Arrived on January 3rd!

I made it down to Guatemala on Thursday morning, and was pleased to be greeted as I entered the gate of the NPH campus by the entire group- It was humbling as the Director spoke to the children and talked about what an important day it was in the life of their home, as after sixteen years of receiving orphans they had finally received a priest. The kids are incredibly open, friendly and affectionate. The older ones seem younger than their counterparts in Chicago- even though they have experienced incredible tragedy and sadness in their lives, and in many cases have witnessed horrible events, including the murder of parents- here they are fairly sheltered and do not seem to have the sophistication or “street smarts” that kids their age at home have. To be sure, they are not all innocent doves, but there is something beautiful about their spirits that became evident very quickly.

The first few days have been spent getting oriented to the people and the place. There are around 350 orphans from babies through “high school,” plus about thirty studying at the university. Sixty of the kids live off campus in homes in the town where they attend school. The school system here seems much different from what we have at home: on campus they have what we would liken to grade school and part of high school. There is also a “catch up” school for those who arrive without having had adequate formal education one might expect for their age. At some point, around 17 to 19, they move off campus for a kind of pre-university/vocational training school that lasts two or three years. They used to do their year of service prior to going to this school, but the government has established new rules prohibiting this, and so they come back for their year of service after they have done their “bachelor’s” (which is not comparable to our bachelor’s university degree). The 30 or so “bachilleratos” are separated, the girls in one home and the boys in another, living with one adult to keep an eye on things.

I will be overseeing a small religion department, which includes myself and two others. We will provide all of the religious education for the kids in school, including the 160 or so “externs” who come onto the campus for class here. In addition, there is a fairly developed youth ministry program. As far as Mass and the sacraments go, there is much to be done. I’ll say more about this another time, but to give an idea: we had a nice Epiphany Mass on Sunday in the cafeteria, but out of the 350 or so who were present, only about 75 received communion. Part of the issue is that the kids feel they cannot go to communion if they haven’t been to confession in a while- ordinarily a good disposition, especially if aware of serious sin. But here, confessions are a much bigger deal than at home. I’ll need to find a way to help them receive more frequently without their losing their sense of the importance of confession.

I had lunch with the pastor of the parish in town on Saturday, and he told me that he hears for confessions for an hour solid, beginning at 5am on Sunday mornings, before the 6am Mass. And then again for an hour in the afternoon prior to the 6pm Mass. He also has a 10am, and a 3pm off site at a mission parish. I will say more about the parish situation here at some time in the future. But I did tell him that once I have a sense of how things at NPH are going, I should certainly be able to help him out on Sundays.

My Spanish is holding out better than I thought it would. It is exhausting having to hold my concentration to listen and speak throughout the day, but I can understand most of what people say to me. And while what I say probably sounds a bit juvenile to those I am talking to, I seem to be managing to get my point across.

And so, a few days into the experience at NPH, I am flush with joy. It is a place filled with hope and energy, and I feel that I will be able to make a meaningful contribution. The living conditions are better than I expected (for now I am living in the house of the national director). The food is simple, but fine and seems healthy enough. I am trusting them when they tell me that the water is OK to drink (there is a modern water purification system), and so far my stomach is doing fine. I posted a few photos, so please feel free to punch the button to take you to that page.