VISION FOR CASA DE AMOR PARA NINOS

A light-house in the midst of a stormy Sea.

Overview: The Orphanage facility, located in Las Palomas, is located on about 2 acres of land, and currently can hold up to 14 children, plus the house parents. About 1,700 sq. feet are completed, and almost another 7,000 sq. feet are being completed. When completed, the building could house up to 60 children. The geographic area served by the Orphanage primarily includes Las Palomas and Ascension, and villages in the area. We accept children given to us by the D.I.F., which is the Children, Youth, and Families arm of the government. It is administered by a Director in Ascension who is appointed by the President (Mayor) of Ascension. The President of Ascension holds state (as opposed to federal) political authority over the region. The various Presidents (Mayors) of the other towns in the region, including the President of Las Palomas, are under his authority. Generally, the wife of the President of each town acts as the local head of the D.I.F. In the past, the D.I.F. Director, together with the wife of the President of Ascension, have determined children who are abused or neglected or orphaned. They seek to work with the family to improve the situation for the children, and that often involves removing the children from their homes for a period of time until correction in the home situation occurs. This means that we most often get children for periods of time ranging from weeks to months, and that they are then returned to their families. At present, we have 4 children who are orphaned, and who will probably be with us until they are self-sufficient.

Needs of the area: We have determined that in the geographic area we are serving, there are not a lot of orphans, and even when there are, the extended families often take the children. Thus, we are being used by DIF primarily as a refuge for abused and neglected children. Given that, it is highly unlikely that we would fill the Orphanage at any time in the foreseeable future with children. Most of the children we get now are children of prostitutes, or parents suffering various kinds of emotional or mental problems, or drug-related problems. We constantly see children whose parents do not seem to know much about child-rearing, hygiene, or nutrition (or else they do not care). We see children who are not being well-educated, and children with little or no spiritual or moral training.

Ways the Orphanage might be used to help the area: It is important for us to keep focused on our goal of ministering to children. All that we do should be related to that. However, there are many things that we can do related to the children that will benefit the entire community. Following are some ideas:

1. Using volunteers and DIF employees, conduct parent-training programs in parenting skills, health, and both educational and spiritual growth for the children. Parents whose children come to the Orphanage should be required to successfully complete educational programs related to their situation before the children are returned to them.

2. Conduct a live-in school for disadvantaged children in the area. This would be modeled after an existing school of this type in Janos, where the children live at the school during the school week and then go home on week-ends.

3. Conduct afternoon Christian Youth programs that would include both Bible training and fun and wholesome children's educational activities, something like the Awana program or the Royal Rangers program.

4. Hold Youth church services, to which the children could invite their parents.

5. Develop agriculture, and possibly animal husbandry on the Orphanage property, and teach children about practical aspects of growing at least some of their own food.

6. Develop a health-related ministry through nurses, and even doctors, in which parents could bring their children to the Orphanage for diagnosis and treatment; when problems require more treatment than can be obtained locally, develop a network in Mexico and the U.S. to help.

7. Maintain a Food-bank for impoverished families in need of short-term help.

Goals: All of these are ideas which are aimed at improving the life-situation of the impoverished families of the area through spiritual, educational, and health-related aid, and are directly dependent upon volunteers or staff, as our budget allows, to be successful. If we are able to implement even some of these ideas and consistently maintain them for a period of years, the Orphanage will have contributed much to the over-all improvement of the area that will extend far beyond those results that are immediately visible.

WE ARE NOW LOOKING FOR VOLUNTEERS TO BEGIN DEVELOPING THESE PROGRAMS, AND OTHERS THAT MAY BE UPON YOUR HEARTS. . . . "THE FIELDS ARE WHITE UNTO HARVEST!"