Finding family at NPH Guatemala...

Below is a reflection written by our very own Ross Egge, Development Manager in the Northwest NPH USA office about his recent trip to the NPH home in Guatemala!!

This past July, I had the extraordinary opportunity to travel to our home in Guatemala with a group of amazing people from the NPH Northwest community. Though NPH has been part of my life for many years, I am never more inspired and continually impressed with the work and dedication being afforded to these children and communities then when seeing it and sharing it with others. For many in our group, it was the first trip to an NPH home, for others it was a long-awaited return, for everyone it was an experience to remember, and an impactful reminder of the positive change we get to be part of with the NPH family.

The children, so loving, so fun, so very much children being children. It was so fun to see some of the godchildren meeting their sponsors from the Northwest for the first time. Some on our trip have made trip down many times and were able to relish in how their godchildren have grown, and catch up with the children and staff they have built relationships with over the years. 

Where the full weight of what this trip was for me and for those in our group cannot be shared in words or pictures, the love shared among our group and with the children and staff of NPH Guatemala is fully present for all of us upon our return as we attempt to transfer the intangibles of what we experienced to our daily lives, making better a world so desperate for healing, and seeking new ways to support and encourage the beautiful children of our NPH family. I want to thank all our participants for joining us on this journey and for being an inspiration to me in the way you became family, not only to the children of NPH, but to one another. That is truly the power of being in a place so fully infused with love for others. Thank you! 

 

 

 

 

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 Peque?os 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 Peque?os 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!

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 Fr?res 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 Peque?os 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 Miacatl?n. 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

Happy Thanksgiving

A message from A. Frank Donaghue, Friends' Chief Executive Officer: 

I recently returned from my trip to El Salvador and Honduras on Thanksgiving Morning. Needless to say my experience was utterly inspiring. The kids and young adults we all work to support are worthy of every effort given to our mission. What was most noticeable to me, especially from the students attending the  leadership training  from all our homes in Central and South America in Honduras, was the depth of spirituality and gratitude that our future leaders possess.  At every Liturgy, a student prayed for blessings on our donors, volunteers and staff. 

From a beautiful Quincea?era, to a graduation of kindergarten and grade school children, to a training, to dinner in the baby house, gratitude and faith was the most prevailing feeling.

Gratitude; I want to express to you in the deepest sincerity with the words of Paul.  "I give thanks to God for the gift of you".  I extend that to you on behalf of the children you help, give a home, feed, educate, shower with joy and provide with safety.

It is such a privilege  for me to work with everyone at Friends and NPH and share our commitment and passion. 

Happy Thanksgiving,

Frank

P.S.  Meet my newest Godchild, Darling.  She is 5 and lives at the home in Honduras. This picture is from her recent Baptism.  She is absolutely awesome. That smile alone gives you a reason to be Thankful.

�We are called to LOVE and BE LOVED by doing SMALL THINGS with GREAT LOVE.� �Mother Teresa

My name is Sara Joyce and I�ve been an employee of Friends of the Orphans for a little over a year. When I jumped on board, I knew the work we were doing was both necessary and good. Though sitting behind a desk eight hours every day and having this head knowledge, I was still unable to see clearly the impact that each one of us in the Friends/NPH family truly makes in the lives of these individual children. 


The last week in March I had the privilege of traveling to NPH Honduras with a group of seminarians and students from the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota. This trip surpassed my wildest expectations. I could tell you extensively about the beautiful children, the wonderful staff, and volunteers that I met, but I�d prefer to tell you my favorite story: That of my encounter with one particular child, mi ahijado (my godchild), Osman Ariel Aguilar Avila. 


As I walked along a path at �The Ranch,� I came across a boy who seemed to be crying. Internally I debated: Do I stop? Should I keep walking? Is my Spanish good enough to get me through figuring out what�s going on with this kid? Without really thinking what this interaction would actually look like, I stopped. At that moment, I had no idea the effect that miniscule decision would have. After inquiring and consoling him in my arms while he explained his various ailments to me, his tears dried up and looking me right in the eyes he said, �Como se llama usted (What is your name)?� 


He wanted to know everything about me. Where was I from? How old was I? Why was I visiting Honduras? My favorite color�and the list went on. As we walked and talked while I quizzed him on English (and he tested my Spanish skills), I asked him my own list of questions about himself and as I did his smile grew more radiant. You see, not only did he want to know about me, but he also wanted to be known and he rejoiced in the opportunity. At one point he asked me, �Eres mi madrina?� Without giving it a second thought I told him yes, that now I was his godmother. Never in my life have I seen a more beautiful, pure, and joyful smile than I did at that moment. 


