1
Basic Information
2 - Welcome & Introduction
2 - NPH Vision
2 - NPH Mission
3 - Executive Director’s Letter
3 - NPH Philosophy
4 - History of NPH
4 - Overview of Rancho Santa Fe
5 - Daily schedule
6 - Spiritual Life at Rancho Santa Fe
Working as a Volunteer
7 - Vision & Purpose of the Volunteer Program
7 - Commitment & Expectations of a Volunteer
8 - Typical Work Schedules
9 - Choosing & Working with a Hogar
9 - Stipends
Living on the Ranch
9 - Housing
9 - Valuables
10 - Smoking/Drinking
10 - Clothing
10 - Living in Community
11 - Relationships
12 - Giving Gifts
Basic Supplies Available
12 - Food/Snacks
13 - Water
13 - Hygiene Items
13 - Keys
Free Time
13 - Weekends/Salida
14 - Vacations
Visas/Residency Status
14 - Renewing Your Visa/Gaining Residency Status
Medical/Health Information
15 - Staying Healthy
16 - HIV and Hepatitis
16 - Medical Facilities
Transportation
17 - Getting To and From Tegucigalpa
17 - Coming & Going with Ranch Vehicles
18 - Hitchhiking
Communicating
18 - Phone/Fax
18 - Letters & Packages
19 - Email
Visitors
19 - Guidelines for visitors
Cultural Insight
20 - Living in Another Culture
21 - Responding to a New Culture
Appendix
22 - Calendar of Events
23 - List of Hogars
24 - Partial List of Rancho Santa Fé Directors, Coordinators, & Other Staff
Welcome & Introduction
On behalf of the NPH family here, we extend you the warmest welcome to Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos, Honduras. As a volunteer, you have taken on a great challenge with immense possibilities for reward and growth. Volunteers have long been an important part of the NPH Family. As a volunteer you have a tremendous opportunity to guide the growth and development of our cherished brothers and sisters. This is far from a simple task. In your time here you will probably feel everything from exhilaration to intense frustration. Although there is no clear path to success, there are a few things to keep in mind while you serve:
Be Flexible. There is a great deal of unpredictability and instability that is unavoidable in our operations. We must live within the ambiguity of partial freedom, partial power, and partial knowledge. Things will not always go well or the way you think they should. Try to see things from as many perspectives as possible.
Be Patient:Working with people in general, and children in particular, is like tending seeds but never seeing the fruit. You will never really know how much your words, actions and example have contributed to the growth of the children. Try to accept that things won’t move as quickly as you might like.
Be Positive: Everything has its good and bad points. Sometimes we all forget how much good is being done in the face of all the problems, both real and perceived. Do your best to see the good parts and you will find how much happier and productive you and everyone around you can be. This also means treating yourself and others well.
Be Creative:Find unconventional solutions to problems, and help create an environment in which the children’s talents are fostered.
Be Cooperative: Try to be willing to help out in whatever needs to be done, whether it’s your responsibility or not.
NPH Vision
The vision of Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos is to create an intercultural Catholic community based on the virtues of love, faith, and hope. The members of our community dedicate themselves to serve the NPH family with integrity, responsibility, humility, mutual respect, and generosity.
NPH Mission
The mission of NPH is to provide shelter, food, clothing, health care, and education in a Christian family environment based on unconditional love, sharing working, and responsibility. A worldwide community of donors, staff, and volunteers enables NPH to help the children become caring and productive citizens in their countries.
Whether volunteering will be a satisfactory experience of growth or a frustrating experience of stagnation for you will depend largely on your desire to look for the good in what we all try to accomplish. The two key virtues that will make our volunteer program a success are a positive attitude and a deeply felt respect for all the members of our NPH community. We know from experience that volunteering with NPH is a challenge. There will be times of joy and laughter to relish, and ordeals to endure. Volunteering is a responsibility shared between you and NPH. We do want to make your volunteer experience memorable by attending to your needs. One way to help you with your needs and assist you in reflecting on your experience is through continuous communication. There will be regular volunteer meetings that will give you the opportunity to share your experience, your joys, and your frustrations. Also, look for help when you feel overwhelmed or need advice on a particular matter. I am glad that you are here to help provide a family for our children who have suffered so much in the past and who have so much to give to their country in the future.
God bless you in your efforts to make NPH a better place.
Sincerely,
Reinhart Kohler
Executive Director
NPH Philosophy
The mission of NPH–Honduras is based on the philosophy of Fr. Wasson and centers on the following principles:
- Unconditional loveimplies that the children, upon entering the family, cannot be asked to leave nor can they be adopted. This is an attempt to ensure that their time with NPH will be one of stability. As a family, we attempt to create an environment that fosters the growth of our children.
