NPH (Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos)

We offically left Costa Rica on April 17th, and arrived at NPH in Nicaragua in the evening. A close friend of my mother runs this orphanage site and we wanted to visit while she was in town and spend some time with the children. NPH has several orphanage sites throughout Latin America. We wanted to visit the location in San Jorge, Nicaragua because of the personal connection.

The site, off the shores of Lago de Nicaragua, is a picturesque location home to approximately 40 children ages 7 and younger. There is an affiliate location for children ages 7 to 18 located on Ometepe, a large island set within the lake. The organization was started some 50 years ago by a priest who happened to walk into an idea. A young boy was caught stealing from the church funds by the local police. The priest, called in by the police, confronted the boy and sincerely asked why he was stealing. The boy responded that he was hungry and had no other options. The reaction by the priest set the wheels in motion for NPH. The boy was taken in by the priest, as he realized that a young man in a desperate situation needs proper attention and care. Each subsequent boy caught commiting some type of crime was immediately turned over by the police to the priest. So, boy by boy, an orphange grew. Young girls became part of the orphanage in time.

Today, the concept in San Jorge and Ometepe is such:
1) Children from a few months to 7 are educated and raised at the San Jorge location
2) Children ages 7 to 18 are educated and cared for at the Ometepe site
3) At the age of 18, the children are encouraged to pursue higher education and required to serve a year of community service with NPH.

Like all concepts, there are pros and cons, but the primary cause is to give children of very poor backgrounds the opporutunity to grow up healthy, be educated, and have more options presented to them. Now, one point to add is that not all of these children are truely orphans, but rather children of very poor backgrounds where their parents cannot care for them properly. Hopefully after the age of 18 or higher education, they can help their families in their struggle against poverty.

Our role was primarily spending time with the children, in whatever capacity that was required - playing, talking, making sure they ate their dinner.......in a nutshell, another positive influence.