The next three days I spent nearly every waking hour with Osman. I ate lunch in his hogar (the house he lives in with the other 12-13 year old boys). I helped him with chores, we walked together, went to Mass together, played together, we laughed, and had wonderful conversation. I found out that Osman�s father had died recently, his mother abandoned him, and his sister was too poor and sick to care for him. But, interacting with this beautiful 12 year old boy, you would never guess that the slightest thing was troubling him. I also found out how compassionate, caring, intelligent, and funny he is. In spending three days with Osman, my heart was stretched. He taught me about selflessness, about sacrificing for someone else�s good, about joy in the midst of suffering, and about hope. 


Before we said our final farewells we exchanged letters and bracelets. I told Osman how much I loved him, would miss him, how special he was, and that he had the most beautiful smile I�ve ever seen. Graciously he said thank you, cried again in my arms, and reciprocated the sentiments. While saying good-bye to him left me with a heavy heart, I left knowing that he is surrounded by a family that gives him an opportunity to love and to be loved daily. And while I said my farewell to him, I know that it was not a final good-bye, but �hasta luego (see you later).� Though I may not be able to visit NPH Honduras as soon or often as I would like, I am able to continue being a real part of his life since returning to the States by sponsoring him. 


I may not be able to sustain the entire orphan home in Honduras financially or interact with Osman on a daily basis, but I give as I can. That�s what it�s about�letting the love we encounter in these children permeate every other aspect of our lives. By sponsoring Osman I am able to remain in contact with him, be a support who he knows cares deeply about him, encourage him to be the best that he can, and challenge him to love more intensely. And while in some way I do all of these things, the gift that Osman gives to me is far greater than that, and something I will never take for granted. We can each do our part, and while this looks different for each of us, I invite you to ask yourself the question: How can I make a difference in the life of a child in need?

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 peque?os 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 Peque?o 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 Peque?o 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!

2011 was a Wonderful Year!!!

This past year has been a truly great one for everyone at Friends of the Orphans and the children we support. Thanks to the hard work of Friends' staff, volunteers and supporters, there have been many wonderful things to highlight throughout the regions this year.

NPH Peru

As many of you know, in the Mid-Atlantic/Northeast Region, Friends opened a brand new regional office just outside of Boston. Our MANE office officially opened its doors in June 2011, and we have been busy meeting with both new and familiar faces in the community. We've succeeded in creating a successful Regional Board with 10 active members including board chair, Dr. Brian Orr. Our 2nd Annual Irish Hearts for Haiti event held in April was (again) a great success raising $38,000. We also held an exciting Donor Appreciation Event at the historic Fenway Park in July. Likewise, our Faces of Hope events in November went splendidly and had nearly 150 attendees! We were so fortunate this year to welcome Elzer, a peque?o from NPH Honduras, who stayed from May until August. He participated in events, spoke at various churches, schools, and civic functions, and was able to work on perfecting his English while interning at a local elementary school. Our gratitude goes out to the Henry family for hosting Elzer!

NPH Dominican Republic

Our Northwest Region has had much to be proud of in 2011 including a group of interns who have been invaluable this year! Our two Development Interns planned a very successful Family Summer BBQ event with a great turnout, and our Salesforce Intern has been there giving us weekly database support. We also hosted another amazing trip to NPH Honduras (our 8th annual!) We made so many great new Friends, not only bringing in two new tables of people to our Gala (and all our desserts being donated), but also a new mission trip in collaboration with a Montessori school in the Midwest region. Our outreach in Portland, Oregon, and Spokane, Washington, keeps gaining momentum with Faces of Hope Portland being our biggest yet, and we had many new attendees in Spokane. Our open house FUNdraisers in Portland, Spokane and Boise, Idaho were also great times for everyone involved. In Seattle we had a very special event with Jean Fran?ois Seide, peque?o and member of the newly launched NPH Leadership Program, along with Fr. Rick Frechette of NPFS Haiti allowed us to raise over $62,000 for our programs in Haiti!

