Guatemala, in which our university students prevailed. In the end, the boys from Casa San José were the champions of the tournament.

We shared a delicious lunch in our general dinning hall and we also had the opportunity to have Mass afterwards. We shared gifts and dances from our culture with our brothers and

sisters from Guatemala. In the evening, we had dinner under a sky full of stars.

During dinner we received a surprise for all of NPH El Salvador family members. Our house coordinator had prepared a video full of memories; photos from the first day and the following ten years. It was so beautiful to remember all of those moments. After dinner we had a dance party for all the children. They enjoyed it tremendously.

A Special Birthday to Share

Our brothers from NPH Guatemala. Fr. Ron hands out a snack after mass. NPH El Salvador dancers.

Monday morning meant an anniversary celebration for all of us. The sun was brightly upon us, and actually a little bit too hot. The thanksgiving Mass was the first activity of the day. It was so beautiful to see the chapel full and white. From the youngest baby to the oldest employee, everyone was were wearing our 10th anniversary t-shirt. Fr. Ron hicks began his homily and he established the importance of the number ten in our daily life. “It is an important number in many places and many cultures, and it has a special meaning for us because it represents a big achievement. We are so proud of these first ten years.”

Our children had prepared a poem and a special gift for Tio Olegario and Tia Paty for their love, compassion and support. There was also a gift for the two children that were celebrating their 10th year in our family and recognition for the employees that have been with us. Suddenly we heard a loud noise. It was from the fireworks and the Mariachis who were singing the “Las Mañanitas” song. Everybody started to clap and sing. It was a beautiful moment that will be in our memories forever. After the Mariachis, we sang our NPH El Salvador theme song and then went to the basketball court for a family photo.

Thank You God For This Blessing

Olegario and Fr. Ron with the

youths that have been in our

family for 10 years.

Staff dancing to the Mariachis.

After mass everybody was still excited. Why? Well, our school had organized three tournaments (soccer, basketball and volleyball) where employees, year of service youths and children were the stars of the teams.

All of the children were thrilled to see our staff not dressed in their usual work uniform and ready to share their favorite activities… sports! It was very entertaining to see everyone laughing and having fun. For our youngest, we had a clown show with piñatas.

The whole day was full of laughter from beginning to end. It was a wonderful day for everyone.

We ate a special lunch in the general dining hall where we

shared stories about the day and past anniversaries. It was a different anniversary compared with the previous ones but as special as all of them. At the end of the day, the children and staff were exhausted but filled with happiness.

Thank you to everyone who has made these ten years possible. God bless you!

Happy Birthday NPH El Salvador!

Tia Silvia receives lots of hugs from the girls.

Basketball tournament in play.

The children are captivated

by the clown performance.

NPH El Salvador™

Text and photos by Wendy Ramirez ::: Home Correspondent Design by Monica Gery ::: NPHI Information Officer

Questions or comments? Please contact Wendy at: hc.sv@nph.orgor visit our website at: www.nph.org