where there is injury, pardon;

2 Mexico

Dear Friends,

2008 was a year full of challenges, especially the sudden downturn in the economic situation that surprised us all at the end of the year. At NPH Mexico we are always thinking of the children and are currently doing our utmost so that they will not suffer consequences in the coming year due to the economic situation.

This year, our state, Morelos, suffered a teachers’ strike in the public school system lasting more than 10 weeks. The children of Morelos could not and did not go to school. Our three schools, elementary, middle and technical high school, all stayed open. We are proud to say that not only did our children not miss any school, but we were able to accept more children than ever before from the surrounding communities, unconditionally, so that they too could access their right to an education.

This year our house will turn 55 years old. Throughout these 55 years, including when our beloved Father Wasson was here with us, we have always had, one way or another, economic issues. Our donors and godparents have always helped us, and this help has allowed us not only to treat our children well, but to continue accepting new children into our family. In these difficult times, the

poor suffer more than anyone and it is more important than ever that we keep our doors open to children in need. We pledge to welcome with open arms the children who need us.

In the coming year our work will be challenging but all of the staff at NPH Mexico are dedicated, and conscious that the work that we do is the most important in the world. We are forming, and transforming the lives of thousands of children.

We hope that this year the spirit of our beloved Father Wasson will continue to guide us as he did when he was here with us on earth.

We could not be so successful in our labor of love without the help of our godparents, benefactors and friends. With your help we will weather this economic crisis as we have so many before, and our family will continue to grow.

Rafael BermudezNational Director

Public RelationsOur Public Relations department, headed by the capable and talented Alicia Caro is a growing, successful and important part of our home. Together with the Mexican sponsorship department, run by Alicia Caro and Bruni Caro, and special projects, it is responsible for 30% of our total budget, quite a feat!

The department has secured many in-kind donations this year and staff members furthered their training with a conference series given by the government. A wonderful new deal with a state-wide newspaper means that we have a reporter attending all house events. A feature was done on NPH Mexico with National Director, Rafael Bermudez, on the cover of a Sunday supplement magazine. Summer activities this year were greatly enriched by free movie passes for all children as well as free tickets to several area water parks.

This year the PR department helped the high school students to enter a drawing contest held by HSBC, a worldwide bank. One of our students, Irving, won for the state of Morelos and was awarded a trip to Cancun.

For 2009, Public Relations has many goals. They would like our house to be known throughout the country and for more people to be part of our family and feel proud of us. They would like to start an art fair where a portion of the proceeds comes back to the house. Also, they would like to increase their budget responsibility to help the house in this time of crisis.

Needs:Assistant to make phone calls/solicit donations/ make connections and contacts in local businesses

Computer for the PR director

CorrespondenceThe correspondence department is a bustling, busy place. Director Bruni Caro and one assistant are in charge of all the mailings for NPH Mexico. This means that three times a year they do mass mailings to all donors and godparents within Mexico, about 10,000 letters!

The first and second mailings of the year are general information mailings which include a newsletter about events at the house. The third

Public Relations & In-Country Sponsorships are responsible for 30% of income for the total operating budget.

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is the Christmas mailing, in which a campaign is included to ask for donations for the children’s daily needs, such as underwear, shoes and clothes. This year they will continue with this campaign, as it has been very successful in the past. The surprising and wonderful thing is that help comes in all forms, from the well-off donor who can donate everything a child needs, to the donor who helps with any small amount they can.

We have many donors who help monetarily without the commitment of being a godparent and these mailings serve to remind our donors that it is time to help, as well as help to spread the word about our organization. The correspondence department would like to reinitiate the direct mail program again next year. It was stopped this year due to a low response, but we believe that it can continue to help us gain new godparents and donors.

The correspondence department would like to thank all the young people of the high school who help stuff envelopes to get the mailings out on time. Without their help, these mass mailings would be impossible!

PsychologyOne of the most important priorities of the department continues to be the preparation and development of psychologists and teachers through training and issue awareness courses. Courses for caregivers were also provided this year. This protects our children by directly helping those who help them.