NPH El Salvador

Down in the Southeast Region 2011 has been a truly blessed year. In April we moved in to our new office with a view of downtown Miami, the financial district, the water and the new Miami Marlins stadium. Our 5th Annual Faces of Hope Luncheon and our 2nd Annual All the World to One Child Gala were both generously sponsored by great Friend, Chevron. Over 300 guests were in attendance for the luncheon, and this �friendraising� event, featuring special guest Clara Grove, a former peque?a from NPH Mexico, raised more than $45,000! Our gala, which was held at Fairchild Tropical Gardens in Miami, had over 200 guests in attendance and raised over $50,000. We also had a particularly special accomplishment this year that directly affected 3 of our children at NPH Honduras. Thanks to the great connections and efforts of one of our board members, Aid for Aids continuous to donate ARV�s medications for these 3 children to keep them healthy and provide a HUGE savings for our home (about 30k a year). We've also been lucky enough to have wonderful volunteers this year such as Danixa Lopez who has not only helped with several translations, but has been instrumental in our branding and outreach to the Hispanic community. Finally, our total in kind donations this year added up to over $5.5 million, helping provide for countless individuals in need in mainly Haiti and Honduras. Similarly, in Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Guatemala, our partnership with FedEx helped to provide over 15,000 books for the children we support.

NPH Guatemala

In the Upper Midwest Region we celebrated our 25th anniversary this year, and what a year it was! We welcomed over 230 new child sponsors to our family of nearly 2,000 total Upper Midwest child sponsors. Over $400,000 was raised through various events at churches as well as our annual Gala, run/walk and triathlon events. We also held our first ever fundraising event in Iowa, which brought in over $30,000. We had great volunteer involvement this year with a total contribution of over 2,000 hours. We also welcomed two new staff members, Sara Joyce and Sue Lovegreen, who have been wonderful additions to our team. Our team has had an incredible year celebrating welcoming a baby, a marriage and an engagement! We've also been so very proud of Sean Breininger, our Regional Director, who had his �second birthday� through a bone marrow transplant this December, praying that 2012 will boast a fully successful bone marrow transplant.

NPFS Haiti

In the Midwest Region we once again conducted a very successful Gala event, raising even more funds than the year before! Gala attendees were entertained by the music and dance group from NPH Mexico, and they also heard a compelling keynote speech from Aurora Zacarias, a former peque?a from NPH Mexico. Our 2011 Peque?o Tour also went fabulously, exceeding our revenue goal. We were so happy to have the sixteen peque?os from NPH Mexico perform at various venues in Chicago and throughout Indiana, including the University of Notre Dame. We also hosted an exciting and successful donor appreciation event this year in a donated skybox at a White Sox game. For the first time in several years we conducted a donor trip out of our region. Unlike most donor trips that visit a single NPH home, this trip visited NPH homes in two different countries � Guatemala and El Salvador! Juan Manuel Pineda, a peque?o from NPH El Salvador, performed a concert for almost 500 guests in our hometown of Chicago. We've also had great support this year from Friends in our region like John Shattuck, Vice Chair of the Midwest Region Board, who arranged for six shipping containers of donated medical equipment and other supplies valued at $1.425 million to be sent to Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

NPH Honduras

Last but certainly not least, in the Southwest Region we have also had a tremendous year! We have a wonderful new donor who became involved during our Peque?o Tour and continued on to attend our Gala, sponsor a child, go on a donor tour, sponsor another child, organize a FUNdraiser for February 2012 and collect clothes and games to be sent to the homes! We are so very appreciative of all that our donors do. We also had over 150 teens and adults participate on our mission trips to Guatemala and Mexico to spend a week with their 128 Godchildren that they sponsor. In addition, we collected and delivered 104 boxes of new clothes, shoes, school supplies and sports equipment. We also had some awesome events this year including both of our Power of One events in April where Eligio Villegas Cruz, a  peque?o from NPH Mexico, was our guest speaker. Eligio graduated from the University of Monterrey in Mexico this June with a degree in International Marketing. The two events raised over $40,000 and was underwritten by Wells Fargo Private Client Services. We also secured 18 child sponsorships at these events. For our annual Peque?o Tour throughout Arizona and California, we hosted the dancers and musicians from NPH El Salvador, and as of October 19th, the event netted $281,850 and secured 101 new sponsorships with an annualized income of $52,680. These children left lasting memories with their host families and the communities they visited. We also conducted our 12th Annual Diocese of Phoenix Catholic School Mass and Cultural Day with the 11 schools that are part of our school sponsorship program and support over 70 godchildren.

NPH Mexico

It has truly been an amazing year, and we are so thankful for all our Friends like you who help us to raise children and transform lives. Thank you for all your generosity and support throughout 2011, and we look forward to 2012! Happy new year!!!

Until Monday...

