Father Wasson Angels of Light Program in Haiti

Dear Friends,


Today is a very special day for all involved in the Father Wasson Angels of Light (FWAL)
program of NPFS Haiti.


WE ARE CELEBRATING OUR 2ND ANNIVERSARY!!


Four days after the earthquake of January 12, 2010, our program began operating out of a few tents where children could come to spend part of the day, away from the misery and share in a little joy and comfort of playing games and receiving a meal.


Now, two years, later FWAL has two homes where 183 children are living in a safe
environment, and we just finished the construction of our beautiful new primary school for a total of 800 children (including those who live in our homes). We have 128 staff working for our program, working for our children, with energy and a lots of love.


We are very grateful to all of those who helped and supported us from the beginning and who are still doing so. All our children thank you, and we hope that you will celebrate this day with us in thought and prayer.

We are a family.

We grieve again on this second anniversary of the Haiti earthquake, for those who lost their lives, for those who suffered so terribly, and for those dealing with its aftermath.


We must continue to do what we can to help, to show that we have not forgotten, to offer our love and support to the people of Haiti as they continue to recover.


And we must not lose hope, even if we must do this work alone. For we are not alone; we are a family. And God loves our family.


God bless.


John Iberle
Interim CEO, Friends of the Orphans

Click here to learn more about the work Friends and NPH is doing in Haiti. 

NPFS Haiti 's 25th Anniversary Right Around the Corner!

Below is a message from Father Rick Frechette, discussing the fast-approaching anniversary of the St. Helene home in Haiti and the mission of NPH.


In just two weeks, on January 23, 2012, NPFS Haiti will celebrate 25 years of existence. It is not easy to celebrate festively in the face of the ongoing devastation in the country, but to celebrate every other way is surely in order!


During January, we will ask our new Archbishop, Guire Poulard, to celebrate mass at Kenscoff (St. Helene). It will be a mass of thanks-giving, remembering all of our children, staff, benefactors, those who have died and Fr. Wasson. 


We have every intention of using our anniversary as a time of evaluation and redirection. We will spend 2012 reviewing the trajectory of these 25 years, analyzing if we are still on track with our goals, suggesting ways of improvement, and getting feedback from those who have benefitted and worked in our programs in order to improve.


Please keep us in your prayers for this new year, that it might be a year of great grace for all of us.


Best regards,
Fr. Richard Frechette, CP

Click here to read an article by Father Rick about the history of NPFS Haiti, the great accomplishments of our collective work and looking forward to the future there. 

It's a Brand New Year!

All of us here at Friends bring in this new year with strong pride in last year's accomplishments, great hope for future successes, and a steady motivation to continue transforming the lives of children in need. I want to thank each and every one of you for all that you do to help us realize our mission � supporting the children of NPH. It is only with your generosity and support that we can care for the Peque?os providing them with a safe and loving home. It is because of you that Fatima from Honduras knows someone will always be there for her; that Silvia from Peru will always have a nutritious meal to eat; that Jesel from the Dominican Republic has clean clothes to wear and the chance to be a happy child. I can not stress enough how important you are to our NPH and Friends family. 


Thank you for all that you do. We look forward to a wonderful 2012 where we continue to work together to raise children and transform lives.


John Iberle
Interim Executive Director

What YOU Helped to Accomplish this Past Year

2011 was a year full of successes! Thanks to YOU we were able to complete several different projects that benefit the children we support. Because of YOUR generosity the 3,700 children in the NPH homes throughout Latin America and the Caribbean have a loving and safe home, food, education, access to healthcare and a family that cares for them. Here are just a few highlights from the past year!


In the Family Services division, the International Leadership Institute Pilot Program was launched where five peque?os were able to begin studying English and leadership courses in Seattle, Washington.


Our Vaccine Catch Up program, part of our Medical Services division, was a huge success this year for our children in need.


At NPH Mexico we had our largest university group yet with 105 students and 18 graduates this year!


Construction on a new bakery, cheese making facility and greenhouse was completed this year at NPH Honduras to help make the home more sustainable.


Over 100 new children arrived at the St Helene and Fr. Wasson Angels of Light homes in Haiti, and the construction of a new housing complex for Don Bosco students was completed. We are also very happy to say we successfully treated  20,000 Cholera patients this year.


At NPH Nicaragua construction of a primary school, clinic, visitor house, and the National Director house was completed.


NPH Guatemala saw the construction of their Montessori school completed as well as their first solar panels installed.


El Salvador's brand new leadership group was formed this year, and we are excited to say this is one of the first groups from NPH ES that will engage in outreach with the surrounding community!


Everyone at NPH Dominican Republic is thrilled about our new speech therapy program, empowerment groups, sign language and pottery classes.


In Bolivia our family grew this year from 86 to 104 children.


In October the children and staff of NPH Peru finally moved to their brand new home in Ca?ete.

Everyone at the opening of the new NPH Peru home!

Thank you so very much for making 2011 a wonderful year! There is always more work to be done and children to support, and we are looking forward to another successful year in 2012. Happy New Year! Thank you for being a Friend!!

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!!!

Christmas Stories from Honduras

Fatima (11 years old) 


Fatima and her younger sister Natalie were abandoned by both parents. They lived with their grandmother who was unable to properly feed them and care for them before coming to NPH. She says that what she remembers about Christmas before coming to NPH was food; they usually cooked special tamales and received gifts of chips or candy.


Christmas is an exciting time for Fatima at NPH with the goodie bags, parties, and Christmas tree. She especially loves Secret Santa. She loves talking about whom each girl has, and the secret gift exchange with her friends of hair ties and candies.

Marisol (13 years old) 


Marisol's mother left her family when Marisol was only one year old. Her father was not able to take care of Marisol and her two brothers so he left them with other family members. Every Christmas before coming to NPH Marisol remembers going with her cousins to get new clothing. Presents (usually clothing, chips, sweets) were placed under the Christmas tree for the children the night before Christmas. The next morning everyone would wish each other �Feliz Navidad� and open presents. She remembers spending the rest of the day with neighbors and family having a fiesta; cooking, eating, and spending time together.


If she could have one wish for Christmas, Marisol said she would wish for the ability to travel. She would go and visit her �Padrinos�.


Her favorite part about Christmas at NPH is sharing it with friends, caretakers and volunteers. "I love how everyone comes together during Christmas time to have fun."

Marisol (far left) with her friends.