The biggest goal of the department is to improve the evaluation system and continue to find and implement advances in treatment. We would also like to start another Special Education section for the primary school students as there is currently only one.

Carlos is a boy who came to our home after an extremely difficult home life through age five. Due to the neglect of his parents he did not know how to socialize, follow rules or behave. He has now been in therapy and special education for 10 years and is a changed young man. He attends classes and is motivated to learn and participate, and he knows how to treat his peers. We are so proud of all his hard work.

Needs:Didactic materials Teacher for special education group

Psychology Department employees: 13, Psychologists: 4, Speech therapist: 1, Special Education teachers: 4, Volunteer teacher’s aide: 1

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Milpillas Garbage Dump Outreach ProgramNPH Mexico started a program in 1999 to help the people of a nearby garbage dump named Milpillas. The people that work in the dump are called “pepenadores”, or garbage pickers, and live in a town constructed from and built directly on, garbage. Their children traditionally did not attend school, and instead helped their families gather recyclables and anything that could potentially be sold from the tons of garbage that were dumped each day.

This outreach program is all encompassing. NPH not only provides any child from the community who wishes to go with schooling, but also uniforms, gym clothes, shoes, sneakers, books, school supplies, transportation, a hot shower in the morning and two full meals a day. We currently have 110 Milpillas children in our schools: 73 in elementary school, 18 in middle school, 13 in high school and 2 in university. Like all of our children, they are offered an education through the university level.

The dump closed last year but we have not lost any children as families stayed living on the garbage remains, but went to work on other dumps. In fact, enrollment went up as children were allowed to go to school instead of working with their families at the dump. The children now play after school. There is a rumor that the dump will reopen, the people of the town want this even though the government recently lowered the price paid for recycled goods by 40% and it will be harder than ever to make a living.

Gerardo and Milton are students in our primary school. They are in kindergarten and second grade. Their mother is a housewife and their father is a blacksmith’s assistant. He has trouble getting work due to a spinal injury that will not allow him to lift more than 10 pounds. Gerardo and Milton have big dreams for their futures and we know that with our help they can break the cycle of poverty. Their family appears very dedicated to helping them to succeed.

Milpillas Students: 73 in elementary school, 18 in middle school, 13 in high school and 2 in university.

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Elementary SchoolThere were two very significant events that coincided with the beginning of the school year. The first was a 10-week teacher strike, which crippled the state of Morelos’ education system and filled our school in Miacatlan to capacity as it was the only school open in the area. The second was the arrival of Jesús Nares, a new principal with a fresh vision for our children.

Jesús’ first order of business was to coordinate teachers helping teachers. He set up a public internet forum where all teachers post their lesson plans a week in advance so that other teachers can comment on and help their fellow teachers be the best they can be and teach as well as they can. The exam system has

been overhauled to eradicate written exams for young children in favor of hands-on testing through third grade. Fourth through sixth grades will no longer have multiple-choice exams; instead they will have exams that better test their knowledge.

A reinforcement group has been started for children who need extra help or extra time to learn a subject. The subject is taught at a slower pace in this group, with the goal that the students will then rejoin their peers.

Leonardo was having problems in school, both behaviorally and academically and was passed through different fourth grade classes and even special education, without any positive results. One day he was

in the principal’s office and picked up a fifth grade textbook and grew engrossed in what he was reading. Jesus spoke with him about what he had read, and he had understood perfectly. Through meetings with his teachers and the school psychologist, the decision was made to move him up to fifth grade. Now Leonardo is a different child, he is excited about learning and pays attention in class. He has even asked permission to join the school band!

