Children's Outreach Ministry

The Nido Niño Jesús Orphanage in San Miguel Dueñas is a special place for two reasons. First the nuns who run it are actually blood sisters. Second, it is a place of hope for many children who were abandoned, abused or orphaned by their parents in the coffee farms of Acatenango. The orphanage has 18 children all under the age of six who live in a tiny but neatly kept house.

Twenty-five year-old Sister Betsabé Rodríguez and her sister Elvisa, who was  not available for this interview, came to Guatemala four years ago from Barcelona, Spain to the dismay of their parents. Their desire was to make a difference in the lives of thousands of children who are left behind during the coffee-picking season.

"Our parents were upset, first that we became nuns and then that we came to Guatemala. They were scared for us," Betsabé said. Not to be denied, the Sisters arrived here, after hearing of the abandoned and orphaned children in Acatenango. They started their orphanage with nothing but hope and hard work.

"We began in Acatenango two and a half years ago. Most of these children have been abandoned or their mothers have died in childbirth. When the poor families come to pick coffee, some of the children are left there so we started picking them up," she said. Of the 18 children some have serious health problems, and the Sisters expect an additional orphan next month. "Our first job is to get the kids healthy. Many of them suffered from malnutrition and one of the girls had severe lung problems." One of the children was abused. His mother beat him all the time and he still cries a lot. They also have several children with Down syndrome and one little boy who has yet to be diagnosed by a doctor. The sisters have dedicated themselves to caring for all the children's needs.

"In some cases, if the mother wishes, before her child is born we can arrange for an adoption. But lots of kids are not adoptable because they are sick or have some other problems, and in those cases we just take care of the children. For those kids we want to care for them and educate them and then send them off on their own or let them remain here."

Betsabé says that their work was really hard in the beginning. They had no way to provide for the children except out of their own pockets. "At first we didn't have milk or even rooms for the children." Eight months ago they rented a small house in San Miguel Dueñas. And even there they had trouble paying the rent in the beginning. Then the Guatemala #2 chapter of the American Legion found out about them and started helping them pay their rent each month. The Legion is also raising money to buy them a sewing machine. Other benefactors have come in the same way.

"We put them in our newsletter in February," said William Shetz, commander of the American Legion. "We put our newsletter up in INGUAT, and I would go there and find that it was gone. A few weeks later I received a letter from a gentleman named Ernesto Falla. He was the one who had been taking our newsletter." Falla sent a check for $90 for the rent and asked Shetz where the orphanage was located.

Not long after he visited the nuns they were receiving three liters of milk a day from Falla's ranch. They also have funding from a group in Spain called Manos Unidas, located in Madrid, that hopes to help them build a larger building.

The Sisters and a novice, Maria, who works with them, keep the children and the house spotless, but their rescue efforts have been put on hold because of the size of their dwelling. They used to go out and seek children in need, but now they can't as their hands are full. But eventually they want to have a larger building so they can educate the children they have and be able to accommodate more.

"The need we have right now is for a building site," she said. "Once we have a building site it becomes quite easy to get money to build a building. But when you approach someone for money they immediately ask, 'do you have a building site?' Day to day we need rent money and food for the kids."

They also have needs for clothes and other basic necessities.

Anyone wishing to help can also sponsor a child as a godparent. "Godparents pledge to send money every month or every three months according to their wishes and in return they receive a letter and a picture of a child."

The sisters hope that they can recruit more nuns to their little orphanage, placing their hope in God to fulfill their needs. "We are keeping our optimism through God, and we hope to recruit more nuns. We have one novice, and we hope to keep that going."

In an atmosphere rife with allegations of illegal adoptions and a political climate that is heating up, it is good to see someone doing things the way they are supposed to be done.

By Bruce Bean
The Siglo News