About the Children
There used to be 40 and 50 boys at Hogar Miguel Magone, aged between the ages of 5 and 16. Now the home also accepts girls and provide meals for local children.
The resident children are not all orphans, many of the boys have parents, or a single parent, but for one reason or another they are unable to stay at home.
The downtown and slum areas of Guatemala City have huge crime problems with unbearable poverty and it is here that the street gangs take control and start to indoctrinate boys as young as six and seven years old into their groups. In this environment the boys experience crime, drugs, solvent use and violence as part of their everyday lives and if they do not conform they are beaten and abused.
Many of the boys at Hogar Miguel Magone have been pushed out of their family homes by parents too poor to keep them, some come to the home without any papers so that we don't even know how old they are. They arrive by several routes; some are picked up by the police and put into the court system where they are registered and allocated to the orphanage and others are brought by their parents or family friends of lost parents.
The boys obviously have varying degrees of psychological distress, and have regular sessions with a visiting psychologist. For the most part however you would not tell them apart from other kids. They are naughty and cheeky and they laugh and joke. They play football and tag and hate doing their chores - just like normal kids. But in dark moments there is a sadness to their eyes that you have to expect from a history of abuse and neglect, or worry and pain, and that is where Karen and her team, with the help of volunteers, can really make a difference. When they cry, these boys really cry and when you understand them, you can understand why.
As a volunteer you would be expected to help with daily tasks like cooking, cleaning, laundy wasing and homework. Any additional skills and knowledge you may have is always a great addition and something we would like to know about before you volunteer.
Should ou prefer to help financially-PLEASE CONTACT ME AT orphanshope@hotmail.co.uk FOR MORE INFO.