Needs:Full time gym teacher (regular teachers now teach gym to their students)

Special education teacher

Director’s assistant (current secretary does everything, including correcting and grading exams)

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Total enrollment: 355, NPH: 154, Milpillas Garbage Dump Outreach Program: 70 Padre Marcos Street Children Program: 24, External students: 107

Middle SchoolThis has been an exciting year for our middle school. Middle school in Mexico is slightly different from those in other countries, as it consists of 7th, 8th and 9th grades. Our middle school is also a technical middle school which means that all students learn a skill that they will hopefully nurture with further studies. Our middle school has two new workshops this year, Industrial Design and Accounting, bringing the total to four with Sewing and Mechanics. These two new workshops will hopefully lead to a discovery of interest and the pursuit of higher education studies in accounting and architecture. Students have shown a serious interest and they are proving to be quite successful.

A school band was started this year and we can now, as a school, take part in town parades and celebrations such as the one on Revolution Day this past November. Having a band also gives students more avenues towards finding a personal interest and being involved in school activities. It is also great for school spirit! Our middle school students have also shown their school spirit by

competing and winning many athletic competitions this year.

They have won 30 medals overall, in competitions against 45 other technical middle schools state-wide. Andrea came to our home a year and a half ago. Through sports she has found a way to relate to her peers and has become a changed young woman. She is completely adapted to the house and is always seen with a huge smile on her face. She won two gold medals this year!

Needs:Workshop materials, $8,000: materials for four workshops for one year

Computers are desperately needed for the Accounting workshop, computer lab and the library.

Total students: 232, NPH: 159, Milpillas Garbage Dump Outreach Program: 18 Padre Marcos Street Children Program: 14, External students: 35

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English DepartmentThe English department continues to thrive and impress the importance of learning a second language on our children and young people. The department has started a new focus this year on speaking, in class as well as in more public forums. Speaking is the most difficult part of learning a language and this new concentration will help the students in all areas of language learning. The first annual spelling bee was held this year and was a big success. It will now be held every May to give the children an exciting motivator to study as well as practice speaking in front of large groups.

A big challenge of the department is to integrate new children into the program. The director, Elda, has started a new program that uses extra help and private classes to help new and struggling students to catch up with their peers, with a special concentration on those entering high school.

Francisco arrived at our home as a small and shy boy. Now, after dedicated study, he is one of the best English students in our home. For the International Meeting last year he was asked at the last minute to perform a dialogue. He did so very successfully with very little preparation. This year he was one of the winners of the spelling bee!

Needs:Extra funds to pay an existing teacher to teach English to special education students

Employees (teachers) Primary: 2, Secondary: 2, High School: 4 Volunteers: 1, Director: 1

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Bachillerato (Technical High School)Our high school is a technical high school and each student chooses between the offered majors of Tourism, Computers, Accounting, Child Development and Electronics. When they graduate with this technical degree and certify, they are qualified to work in their chosen field. With 181 of our students and 116 external students, the school has a healthy mix of young people.

In 2008 we were proud to see 36 of our students graduate, with an excellent 95% of the class of 2008 completing their professional practices and social service. These young people are now qualified to work in their chosen field of study and many will go on to university.

A new multi-faceted program was started this year to help students in academic and personal areas. Extra help is now given to struggling students in the form of tutors and teachers attuned to their students’ needs can now request individual attention for that student. As high school is a recognized difficult time, students need all the personal help and attention possible. This new

program has helped greatly to reduce the number of young people leaving school for personal or academic reasons. As a part of this program, all seniors are given a special class every week called “Educational Orientation” in which real life themes are talked about to lower risky situations.

The high school’s most important goal for the future is to have 100% of prospective students graduate and certify in their major.

Needs:Remodeling of bathrooms for men and women (currently closed)

Roof waterproofing so rain does not further damage the building

Computers for the computer lab

Total enrollment: 297, NPH: 181, External students: 116, NPH Graduates: 36

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Casa San Luis in MonterreyOur home in Monterrey is full of serious students, working towards the goal of so many of our children, to graduate university. This year, 31 young people successfully completed their two years of service and went to Monterrey, bringing the total to 90 students living in this home.