Stacie Henrickson has been the Office Administrator/Volunteer Coordinator at Friends of the Orphans in the Northwest Region for just over a year. Below she reflects on her first trip to an NPH home, and meeting her godson for the first time, in the Dominican Republic.


Although I have visited and volunteered in several orphanages in Latin American and Africa, until last week I had never visited an NPH home. My fianc?e, Cory, and I have been sponsoring a little boy in the Dominican Republic (Luis, age 6) for almost a year now. My parents, brother and sister-in-law, and four of our close friends also sponsor children in the DR. So when I said �I really want to visit NPH�, the DR was our obvious choice. My only hesitation was the thought of flying a combined total of 18 hours (thank you to my doctor for that nice little prescription). My fianc?e on the other hand has not travelled much and definitely not to a developing country, but true to his easy-going self, he said �Alright.� And so, we booked our trip.


Ask my friends and family, or the staff in our Northwest office, and they will tell you the reason I fell so hard for helping orphans and at-risk children is: the babies. Don�t get me wrong, I absolutely love the older children and young adults � the Leadership Participants we currently have studying in Seattle are amazing examples of what NPH can do and what we hope for all of our children. I love visiting with the older children and getting to know them, but what gets me in my gut, in my heart, and usually in my tear ducts, are the babies (at NPH, children ages 0-6 live in the �baby house�).


I could share a million stories with you from our trip: meeting our godson for the first time (we just happened to arrive on Visitor�s Day which takes place four times a year, where children who have family members can receive visitors � we found out upon arriving that Luis has never had a visitor, not one. The joy and pride he felt showing off his visitors to everyone was very apparent, and that alone was worth the flying). Or how we sat down in the babies house our first day and within minutes had five babies braiding my hair and ten babies crawling all over Cory. Two hours later my hair was in knots and Cory�s shirt was stretched to twice its original size. He looked at me and said �You really want to be in the baby house all day every day?� And I said �YES!!!�


But the story I most want to share with you is that of Johan. When he arrived at NPH, he was four years old but looked like he was two. He had been completely neglected and did not even know how to walk. Thanks to the amazing staff and volunteers at NPH, by the time we arrived for our visit he was walking (running) all over the place, with his adorable little fists thrown up in the air for balance. He repeats anything and everything you say, and with his huge smile and raspy little voice, he was a joy to be around. The thought that without NPH he might not be around at all makes me almost cry, and feel incredibly happy with my career choice all at the same time. To me, Johan is the reason NPH exists. Whenever I need motivation at work, I will think of Johan smiling at me as I held him on the last day of our visit.


NPH was exactly what I was expecting and hoping for. The stories are true � the homes really are clean and bright, the food really is delicious and comes in generous portions, and the kids really are happy. Also reassuring, the kids aren�t perfect � they have emotions, opinions, and occasional bad days, just like kids everywhere � which lets me know there�s no show being put on for visitors and the kids feel safe enough in their environment to be themselves. It is a wonderful place, and I left feeling reassured that all my hard work really counts for something great.


Of course, the hardest part of loving the babies (besides leaving) is that they don�t understand things like distance and time. They understood that we were leaving and going back to our country, but right after they asked �What time does your plane leave?� they asked, �And what time do you come back?� Maybe the hardest part was when our little boy Luis asked, �When are you coming to visit me again?�, and when I answered �I�m not sure yet�, he suggested, �How about Monday?� So for now, I will write and send pictures and read updates about all of our babies in the DR, with the hope that on some �Monday� in the future, we can visit again.

Their passion for Friends of the Orphans and NPH is infectious...

Below is a post contributed by Chloe Kinsey, the Summer Development Intern from the Northwest Regional Office of Friends. Enjoy!


This last Sunday, the day of the Friends of the Orphans Northwest region�s Summer Family BBQ, was also the last day of my wonderful summer internship with Friends here in Bellevue. My co-intern Claire Baron and I are both heading into our junior year at Whitman College in Walla Walla, WA and both have an interest in continuing on in the nonprofit sector, a field into which our internship with Friends gave us great insight. One thing that is immediately apparent when working in a Friends office is how much everyone there is involved in the Friends and NPH community. Every person Claire and I met, whether employee, board member, or volunteer, was incredibly passionate about the mission of NPH and had an amazing commitment to Friends beyond their work or volunteer duties. Friends employees are donors and sponsors themselves, have visited NPH homes, and some are even former international volunteers. Their passion for Friends of the Orphans and NPH is infectious, and I am so glad to have been able to spend the summer with such a committed group of individuals.


