Squalor Calling and Catholicism at NPH-G

I guess it’s the same everywhere: poor kids with cell phones. When I made plans to come to Guatemala, I envisioned a kind of poverty that would not be “contaminated” in ways I think happen when the poor live side-by-side with the extremely wealthy.

The bread-and-butter of financial support of the NPH homes comes through individual sponsorship of children. If you go to the NPH website (www.nph.org) you can learn more about becoming a sponsor. The kids each have up to ten sponsors (though most have only a few), who each pledge a certain amount of financial support that helps pay for their room, board, education, etc. The relationships often become more personal, as sponsors can visit and write the kids, and the kids write back.

Sponsors provide love and contact with the outside world. It is a joy to witness the pleasure the kids get out of receiving cards and letters from their sponsors. And the visits I have seen have also made clear to me just what an important role the sponsors play in the children’s lives. In addition to helping to support their room, board and education, sponsors also seem to find ways to provide personal gifts (financial and otherwise) that allow the children small luxuries. I am told that the good intentions of generous sponsors sometimes have to be held in check, as what appear to them to be modest gifts are actually over the top to a poor child. Here we need to combat the threat of exposure to materialism and the values that it can foster, values that are inconsistent with the NPH mission. But it is not just the sponsors who give gifts- extended family members who have access to the kids here can give gifts as well; and I understand that cell phone bills are sometimes paid for by extended family members. (Why these extended family members are not expected to pay to cover NPH’s cost of caring for their child is something I do not understand.)

The reality is that even though many of the high school kids have cell phones, they are basically living in squalor. The girls sleep several to a room, and share a living room the size of a small bedroom. This is equipped with an old fashioned television, and all thirty of them cram in to watch TV. The door to the outside of their compound is locked at 8pm, and a guard is posted there for protection. Yes, they have food to eat- but the condition of the kitchens and the buildings they all live in are worse than anything I have seen in the US. Since I eat regularly with them, I have to constantly work to suppress my gag reflex. The kids don’t know how to eat with knife and fork- they use a spoon and their hands. In addition to a spoon, each is supplied with a plastic bowl and plastic cup, which they use for every meal. Nothing is cooked in an oven- all is cooked in large pots on stoves, some gas and some wood-burning.

The conditions at the main home are much better (though they have the same spoon/plastic bowl/plastic cup). The homes for the high school kids (boys in one home; girls in another) are fairly appalling from my standpoint. But money is an issue, and at least by this point, they are older and presumably better able to deal with the squalor.

So I don’t want to begrudge them their cell phones. But it seems a strange juxtaposition, given the conditions and circumstances they are living in. And I cannot help but wonder whether the combined value of what is spent on these devices might be put to better use.

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Despite being a Catholic institution (not under canon law, but through its bylaws), there is no religion budget at the NPH Guatemalan home. (Obviously, I will insist that this change in the next fiscal year). In recent years, a couple of generous donors have provided funds to cover the salaries of two people who do their best to teach religion in the 40 minutes/week allotted to each class and to provide youth ministry opportunities for the kids. These donors also covered the cost of flying in the priest from the Honduran home once every four or five weeks so that the kids might have some pastoral care and Mass here. I am grateful that they have promised to provide funds for this year’s youth ministry program, as well as for my assistant who also serves as a catechist at the school. My salary is being paid by the NPH International organization. I have found only four crucifixes on the grounds here- two of which I brought from home. I have found about ten bibles. Given what appears to be a dearth of commitment to religion, I am actually impressed by the level of devotion and faith among the kids and the staff here. It also gives me great hope that with a little kick-start, we can be launched to greater heights.

Devotion to the founder, Rev. William Wasson (1923-2006), continues to be strong. Pictures of him are everywhere, and the kids remember him in their prayers almost every time they fold their hands. They have had to work to a bit to tone down the cult that has developed around him, but there are some clear advantages. For one, when I walk around wearing my clerics, the kids make an immediate connection between me and him. (Some of the youngest ones actually call me, “Padre Wasson.”) While his idea was to staff his homes with “graduates” from NPH homes, many of the staff and volunteers have had no prior experience with NPH, and many are not Catholic. Even among the children, many are not Catholic- although some of them choose to become Catholic later. Children who come here under the age of seven are baptized and raised Catholic. All who live here practice as Catholics to the extent possible, and those who work here but are not Catholic are expected to support the Catholic aspects of the home and may not do anything that might confuse the children from a faith standpoint.

Teaching religion in the school is a challenge, as the environment of the school in general is not conducive to good learning. (more about that in another post) Forty minutes/week of religion class is hardly sufficient for communicating the catechism. There is no established curriculum, and so at this point we are basically teaching “by the seat of our pants.” I am not skilled at curriculum development and catechist training, but will clearly have to work to develop these skills. I am grateful to Cathy Crino, with whom I worked at St Alphonsus, for her help with this. But it will probably take a year or more to get some kind of system into place. Most of the kids seem to have only the most basic understanding of Christianity.

Fortunately, they like going to Mass! In addition to community Sunday Mass, we have Mass with smaller groups on weekdays. I am pleased to see how many come on their own to the Thursday evening liturgy (forty or more), and I am busy hearing confessions the whole time during the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament that follows that Mass. The confessions are heartfelt and solid- kids living this closely together understandably struggle to maintain the charity towards one another that is necessary in these conditions. I am impressed by their ability to recognize their faults, and their willingness to confront them. I am also touched by their contrition, and by their desire to do better.

The kids (as well as the adults on staff) are excited by the prospect of our building a chapel here. Having seen in parish assignments how a well-appointed church can serve both catechetical and spiritual goals, I trust that once this is established the catechetical and spiritual development of the children will really take off. As of now, donors I know already have given $65,000 to build the chapel (all still in the St Alphonsus bank account until we are ready to break ground). I hope to have some plans in place by late Spring and drawings put together by the summer so that we can begin construction as soon as possible. My colleague, Fr Ron Hicks, built a chapel at the home in El Salvador some years ago for around $120,000- which is why I feel that an initial goal of $150,000 for the one here will be in the ballpark.