- Unconditional love implies that the children are accepted for who they are. As members of a family and as Christians, we believe that every person is an individual of worth who deserves to be respected and loved for who he or she is.
- Unconditional loveis reflected in the way in which a person acts toward other members of our family and toward those whose beliefs or material circumstance are different from his or her own.
2. NPH’s objective is to help the children to feel loved in a manner that restores their dignity, hope and sense of security that so that they can develop trust in their new environment, in other people, and in themselves.
3. As Christians, we believe that the individual is part of a community and that sharing moves the individual toward others. In a similar manner, the need to share helps the children to develop a sense of belonging to their NPH family.
4. Through responsibility and work, the children learn to value themselves for contributing to the community. Furthermore, these two aspects of their lives aid them in forming habits that are necessary for their growth toward productive and interdependent adulthood.
5. Academic, physical and spiritual education is essential for the children to become well-rounded adults.
6. Because NPH is concerned with the poor and because it operates with limited funds, those who are part of NPH live simply and modestly.
History of NPH
In 1954, an American priest in Cuernavaca took a street boy home with him. The child, claiming he needed money to eat, had robbed the young priest’s church box. Instead of testifying against the boy, the Father asked the court for custody.
So began the life work of Father William Wasson, and it flourished. By 1977 the Arizona native was the adoptive father of over 1OOO Mexican boys and girls. Over the past years, the family of Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos has grown to include over 2,800 pequeños in the various NPH houses. Our Honduran home was legally incorporated in 1985. In May of 1986, the first children arrived at the doors of the new home. September of 1978 and May of 1993 mark the beginning of NPH’s homes in Haiti and Nicaragua. The homes in Guatemala and El Salvador were founded in 1996 and 1999. In addition, NPH homes have recently started up in Dominican Republic and are setting up in Peru.
Overview of Rancho Santa Fé
NPH currently cares for approximately 600 children and young adults from the ages of one to twenty six. To be admitted to NPH, the children must fit the following criteria:
- Their mother must have passed away or abandoned them with no hope for her return and their father must be unable to care for them.
- All children must come from dire poverty with no relatives able to care for them.
- All sisters and brothers up to the age of sixteen must be admitted together.
Upon their arrival at the Ranch, the NPH physician examines the children and a social worker places them in a group home with their peers according to age and level of development and maturity. The youngest enter Casa Suyapa, the only coed house, and they remain there until the age of six or seven. As in all of the “hogares” of children, “tías” and “tíos” care for them.
After Casa Suyapa, the children move into single sex houses. From there, as the years pass, the children move to the homes for older children and young people as they grow physically, mentally, emotionally and academically. The children take on responsibilities starting from a young age. In addition to their schoolwork, they have chores. The youngest children begin with little jobs such as picking up litter or sweeping. As they get older, they move to different “hogares” and their responsibilities increase. They must wash all of their own clothes, help in the upkeep of the home, manage all of the cleaning, and even take care of their younger “brothers and sisters” in the other homes. They often also have work responsibilities on the farm or in the gardens. After completing secondary school and after each subsequent program of study, NPH asks that the children serve the family for a year. The type of service depends on the individual and the needs of NPH. Finally, if the children have the aptitude and desire to continue with their studies, NPH sends them for advanced schooling in Tegucigalpa or other parts of Honduras. Opportunities to study in Canada, Mexico or the United States exist depending on the availability of scholarships.
The home, Rancho Santa Fé, is NPH’s main project in Honduras. It is located thirty-six kilometers northeast of Tegucigalpa along the new highway to Olancho. The children study at the school which is located right on the grounds and has a preschool, kindergarten, primary and secondary school. There are also vocational workshops in which children can learn a full time trade. These workshops have a dual function—education and production. There are two on-site clinics: one which takes care of the medical needs of the children and the other which provides medical care for people of neighboring towns and villages. A doctor, a dentist, several nurses, a laboratory technician and two psychologists take care of all aspects of the healthcare needs of the NPH community. Casa Eva (also known as Casa Abuelos, the grandparents’ house) is a home for elderly which is located on the Ranch. It serves the needs of those who are weak or sick and who were abandoned by their families. This house was inaugurated on November 12, 1992 and currently provides care for approximately 6 abuelos. NPH also has a home in Tegucigalpa, Casa de los Angeles, which opened on February 4, 1991. This is a home for children with very severe mental and or physical disabilities such as cerebral palsy, encephalitis, muscular dystrophy, and other diseases. There are about 14-15 children who live in this home and are cared for by a small staff and several students studying at the high school level who live with the children. The students and staff provide for their basic needs and offer physical therapy, play time, and other means of general stimulation. NPH currently employs about 170 Hondurans and receives the assistance of about twenty-five to thirty volunteers that may come from anywhere in the world.