Claire and I worked on two main projects throughout our summer internship. For the first, we worked with Laura Useche, the Northwest Regional Manager for Child Sponsorship to thank the sponsors in our region. Along with the help of a wonderful volunteer, Caitlin Plummer, we made over a thousand calls to godparents to let them know how much their support is appreciated. Along with encountering our fair share of answering machines and busy signals, we also spoke to a number of sponsors, who made clear their passion for Friends with their excitement over receiving a call and their willingness to share stories about their wonderful godchildren.


Our second project, which required most of our time, was planning a Summer Family BBQ in August to be a community-building event for Friends in the Northwest region. With support from Kristen Bagley, the Northwest region�s Special Events Manager, we planned the event from start to finish. We picked the location, created invitations, procured donations of food and raffle prizes, made decorations, and coordinated volunteers. And in addition to teaching us a great deal about the process of event planning and, more generally, the mechanisms of nonprofit work, our efforts on the BBQ once again demonstrated how significant Friends and NPH are in the lives of those who work with them. We had a wonderful response from volunteers, who helped us from the planning stages through the day of the event itself. Even with their incredibly busy schedules, Stacie, Laura, Kristen, and Katie in the NW Friends office helped us enormously with aspects ranging from finalizing the invitations to locating the serving dishes needed for the event. And though we initially worried that no one would come to the event we had spent the summer planning, we had a fantastic turnout from the Friends community here in the Northwest. On Sunday, Claire and I were able to step back and watch everyone at the BBQ come together and enjoy the event. It was so rewarding to watch employees, volunteers, donors, and sponsors, many of whom already knew each other through the strong Friends community, talking, eating, and enjoying the event together. I�m so glad to have been involved with an organization that inspires such passionate support and encourages a strong community, even at such a distance from the homes where its children live. And I can�t wait to stay involved with Friends and NPH in the future!

Pray for Haiti.

The following is a blog post contributed by Chuck Allworth (Midwest Regional Director at Friends) where he shares about his recent trip to Nos Petits Fr?res et Soeurs (NPFS) Haiti. 


Today is Saturday and I've been here since Wednesday. I guess my biggest impression so far is that Haiti is a place with many stark contrasts.


Yesterday, for example, I went to 7:00 a.m. Mass in the little chapel on the grounds of our pediatric hospital (St. Damien). Lying on the floor in the middle of the chapel was a toddler child who had died in the hospital overnight. Jean Paul was wrapped in a pillow case that people in the Chicago area turn into funeral palls with beautiful decorations and send them here by the thousands. No caskets -- too costly. No family or parents in attendance at the funeral Mass, just Fr. Rick presiding and a couple of dozen foreigners who volunteer at the hospital and one or two Haitians. On the one hand, it was very sad to think of this dead child wrapped in linen lying inches away from us on the floor. On the other hand, it was a truly beautiful funeral. We did our best to send little Jean Paul off to heaven as best we could.


Another contrast happened two days ago when I went with Fr. Rick to the city morgue to observe him and other members of our organization picking 70 or so unclaimed corpses, zipping them into body bags, loading them on a flatbed truck and taking them out to the countryside for a decent burial. Fr. Rick and the Haitians were the ones doing the dirty work. We visitors would simply place crosses or rosaries and funeral palls on top of the bodies prior to them being zipped up. The conditions in the morgue were beyond gruesome. Bodies stacked like logs in disgusting positions. Lots of children. Way too many children. Babies in their diapers lying on top of elderly people. Hundreds of corpses in varying states of decomposition. Half-clothed (or unclothed) adults lying grotesquely on top of children dressed in their Sunday best. Bodies stained by the blood and fluids of those piled all around them. A permeating stench that defies description. Unbelievably, though, the Haitians with us were singing and clapping and dancing the entire time we were in the morgue -- about 90 minutes. Non-stop joyful, not sorrowful, singing at the top of their lungs. They were happy because they were taking bodies out of such deplorable conditions and giving them a proper Christian burial. Such joy in the face of such horror.


Last contrast: When we went out to the country to bury the bodies, the cemetery doubled as a cow pasture (although with very little grass). Row after row of simple graves dug about 4 feet into the earth. Most of the graves were marked with crucifixes...with cowpies all over many of them.


I spent the better part of the past two days unloading medical supplies from containers and organizing a warehouse full of those supplies. It was sweaty and hard and real dirty work, but nobody complained because of the poverty we have seen that the people here endure on a daily basis.


