Volunteer Jason helps Walter* with his math homework.
(NPO Honduras)
In the fertile valley that once was the personal property of Hernán Cortés resides an old, converted sugar plantation, Casa San Salvador. This site of 130 acres has served as the main facility for the NPH Mexico family since 1970. Always bustling with activity, over 430 children live, play and study in this village of Miacatlán, which is located 77 miles south of Mexico City. Casa San Salvador facilities are quite extensive and offer a village feel with cobblestone streets, boungainvillea filled archways and a lush landscape. The Casa San Salvador campus includes a pre-school through secondary school, a chapel, dining hall, kitchen, clinic, administration buildings and a farm with chickens, sheep, pigs as well as fruit and vegetable gardens. An additional 140 students attend the NPH vocational high school in Cuernavaca.
At NPH Mexico, we are in the process of seeking motivated volunteers to become a part of our family. Being a volunteer with NPH Mexico means far more than fulfilling the responsibilities of a job; it means becoming a parent figure, a mentor and a friend and being part of a close knit community. Volunteers have long been a vital part of NPH history and continue to add to the richness of life being offered to the children, who call themselves Pequeños. You bring something that was not there before, whether it be your guitar, artistic ability, sports-mindedness, or simply the high five in passing, you make a difference in the life of at least one child who needs it.
We can currently host 13 volunteers at a time in our home. We regularly accept volunteers to begin in January and July, and ask them to work at the home for a period of 12 months. Volunteers must be 21-years-old and should have at least a medium level of Spanish, depending on the job in which some require more fluency. We can recommend in-country language schools to help you improve your Spanish before beginning your service, and all non-native Spanish speakers take two weeks of paid language school upon arrival.
Currently we do accept married couples that would like to volunteer together, but unfortunately we do not have housing for volunteer families.
We have two principal homes for volunteers at NPH Mexico: Casa Buen Señor and Casa San Salvador. Casa Buen Señor, where our high schoolers live and our main offices are located, are in the city of Cuernavaca. We have four volunteers at this home, helping both in the offices and with the day-to-day life of our teenagers. Volunteers at Casa Buen Señor live together in an apartment on site, two to a room, including a comfortable living room, kitchen and access to a washing machine and dryer.
Casa San Salvador, where our children from pre-school through middle school live, is our main home, located in the town of Miacatlán (45 minutes south of Cuernavaca). We have space for nine volunteers at this home, helping in a number of areas such as Special Education, Physical Therapy, Library, Swimming, and Childcare. Volunteers at Casa San Salvador live in three separate rooms, dividing space between three to five volunteers per room. All of the volunteers also share a common area, with a lounge space and kitchen and washing machine.
Outside of the specific job position, all volunteers also dedicate at least two hours per night and every other weekend to working directly with a section of children. Our volunteers are dedicated, self-motivated people whose priority is at all times the well being of our children. We also expect our volunteers to participate in the home’s activities, events and holidays.
Volunteers at NPH Mexico work hard and tirelessly at each individual task handed to them, no matter how big or small. They are determined, passionate and most importantly, they are devoted to working with the larger NPH Mexico family to continuously improve the lives of our children.