A new focus was placed on moral and civic duties this year, with the constant goal in mind to help our young people in every way possible graduate university. Our young people study anything from psychology to engineering to nursing to graphic design. Many students are now doing professional practices in their sixth trimester so that they may gain professional experience and knowledge with their degree. The

students report that this gives them more confidence in their abilities and will help them greatly to find employment after graduation.

Flor is a young woman who was unsure if she wanted to study at the university level. She completed her two years of service reluctantly, knowing it would be better to have options. Through the efforts of directors she decided to take advantage of the opportunity for an education and is now just one year away from graduating with a degree in Psychology. We are extremely proud of Flor for making the mature decision to study, and of all of our university students and graduates, who remind us that NPH provides a brilliant future to every child that enters our home.

Students: 90, Directors: 2

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Medical ClinicThis year was one of training and prevention for our medical clinic. Medical care was improved for our children with the training of all caregivers in first-aid and all medical and dental staff in CPR. As the dental clinic has now moved to the medical area, they are an important part of the team.

Successful campaigns this year included treatment to remove/prevent parasites, administered to all children every six months, and vaccinating all the children against Hepatitis A, Influenza and Pneumonia. Conferences were given about eating disorders and at-risk behaviors to our young people to warn them of possible social and personal dangers.

A new addition was built this year and a Physical Rehabilitation Center will be opening as soon as funding for equipment is complete. This is the medical clinic´s biggest goal for next year, to have our Physical Rehabilitation Center up and running and be better able to help our children with physical therapy and our permanent residents to alleviate pain from chronic ailments.

Miguel is a 5-year-old boy who accidentally slammed his thumb in a door. It was such a grave injury that it was thought that his thumb would have to be amputated. Thanks to excellent medical care in a respected hospital and in our clinic, his thumb was saved and is functional.

Needs:Funding and completion of the Physical Rehabilitation Center

New furniture, including beds, for the new second floor

Doctor: 1, Nurses: 8, Housekeeping: 1, Volunteer: 1

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Casa San SalvadorIt has been a wonderfully busy year at Casa San Salvador. With 530 children living here full time and a further 95 coming in every day from the garbage dump outreach program, it is certainly full of life! Casa San Salvador is our main home, where all of our children live until they graduate from ninth grade, which is the end of middle school here in Mexico. Our smallest children live in kinder, and we currently have seven precious little ones, under age 6. Once they graduate from kindergarten they are separated by gender and the first and second graders live in Chicos and Chicas (girls and boys), third and fourth graders are together in Medianos and Medianas, fifth graders in Grandes B, sixth graders in Grandes A, and seventh, eighth and ninth graders each in their own dormitories. This creates a unity between school and home, where children share similar classes, homework and maturity levels.

This year a new horticulture project for girls was started by girls’ director Graciela Lopez. The girls are learning how to do everything from planting the seeds to harvesting the crop. This teaches them responsibility and benefits the house in the form of more vegetables for the kitchen.

Monthly birthday parties have been started for all children and have been very popular. Sharing Fund money is used to provide a special dinner and a cake, and donations are collected and used as presents. Caregivers dress up in costumes and balloons provide a festive atmosphere. It is a wonderful way to help the children feel special.

Thirty-one young people completed their two years of service and went to college this past July. Of course, every child that goes to college is a success for the house and a tangible reminder of all that we work for.

Employees: 55, Volunteers: 14, Year of Service: 60

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Needs:Sneakers and clothes for girls

More funding for the women’s horticulture project

Sneakers, shoes and underwear for boys

A new visitor’s room

Finish waterproofing of dorms and medical clinic

A wonderful new thing this year was a renovation of our program for new children. New children are now given a point person who will help them through their first three months. These months can be difficult for a child as they adjust to their new environment. Giving them

someone on whom they can rely and trust will make their transition easier and so far has had excellent results. We want all members of our family, especially the newest, to feel good about themselves.