It's amazing what they do with shipping containers here. I've seen them used as hospital wards, offices, classrooms, storage units, and orphanage dorms. A cheap and easy re-use of something the rest of the world would have but one use for.


I'm back in Port-au-Prince after spending two wonderful days at the NPFS St. Helene home in Kenscoff. This home is about 5,500 feet up in the mountains to the southeast of Port-au-Prince. My room overlooked the most beautiful vista of green mountains dotted with small villages and terraced farmland. In much of Haiti, the countryside has been denuded of trees because people use the wood for building materials and to make charcoal. This is not the case in the area around our home. The setting is breathtakingly beautiful. Imagine a boarding school campus with gorgeous trees all around. Huge pine trees over a hundred feet tall. The air is clear and the high temps are in the low 60s. Hardly what you expect of a Caribbean climate. Evenings and early mornings are downright chilly. The entire campus is just very serene, green, peaceful and pleasant.


It was yet another stark contrast to Port-au-Prince with its oppressive heat, noise, filth and poverty. There are about 450 kids who call St. Helene their permanent home. And, again, in another contrast to what I had seen up to that point, the kids in our home are well dressed, well fed, well educated and very well cared for in general -- as I knew they would be.


These orphaned and abandoned children are the lucky ones. There are millions of other children here in Haiti who have it far, far worse. 20% of children in Haiti die before they reach the age of five.


Back to the orphanage. Every other Sunday, Fr. Rick, the Passionist priest who runs the entire NPFS organization here in Haiti, comes up to our home from our pediatric hospital to lead Mass for the children, but yesterday was not one of those Sundays. So, all 400+ kids got dressed up in their school uniforms and walked to the closest church. As the crow flies, it was probably no more than half a mile. Too bad we didn't have wings. Since we were in the mountains, it was probably closer to a mile and a half of steep, treacherous paths and winding, rutted roads that would put the worst of Chicago's pot-holed roads to shame. My guess is that the church is located about 1,500 feet of elevation BELOW the home. It took us about 30 minutes to walk down and a little over an hour to walk back, but it was well worth every minute to be with them and to witness and listen to them pray and sing during Mass. It was loud and joyful. I made a few new friends during that journey.

St. Helene is actually about 20 separate small dorms, plus a dozen or so other buildings (school, chapel, clinic, etc.) scattered over about 60 acres on the side of a mountain. On our way up to the orphanage on Saturday, we stopped and bought enough candy to give each of the kids a few pieces. After we got back from Mass yesterday, we took the candy around to all of the dorms and gave it away to the kids who were happy and grateful to receive the sweet treats.

During our time in Haiti, we were fortunate to have the part-time guide services of Antoine, a former peque?o from the St. Helene home. Antoine works in the Father Wasson Angels of Light program and also in our new orphanage home in Port-au-Prince that is made entirely out of refurbished shipping containers. On our last full day in Haiti, Antoine took us to an after school program for about 50 children that he began in the Port-au-Prince neighborhood where he lived before the earthquake. While we were there, we handed out bags of rice and beans to the children to bring home to their families. We also distributed protein bars and cooking oil. Here, we have a former peque?o who not only works for NPH, but also has begun his own small charitable organization to serve the children from his old neighborhood.

I will leave you with a story about James, a Haitian I met while we were doing some road repair work on a gravel road that runs within our hospital campus near the triage clinic. I took a break and sat down in the shade near where James was standing. He came over to me and began to make small talk in halting English. It turns out that he and his wife brought their nine month old son, Moses, to the hospital because it was obvious to them that Moses was experiencing abdominal pain. James was telling me about his life post-earthquake of trying to find a job but having no luck. He said his boss was killed in the quake. He told me to pray for Haiti at least a dozen times. James� wife called him over to look after Moses while she went for a break of her own. We said our goodbyes and James left to be with his son, while I went back to my road repair. About an hour later, as we were loading up from our vehicle for the trip up to St. Helene, I noticed that James and his family were walking out toward the exit of the hospital campus. I stopped them and enquired about Moses. It was the first time I saw Moses. He was an albino child with obviously African facial features and hair, though blonde. James said that Moses didn�t need to be admitted and that they were given some medicine that should hopefully do the trick. Again, he told me to pray for Haiti. He didn�t ask me for prayers for him or even for Moses. Pray for Haiti, he said. After tracing the sign of the cross on Moses� forehead, I said that I would.


Please pray for Haiti.