Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos
Encyclopedia
Mission & Philosophy
The official mission of NPH is "to provide shelter, food, clothing, healthcare and education in a Christian family environment based on unconditional acceptance and love, sharing, working and responsibility."Self sufficiency is a cornerstone of the NPH philosophy, and many NPH homes grow much of their own food. Each home has their own chapel, clinic, primary and secondary school.
Reciprocity is also a foundational ideal of NPH, and every pequeno must give a year of service at their home after graduating highschool and before going to college. Many NPH children work later in their lives for the organization as lawyers, teachers, doctors, and home and national directors.
While not related by blood ties, every child in the NPH organization is treated as a member of a single family. Raised and provided for as such, none of the children are available for adoption.
The result of this active philosophy and mission is to engender in the children raised in the homes a spirit of trust, confidence, and sharing toward others; attitudes which are rare in persons with histories of abuse or being abandoned.
As Erich Fromm
Erich Fromm
Erich Seligmann Fromm was a Jewish German-American social psychologist, psychoanalyst, sociologist, humanistic philosopher, and democratic socialist. He was associated with what became known as the Frankfurt School of critical theory.-Life:Erich Fromm was born on March 23, 1900, at Frankfurt am...
, the renowned psychologist, has pointed out in a study that he conducted with Michael Maccoby
Michael Maccoby
Michael Maccoby is a psychoanalyst and anthropologist globally recognized as an expert on leadership for his research, writing and projects to improve organizations and work...
of the NPH organization;
"The boys and girls come from the poorest classes, from families in which the mother has died, and, in about 80 percent of the cases, in which the father has abandoned the children. Considering these conditions, one would expect a great many behavioral difficulties- either destructiveness or sexual problems... But contrary to such expectations, no major behavior problems exist among these children. There are practically no problems of violence in the sense of serious physical assault against either another member of the community, teachers, outsiders, nor are there any serious sexual problems...What is remarkable, however, is the absence of not only major behavioral problems but the presence of a spirit of cooperation and mutual responsibility. The boys and girls feel themselves to be members of the “family” and are proud of this membership, although this family is not based on the common tie of blood and is so large that it exceeds the limits of what could even be called an extended family. It is actually a community with life centered values, characterized by a spirit of cooperation and responsibility."
The Homes
- Mexico
- Guatemala
- El Salvador
- Honduras
- Nicaragua
- Haiti
- Dominican Republic
- Bolivia
- Peru
History
The first home was established in Mexico by the American priest, Father William WassonWilliam Wasson
Father William B Wasson was an American priest. He was born in Phoenix, Arizona, USA, but moved to Mexico where he trained as a priest. In 1954, he founded Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos, a charity for neglected and abandoned children, which today operates across Latin America...
, after a fifteen year old boy was arrested for stealing from the poor box of a small church in Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico. Father Wasson didn’t press any charges, instead asking for the boy’s custody. By the end of the year he had 32 children living at a small rented house which became known as Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos.
Funding and food for the home was solicited by the efforts of Wasson, who travelled extensively until his death in 2006 visiting the wealthy in order to procure funds for his ever growing family.
A hurricane in Honduras prompted Wasson to aid in the relief efforts by founding a second children's home in that country. Wasson then targeted Haiti, one of the poorest countries in the world, building a home higher up in the mountains, away from the abject poverty of the city streets. Houses were then built in Guatemala, Nicaragua, El Salvador, and the Dominican Republic.
To date over 16,000 children have been cared for in homes located in the countries of Honduras, Haiti, Nicaragua, Guatemala, El Salvador, the Dominican Republic, Peru, Bolivia, and Mexico. In Haiti, the poorest country, thanks to father Richard Frechette, NPH also built the largest pediatric hospital of Caribbean area "St Damien" and developed a major program to help disabled people, which represent over 40,000 per year.
Organization
While NPH embraces Catholic values, it is not officially connected or affiliated with any Church, and as a private institution, relies on outside sponsorship and private donations, mostly thanks to collecting offices all over the world.NPH International is an organization with a board of directors who oversee funding and general guidelines. Reporting to this international board are national directors, one from each of the nine countries.
Within the home of each country there are one or more house directors, who oversee the daily operations of the homes and the well being of the children. Both the national and home directors are usually former pequenos themselves.
Taking care of the daily needs of the children are caregivers, made up of older pequenos devoting a year of service to their younger siblings, as well as volunteers from around the world.
In addition, there are various staff employed in each of the homes.
Notable Patrons
- Father William Wasson, founder of Friends of the OrphansFriends of the OrphansFriends of the Orphans founded in the United States in 1965, is a registered 5013 non-profit corporation, Federal Tax ID# 65-1229309, dedicated to improving the lives of orphaned, abandoned and disadvantaged children through our support of the Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos/Nos Petits Freres etSoeurs ...
- Father Richard Frechette, national director of NPH home in Haiti and NPHI medical supervisor
- Helen HayesHelen HayesHelen Hayes Brown was an American actress whose career spanned almost 70 years. She eventually garnered the nickname "First Lady of the American Theatre" and was one of twelve people who have won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony Award...
, actress - Pedro MartínezPedro MartínezPedro Jaime Martínez is a retired Major League Baseball pitcher. He is an eight-time All-Star, three-time Cy Young Award winner, and 2004 World Series champion...
, baseball player - John WayneJohn WayneMarion Mitchell Morrison , better known by his stage name John Wayne, was an American film actor, director and producer. He epitomized rugged masculinity and became an enduring American icon. He is famous for his distinctive calm voice, walk, and height...
, actorActorAn actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
Notable Friends
- Andrea BocelliAndrea BocelliAndrea Bocelli, is an Italian tenor, multi-instrumentalist and classical crossover artist. Born with poor eyesight, he became blind at the age of twelve following a soccer accident....
, tenorTenorThe tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2... - Paul HaggisPaul HaggisPaul Edward Haggis is a Canadian screenwriter, producer, and director. He spent his early career producing and directing various American and Canadian television network series.-Early life and education:...
, screenwriter, producer and film director - Susan SarandonSusan SarandonSusan Sarandon is an American actress. She has worked in films and television since 1969, and won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in the 1995 film Dead Man Walking. She had also been nominated for the award for four films before that and has received other recognition for her...
, actress - Sean PennSean PennSean Justin Penn is an American actor, screenwriter and film director, also known for his political and social activism...
, actorActorAn actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity... - Jimmy Jean-LouisJimmy Jean-LouisJimmy Jean-Louis is a Haitian actor and model best known for his role as The Haitian on the NBC television series Heroes. Born in Pétionville, he moved to Paris at a young age to pursue a modeling career. His early roles were in French musical theatre and television commercials...
, actorActorAn actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
Statistics
as of December 31, 2006. Taken from [www.nph.org]| NPH Total | Bolivia | D. Republic | El Salvador | Guatemala | Haiti | Honduras | Mexico | Nicaragua | Peru | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of Children | 3,113 | 40 | 120 | 377 | 304 | 506 | 536 | 884 | 310 | 36 |
| In Primary School | 1,559 | 25 | 86 | 267 | 160 | 363 | 62 | 410 | 168 | 18 |
| In Secondary School | 583 | 3 | 1 | 53 | 100 | 59 | 54 | 218 | 90 | 5 |
| In High School | 318 | - | - | 18 | 27 | - | 97 | 176 | - | - |
| In University | 88 | - | - | - | 4 | 3 | 11 | 69 | 1 | - |
| New arrivals | 462 | 40 | 26 | 81 | 49 | 50 | 36 | 93 | 55 | 32 |