Karina is a girl who came to us three years ago, and through neglect by her family, did not know how to take care of herself or relate to her peers. She would not work in school or in her dorm and failed seventh grade. Her family thought of taking her out of NPH and putting her to work, but directors convinced the family to let Karina have another chance. Through the hard work of her caregivers and directors, Karina is now a changed young woman. She is happy and doing well in school.

Casa Buen Señor This year has been a healthy one. The directors and staff have been working together all year to improve the nutritional needs of our children. Now the kitchen tries to serve licuados, or fruit shakes, in the morning with breakfast, more vegetables with lunch and dinner and has at least two types of fruit out as a desert for the young people to choose from. This helps our young people to make smart choices and lead healthier lives.

In July we had the proud moment of seeing 34 of our children graduate from high school. They are now in their first year of service, helping their little brothers and sisters.

One change this year has been getting netting for the sport court here in the house. Before, games were interrupted constantly by the ball flying out of the court. House Director Carlos Olguin says that they are saving a lot of money now that they do not have to replace soccer balls that went flying over the wall, gone forever.

Due to the financial crisis of the moment, the needs of the house are paramount, from small things such as sheets and towels, to big ones such as a new bus and a room for the girls in their year of service in Miacatlan to stay in on their weekends off. Our biggest need, however, is computers. Right now we have only 11 computers

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for 181 children, all of whom are given homework to do on the computer at night. The computer lab is open from 4 pm-9 pm each day and each child is given a one-hour turn, but it is nowhere near enough. 25 computers would be a good start.

In past years our high school students received school shoes and sneakers twice a year, now they are receiving school shoes once a year and sneakers only if there is money. This is hindering their ability to participate in gym class and sports after school. Sneakers would make them more active and healthy.

Juan Manuel is one of our most special students. He is deaf-mute but takes it in stride. This past July we were proud to see him graduate middle school and start to look towards his future. He is now studying in a local university in a special program for deaf students. His class is made up of deaf students and they have a sign-language translator to help them communicate with their teachers. In this way, they are able to attend the same classes and enjoy the same teachers as their peers. Recently it was discovered that Juan

Manuel is a candidate for a Cochlear implant. He has a working auditory nerve and therefore may one day, with this implant, be able to hear and speak. We hope for the best for him and know that with his incredibly positive attitude, he will go far in life.

VolunteersWe currently have 16 volunteers working at NPH Mexico from The United States, England and Germany. These volunteers work as caregivers, English teachers, special education teachers, maintenance, visitor coordinator, clinic assistant, Life Teen youth ministers and a librarian. Our volunteers are incredibly dedicated individuals and consistently provide caring, love and a different perspective to our children.

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The biggest success of the volunteer program this year has been the reopening of our library at Casa San Salvador. Our library had been closed for over a year when a new volunteer, Josie, arrived in July, full of motivation and brimming with fresh ideas. She has turned the dusty room into a welcoming place and through activities and her bright smile, has encouraged the children to come and read. She shares the philosophy that a child´s mind can be opened positively through reading, and she has doubled the rate of visits to the library in just a few short months.

Volunteers have many goals for the future, including creating a better community for volunteers in Cuernavaca (high school students’ home), putting volunteers in Hotel Villa and recruiting an activities coordinator for our university students’ home in Monterrey.

TaekwondoOur Taekwondo program continues to be incredibly popular, thanks to dedicated creator and instructor Jón Levy. Levy now has 150 children participating in the program and

several of his students have won national and even international competitions. One of the greatest accomplishments of the program this year was to send three top competitors to Iceland, the home country of Jón Levy, where they competed and won tournaments. Levy also opened a NPH Iceland office which will be staffed by a volunteer and will start gaining new sponsorships in 2009.

A big change this year was that Kinder started Taekwondo and they love it. They scream “Taekwondo!” in the section all day long. The presentations this year have been very popular and have generated a lot of interest and many donations. Christian is the star of the show with his front and back flips and his impressive breaking of boards and a brick!

Jón Levy’s goals for the future are to have 80% of the children in the house participating in Taekwondo within three years. He would like to take more students to tournaments in the United States so they can compete internationally. His most immediate goal is to have students trained to take over the program in 2009.

