Christmas Stories from Guatemala

Pablo (13 years old)


My name is Pablo. I am 13 years-old. I came to NPH Guatemala just over one year ago. Before moving to NPH, I lived with my mom and four siblings. I have two older sisters and two brothers who are younger than me. Each year we celebrated Christmas with a big family gathering. Everyone was there except my father. He disappeared from our lives when I was little. My mom, my aunts, my uncles and siblings always celebrated together. 


Each year, we ate tamales (a Latin American dish made from corn, wrapped in a leaf, and steamed). Tamales are a tradition here in Guatemala. For Christmas my brothers, sisters and I would receive gifts. Each year my mom gave us a box of fireworks that we would set off the night before Christmas. This is another tradition where I live. We also received a little box filled with grapes.


After living at NPH for a year, I�m happy. I feel welcome and safe here. I am grateful to attend school each day. I am learning a lot here. I am learning to read, to write and to respect. Although NPH is my new home, I still think about my mom a lot. She visits me during Visitor�s Days when she can. If I could have any wish granted, I would invite my mom to eat pizza; that�s what I�d do. I would make our pizza. If I could have any gift for Christmas, I would give it to my mom�a beautiful blouse, or a skirt, or a pair of earrings. She deserves it.


At NPH we give homes to children in need like Pablo, where they can feel loved and secure and grow into caring and productive members of their communities. 

Christmas Stories from NPH Mexico

Daniel (8 years old)


NPH Mexico offered care and support to Daniel in 2009, when his mother was incarcerated and could no longer care for him. When Daniel arrived, he worried that he could no longer continue family traditions, such as celebrating Christmas with cake, pi?atas, holiday movies and games. Fortunately, Daniel can still experience these Christmas festivities, and many more, at his new home, NPH Mexico�s Casa San Salvador. 


Daniel now has Godparents that donate funds so that he can receive his dream Christmas presents. When Christmas comes this winter, he hopes to receive a Max Steel action figure, candy, tennis shoes or clothes. If he could have one wish granted for Christmas, he said, �I would have my mom and my entire family live at my home here at NPH because I love them so much.� We are all so happy to hear that Daniel enjoys living at Casa San Salvador so much that he would invite his entire family to live with him if he could. 


This Christmas, thanks to Friends like you, Daniel will be provided with enough sweets and toys to keep him happy all year long, and more importantly, a safe and secure home where he can enjoy his life.

Christmas Stories from NPH El Salvador

Roberto (8 years old)


I don�t have any idea how Christmas outside NPH is since I only remember that all my Christmases have been at NPH. I can�t imagine how it's going to be one day when I'm outside of NPH.


When I think of Christmas time, I imagine all the fireworks, gifts, new clothes and the posadas with all my brothers and sisters.


I can�t wait every for Christmas morning when I receive my gift from Tio. I know that I already have all that I need, but this year I hope to get a big toy car into to play with my brothers at the babies� house.

Martiza (12 years old)


I remember Christmas before arriving at NPH, they were different in two ways. When my mother was alive we shared a humble diner with all my siblings. We didn�t get gifts, but we were happy just to be with her. After my mom died, Christmas time was very sad. My dad didn�t care for us, and the memories from my mother on Christmas time were incomparable. When my siblings and I arrived at NPH, we had a different Christmas with so many people. The posadas and dinner at the basketball court are wonderful and makes me think of my mom.


I enjoy Christmas morning because we have the opportunity to get a big present with little ones inside. I like everything, and I am very thankful because I know it's the result of the effort of so many people who care about us. If I could have something else I think that it would be an extra pair of jeans, shirt and matching jewelry the same color as my shirt!

A Christmas Story from NPH Peru

Silvia, 18 years old
NPH Peru


This December makes 7 years for me living at NPH. When I was twelve my mother passed away, and I lived with my father and my two siblings. We then entered NPH, and at that time the home was situated in the north of Peru close to my father?s home in beautiful Cajamarca.


However, we lived in poverty with my Father. When Christmas arrived I used to go to church with my friends and spend the day there because that's where I felt safe. When mass finished I waited until the end because they gave me a piece of panettone, a type of sweet bread loaf, and some sandwiches. Sometimes it was the only meal that we had during the day.


NPH change my life radically. At first I missed my father and my home, but after a while I realized that we have everything at NPH. There is nothing that we lack, and we are supported and helped in every aspect of life. I can�t think of any gift I received before I came to NPH. My house was little and never decorated, and my father couldn�t afford presents for us. If I had to choose a gift I would want a t-shirt, trousers or a pair of shoes.
I like Christmas at NPH because we decorate our rooms with snowflakes. I wish I could see snow sometimes. It has to be magical.


Sometimes life beyond NPH scares me. Here life is peaceful and secure, outside it is uncertain. I fear that I won�t be able to find work. My hope for Christmas is to be able to finish high school and start university so I can have a good profession. My dream is becoming a nurse to be able to help others.

Christmas Stories from the Dominican Republic

At NPH Dominican Republic, some of the children were asked questions about Christmas. Below are some of their honest and heartwarming answers.