School days
Casa Suyapa
The children wake up at 6:00 AM for showers and breakfast. The children in first grade are showered and fed first, and the tíos walk them to school so that they arrive for the start of classes at 7:30 AM. The children ages four or five and older who are in Kinder or Prepa start school at 8:00 AM and are in Montessori classes until noon. The smallest children who are potty trained go to Montessori preschool in a special room in Casa Suyapa where they are in classes from 8:30 to 12:00, with the smallest children taking several breaks or finishing early. At 12:00 the preschool children eat their lunch and then change into play clothes. Around 12:30 the kindergartners arrive for their lunch, and the first graders arrive after school gets out for them at 1:00. The first graders eat lunch at school a few days a week where they receive special tutoring. The afternoons are spent working and going in small groups to different places on the Ranch to play. Dinner is at 5:30, then shower and play time. Lights out is between 7:00 and 7:30.
Boys and Girls in 1st through 6th Grade
The children wake up between 5:00 and 5:30 depending on the home (older girls get up the earliest as they tend to take a long time getting ready!). They eat breakfast, do chores, line up for attendance, and walk to school with their tías to be there for classes at 7:30. They have a half hour recess where they are provided with a snack and are dismissed at 1:00. Upon arriving at their hogars, they change into work clothes, eat lunch and do chores. The afternoon is divided into an hour for work, an hour for homework, and free time— which can be spent playing, doing homework, organizing their lockers, washing their uniforms and other clothing, or hanging out with their friends. Dinner is at 6:00 and time after dinner is for homework and relaxation. Bedtime is at 8:00 PM.
Boys and Girls in Middle School and Vocational Students
The day starts like that of the younger children. At 1:00, however, they eat lunch in the workshop areas (middle school students eat in the workshops twice a week and the other days they spend the afternoon in their home) and continue working and studying their trade, as well as receiving math and Spanish classes, until 4 PM. They go home at 4, where they have time to wash clothes, study and relax before dinner at 6. Their day ends the same as the days of their younger brothers and sisters.
Weekends
The weekend activities are planned several days in advance by the tíos, as well as the director on weekend duty. Mass is held on Saturdays at 4:00 PM. Other activities often planned for weekends are sports tournaments, outings to the local villages, dance parties, talent shows or karaoke contests, recreational games, and watching TV and videos.
Casa Angeles
Honduran and volunteer tíos, as well as a doctor and volunteer physical therapists care for the Children at Casa de los Angeles. Several older children from the Ranch also live at the house and help with the work while attending high school in Tegucigalpa. The tíos wake the children up at 6:00 AM, bathe them and feed them breakfast. Many of the children go to special schools in the city. At noon, the children are fed their lunch and put in their beds for a nap. At 3:00 PM, they wake the children and prepare them for therapy or play. During this time, the children are also given a snack. Dinner time is at 5:00 PM. The tíos and students then bathe the children and put them to bed for the evening. At least one tía remains in the house throughout the night to watch over the children. Visitors are always welcome during the play and meal times. Even if a visitor or volunteer is unfamiliar with the routine, the attention that she/he pays to a child is invaluable.
Spiritual Life at Rancho Santa Fé
Christian tradition in the Roman Catholic Church shapes the spiritual practice of the people who live on the Ranch. Celebration of the Mass, each weekend and on holy days and funerals, defines the community as a spiritual whole. The weekly mass marks the only regular gathering of the entire community. Announcements, pep talks and occasional dire warnings by Ranch directors follow the religious service. NPH encourages and expects volunteers to attend mass on their working weekends. While NPH strives to help its children develop spiritually, for many of the pequeños religion simply adds organizational structure to their days. It’s challenging to apply messages of Christian love and charity to living here on the ranch. In this, the volunteers have the opportunity to offer a powerful example of service to others, unselfish giving, respect and unconditional love.
Where do volunteers find their inspiration? Being away from familiar routines and support systems taxes spiritual resources as well as physical ones. Whatever religious practice you are used to, things will probably be different here. Volunteers may find spiritual support in individual friends on the Ranch, in forming small spiritual support groups, or from some of the reading material in the Casa Personal library.