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SponsorshipThe Sponsorship department has been extremely successful this year, continuing to facilitate excellent communication between themselves and the fundraising offices in Europe, the US and Canada. They have continued to complete, on time and with great success, the three large programs they execute each year: Christmas Cards, Godparents’ Day Cards and Report Cards. The intranet continues to be an indispensable tool in running the department, making organization, coordination and communication easier.

The biggest future goal of the department is to continue to give excellent attention to all godparents and godchildren.

This year a small boy of seven came to live at our home in Miacatlan and he was asked to do his introduction letter to his new godparents. He would not

do it, and insisted that he did not want to have any godparents. It was decided to hold off on giving him godparents. Once he had been in Miacatlan for awhile and saw that the other children were so happy when they received letters and photographs from their

godparents, he changed his mind. He started to send an introductory letter and drawing every single day. Finally Director Mayi Lopez had to ask the boy to stop sending so many letters, as he could only have 10 godparents. The little boy cried because he wanted to have many godparents!

Needs: A volunteer to translate letters

Special ProjectsProjects Completed:1. Slaughterhouse and water treatment

plant2. Girls Horticulture Project

3. Mobile library for middle school girls’ dorms (rotated monthly)

4. Corn harvester and tractor6. Painting the high school boys’ dorms7. Well maintenance work8. Mats for the Cuernavaca

Taekwondo dojang 9. School backpacks for all high school

and many middle school students

Projects in Need of Funding:1. Computers for middle school

accounting workshop2. Homework computers for high

school students3. Another assistant social worker to

help the department with home visits

4. Repairs at Hotel Villa (plumbing, waterproofing and electrical work)

5. Workshop materials for the middle school

6. Renovation of the bathrooms in the high school, elementary school and the boys’ dorm

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Social WorkWe are lucky to have two new social workers, who arrived full of new ideas and methods. This past August these two remarkable women, Marisol and Elvi, came to our home and completely restructured our acceptance process. They have made it clearer for children to know where they will be living and to have a better idea of how they will be living. This coupled with an exhaustive acceptance process that includes many home visits and meetings with relatives and the children, as well as help after they arrive in Miacatlan from house directors, has raised our retention rate significantly.

We have accepted 32 children into our home since August and we have six who have been accepted, but are just waiting to come join our family. The department has begun to promote the house to other institutions, such as government organizations, through guided visits so that they can understand our system and recommend and help us to accept all children into our home who need us. They have also been more closely working with government agencies to facilitate easier judicial processes.

Guillermo and Alejandro are two young boys, ages eight and ten, who were recently accepted to our family. They were abandoned by their mother and their father, a severe alcoholic, who was unable to care for them. Their neglect was noticed by a neighbor and our social work department was called. After many weeks of visits and talks, the father agreed to let NPH care for his children. Guillermo is now receiving ophthalmological attention due to a severe eye infection that he had had for some time. Alejandro has discovered a passion for Taekwondo. Both boys are adjusting well and happy.

Urgent Need:An assistant social worker to help with home visits and paperwork

New children: 38

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Life TeenLife Teen is a Catholic program that helps young people learn about and grow closer to Christ. Last year Director Jacqueline Baker added the EDGE program as well, which is designed specifically for middle school students. We currently offer Life Teen for our high school students and year of service and EDGE for the middle school students. Jacqueline says, “Life Teen is a hugely important program for the home as it nurtures the spiritual growth of the children in a very different way. They are able to achieve this through dynamic meetings, fun games, community service and faith-sharing nights. The teens are taught about the Catholic faith, how to live their daily lives as Catholics, how to build and be a part of a young Catholic community, as well as global topics like social justice.”