Jesel


How did you celebrate Christmas before arriving at NPH? (?C?mo celebrar la Navidad antes de llegar a NPH?)


Christmas was nothing special, just a normal day. We lived in a really poor neighborhood; me, my brothers, my aunt and my mom. Usually my mom and aunt would go to the disco and leave me and my brothers home alone. This was normal though. We didn�t get any special food, and we rarely received gifts. When we did get gifts though, they were usually things we needed, like new clothes to replace the old, ruined ones.


What comes to mind when you think of gifts for Christmas? (Lo que viene a la mente cuando se piensa en regalos para Navidad?)


When I think about Christmas gifts I get really happy. I think about NPH and that also makes me happy.

Sebastian


How did you celebrate Christmas before arriving at NPH? 


Christmas before arriving to NPH was always nice. My aunt would join us, and we would have pig, which was not a normal dinner. Although we didn�t get gifts, because we didn�t have money, it was nice to be with each other.


What comes to mind when you think of gifts for Christmas? 


When I think about Christmas gifts I think about all the things I wanted when I was a little kid, before NPH. All of my toys before were broken. Now when I think about it, I am happy. I think of toys and video games and other things kids usually want for Christmas.

Manuel


How did you celebrate Christmas before arriving at NPH? 


Christmas, I can�t remember it so clearly, but I know it was a special time for me and my family. We would eat nice chicken and be with each other. We sometimes got gifts, one time I even got a bicycle! Of course it was for me and my siblings to share, but it was still really cool.


What comes to mind when you think of gifts for Christmas?


I get happy and excited for Christmas time. I think about the presents I have gotten in the past, like that bike. Then I think about all the gifts we have gotten at NPH, like last year when we took all the pictures with the gifts.

Daniella


How did you celebrate Christmas before arriving at NPH? 


We didn�t really celebrate Christmas. I wasn�t living with family before I arrived here, just me and a woman from my neighborhood. She was really nice, but we didn�t celebrate. It was just a normal day, and we were poor so we couldn�t make it special. I have only had one Christmas at NPH so far and it was really nice to be with so many people.


What comes to mind when you think of gifts for Christmas?


It makes me happy. I like opening presents, before you know what the present is. I also like seeing people react when they get a present.

Mayelin


How did you celebrate Christmas before arriving at NPH? 


It was always a really great day! We would eat so much, pig, rice, sweet beans and more. We were really lucky. We had a lot of family close so we would all walk together on Christmas and just spend time together as a family. We got some presents, new shoes and clothes. I liked Christmas before, and I like it here too.


What comes to mind when you think of gifts for Christmas?


When I think about Christmas presents I think about ones I have gotten from the past, who they were from, especially the things I still have with me. I feel happy when I think about it because it is always nice to get presents; it means someone is thinking of you.

Christmas Stories from the Peque?os

Jondra, 19 years old
NPH Nicaragua


Jondra was born on June 22nd 1992. She is a member of the Miskito tribe of Nicaragua who live in extreme poverty with no food, medicine or education. The government asked NPH to help improve the tribal children�s quality of life and Jondra joined the NPH family on February 16th, 2011.


Jondra is the daughter of a Honduran mother and a Nicaraguan father. She used to spend Christmas in either of these countries with her extended family. Back home Christmas was a time of sharing. She would go and bring some cake to another family, and they would send her's something else. There was even a Christmas tree at her grandmothers� house, a plastic one, which one of her uncles had brought from the capital, and they would decorate in December. With her cousins she would play "Secret Santa", giving each other small gifts. She remembers one time some of the kids at the church were discussing Christmas gifts when one girl remarked, �What better gift than Christ?� This made them decide to go from house to house singing Christmas carols on Christmas Eve. Afterwards they went to church and gave the baby Jesus gifts, such as flowers and candles.


These Christmases are a fond memory for Jondra, but belong to her past now. Her mother is deceased and now, along with her younger sister Engy, she is part of the NPH family. Her biggest wish is to keep studying. Jondra is in her fourth year of secondary school and hopes to go on to study systematic engineering or law at the university. Her Christmas wish for this year is that all her family may be well.

Esmeralda, 10 yrs old
NPH Mexico


Esmeralda and her two brothers joined the NPH Mexico family only one year ago when they were abandoned by their parents. Esmeralda is happy to be living at her new home and is thankful that she can still be with her siblings. Her favorite thing about living at Casa San Salvador, our home for children in pre-school through middle school, is celebrating special events and holidays, especially Christmas. 


Before coming to NPH, the only thing she remembers about celebrating Christmas is eating Turkey dinners with her family. For Christmas at Casa San Salvador, she now enjoys a special meal, breaks open pi?atas, plays with the other children and receives special presents from her Mexican Godparents. Her favorite gifts to receive are teddy bears and hair clips. When asked what she would ask for if she could have one wish granted as a Christmas gift, she said, �My wish would be to help the little children in the world that don't have a home.� 


NPH Mexico is delighted to know that Esmeralda?s deepest desire is to fulfill the mission of our beloved founder, Father William B. Wasson. One day she hopes to work at NPH to help make her dream a reality.

(Esmeralda on the right.)

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.