Our Experiences at NPH Mexico!

Written By Natalie Standridge, CEO & Founder, Casa de Corazón

Have you ever had a moment where you felt like all the random components of your life suddenly made sense? Like the plethora of crazy and convoluted experiences you have navigated thus far, the suffering and the joy, the grit and the serendipity, were perfectly aligned in order to bring you to the moment you are experiencing right now?

This is how I felt when we stepped off the bus in Cuernavaca, Morelos, into the warm and welcoming home of the young people of Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos (NPH) Mexico. 20+ teens and young adults greeted us with a hand-painted sign that said Bienvenido Casa de Corazón. I melted. Over the course of the next week, they would share their home, their school, their stories, and their dreams with us. They would inspire us, humble us, and seize a piece of my heart to keep with them forevermore.

We were the first group to visit Casa Buen Señor, the home of the older children in Cuernavaca, since before the pandemic. And we were the first group ever to stay there for a whole week. You see, most volunteers want to go to visit the younger children in Casa San Salvador, who are easy to love and who automatically awaken a “ternura” – a sense of loving compassion – in everyone they meet. But no groups before ours had taken the time and effort to really get to know the teenagers. To bring them activities and love and magic moments geared toward their stage of life. This became our mission for the week, and I believe we made a difference.

For example, Daniel Zapata, our visit leader, and the Communication Officer of NPH Mexico, let us know that in the past when groups of visitors came for a day, they would each choose a young person to take to the movie theater in town. This was never going to work for the Casa team. Our bleeding hearts ached for those 170 young people left behind.

Our core value of Living Whole-Heartedly prevailed once again. We streamed a new movie and projected it on the wall in their events room, then set them up to watch it over dinner, donuts, and popcorn. We went out to purchase the necessary ingredients, and then the Casa team helped the kitchen make the snacks from scratch. Everyone was able to participate rather than just a select few. Daniel said these kids had never been served donuts in the entire 6 years working for the organization, or perhaps ever. 

When we chose to support NPH through our annual 1K For Kids, I knew it was a great organization serving kids who either don’t have parents, or were born into extreme poverty, or sometimes both. But what I learned in my visit is that the organization does SO much more than just provide for these young people’s basic needs. NPH has launched its own private schools from Pre-k all the way through Mexico’s equivalent of high school, and when its kids graduate from these, the program sponsors them through college too!

NPH sees education as the #1 tool to exit poverty and supports its children all the way through graduation from college. And above that, the goal is not that the children without parents will ever be adopted. NPH has decided that focusing on this as a goal (the achievement of which decreases every year of their lives) keeps them from living their present lives to the fullest. Instead, they consider their community to BE the children’s family and provide their campuses as a place that they can always come home to. Believe it or not, Rafael Bermúdez, the Executive Director of NPH Mexico, is the father – the actual legal guardian – for over 500 children enrolled in the program at both locations. Talk about living your core values. What an inspiration.

Interculturality is about not only learning from other cultures, but being fully immersed into them, and having our lives profoundly changed. This is what Casa’s mission is all about, and the immersion trip to NPH Mexico fulfilled this mission and so much more than I could have possibly imagined. I am even more proud than ever before to support NPH through our 1K For Kids and to own an organization that makes an impact beyond our schools’ walls. The people of NPH kept thanking us for our visit, thanking the entire Casa Familia for our donations to them through the 1K; their gratitude was simply overwhelming. But I must say, we were the most grateful ones of all. Our lives were profoundly changed by our experience on this immersion trip. I miss my dear friends at NPH every day, and I cannot wait to visit again.

Escrito Por Jansel Hernandez, Culture & Innovation Catalyst

Existen muchas instituciones sin fines de lucro que hacen un trabajo genial con los niños, pero en esta ocasión les hablaré de una organización que hace una gran diferencia en la vida de la niñez. Les contaré de NPH México y donde viví una de las experiencias que han marcado positivamente mi vida y que siempre recordaré.

Durante el trayecto a NPH México estaba preocupado pensando de cómo podría ser la experiencia con los niños y las autoridades de dicha organización, pero mi preocupación desapareció cuando lo primero que vi al llegar al aeropuerto fue un letrero que decía “bienvenidos equipo de Casa de Corazón” y un gorro de mariachi que oficializaba la llegada al hermoso país de México.

NPH es una organización internacional con centros de apoyo a la niñez en países como México, El Salvador, Republica Dominicana, Haití entre otros países latinoamericano. En el viaje pude darme cuenta de cómo esta organización ofrece a los niños acogida y educación integral desde la edad prescolar hasta la universidad y egresa ciudadanos ejemplares con competencias sociales empáticas y herramientas profesionales para integrarse al campo laborar o incluso tener su propio negocio.

En la rutina diaria que pude llevar con ellos noté que tienen horarios definidos para sus actividades. De lunes a viernes en horario de la mañana los niños y adolescentes asisten a la escuela y al regresar a la casa Buen Señor almuerzan y toman un descanso para luego integrarse a diferentes actividades.

De las actividades que más disfruté con ellos fue jugar voleibol y para mi sorpresa son muy buenos jugando este deporte al punto que suelen organizar eventos entre los diferentes grupos manteniendo así un espíritu competitivo y a la vez hábitos saludables a través del deporte.

También las tardes están distribuidas en diferentes actividades integrales como son pinturas, bailes folclóricos, formación humana. Uno de los momentos favoritos fue cuando tuve que impartir un improvisado curso de teatro, con alrededor de 20 participantes. En este punto me pude dar cuenta de la gran capacidad creativo de estos adolescentes, que son tímidos en un primer momento, pero luego son creativos y alegres. En el curso ellos tenían que preparar en 5 min. Una obra de teatro y mostrar sus cualidades actorales, para mi sorpresa hubo un grupo que decidió hacer su obra en el patio. Este grupo se llevó los aplausos de todo por su creatividad y forma chistosa de hacer teatro.

Este viaje fue auspiciado por Casa de Corazón que en los esfuerzos de promover un espíritu filantrópico a través del 1K For Kids realizó esta experiencia internacional. El 1K For Kids se celebra cada año y ayuda a niñez internacional de bajos recursos, también esta institución en el 2022 está celebrando 20 años ofreciendo un servicio de cuidado y aprendizaje de español de inmersión en el estado de Minnesota.

Al concluir el viaje a NPH México me quedé con la agradable sensación de que con pequeños recursos se puede impactar mucho la vida de los niños en situaciones vulnerables como lo hace esta organización que desde hace década se esfuerza por ofrecer oportunidades a la niñez latinoamericana.