All three parts of the program have weekly “Life Nights” where our young people are engaged in discussions and learn about Catholicism. These are very popular, especially amongst the middle school students where attendance is consistently more than half of

all of this age group in our home. Jacqueline also offers weekly prayer times, social

activities such as the All Saints’ Ball on All Saints’ Day and retreats several times a year. Some of these retreats are local and some are in the United States. When the young people are able to go to the United States it is a wonderful opportunity for them to get to know another culture as well as experience Life Teen with their international peers. Volunteers Natalie and Mario offer weekly prayer meetings for the high school students as well, and this fall organized a hugely popular casino night for all 181 students at Casa Buen Señor.Future goals of the program include more service projects in the community, Bibles for all of the children and an assistant youth minister for EDGE in Miacatlan.

Needs:Two projectors, one for Casa San Salvador and one for Casa Buen Señor

Director: 1, Volunteer: 2

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Hotel VillaHotel Villa is the home to 11 of our most special children. Most come here after completing middle school (9th grade in Mexico) because they do not have the ability to go to high school. At the hotel they are trained to do many daily tasks, such as navigating the city buses, cooking and taking care of themselves. The ultimate goal of the Hotel Villa Program is to socialize and prepare these students (most of whom are in their 20s) to live independently.

This year, we have had great success with two girls. Marisol was shy and intimidated by the world when she first came to the hotel seven months ago. She did not know how to talk to or relate to people and she spent most of her time in her room. Through caring, structured outings and the full program at the hotel, she began to come out of her shell, bit by bit. She now has a good job working at a supermarket, where she freely talks to strangers all day. She applied for the job by herself and now enjoys such benefits as health care and social security. She is saving to get a place of her own and will move out when she feels ready.

The hotel’s greatest needs are structural. The roof leaks and is causing damage to the building. The plumbing and electrical work need to be redone and bedrooms need to be remodeled because a large

group is coming in July of 2009. The director (the only full time, permanent employee) also needs a maintenance worker to help him.

In its second year, Hotel Villa has proved to be an essential part of NPH Mexico. Our most special children deserve to have this help and training, and we are proud to give it to them.

CatechismThis year we have been able to achieve a deeper and more fruitful formation of our children through their classroom studies and taking into account their needs and wishes. It has been a foremost quest in our program to continue the spiritual growth of our children. Each catechist has her own classroom and materials which nurture the children and aid in their reflection.

This past summer we were helped by a seminarian who contributed to the program for the preparation of new children who received the sacraments of Baptism (35) and First Communion (27). We are proud that these children have affirmed their faith. Our immediate future goal is the preparation of almost 70 children for confirmations before the end of the school year.

Needs:Up-to-date material on CD and extra reading material

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FarmWe have had wonderful improvements on our farm this year. A new tractor was bought and is being put to good use. Our three other tractors are extremely old and this new one greatly helps production. We recently received a new corn harvester, which will save us significant money in both the short and long term as we harvest and no longer have to rent equipment. We are currently harvesting 100 tons of corn, which we will use in the kitchen to make tortillas and to feed our animals. Construction was completed on our new slaughterhouse this past June and this has improved the sanitary conditions of our farm. Pigs continue to be our main source of meat and between eight and ten are used in meals weekly.

It was discovered this year through careful cost analysis that eggs are cheaper to buy than to produce and consequently our chickens are now being raised for consumption. We are also continuing our goal to make all of our chickens free-range as it is more humane and also provides better quality meat.

We are also acquiring more sheep as they are inexpensive to raise and healthy to eat. Our sheep population is now at about 220 and our pig population about 270, with new animals consistently being integrated to strengthen bloodlines. We have 20,000 fish, served about every three weeks in our dining room, and about 600 chickens which are currently being raised for the Christmas season.

The farm’s biggest accomplishment this year was to attain almost 100% self sufficiency in grains. The farm’s greatest goal for the future is to pursue and attain self sufficiency in other areas, such as tomato production. Overall, a $30,000 investment in the farm this year resulted in $100,000 worth of produced goods.

Needs:

Machine to separate corn from the cob

Hay Baler and a tractor front loader

Animal feed mixer

Engineers: 2, Employees: 6, Year of Service: 3

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