Caputo Children´s Fund

STREET CHILDREN are either orphans or children who have been turned out or abandoned by their parents. But most of them have run away from home. The boys and street girls flee from home abuse, beatings and misery they find in their families. But street life is not better; the children are more exposed to poverty, accidents, rapes, injuries, illnesses and even murder. It is so sad to see so many children on the streets, many die, violence and hunger are the main causes of these deaths.

HOPE FOR STREET CHILDREN. Our Mission is in working with the poor, oppressed, suffering Street Children and all abandoned children. Caputo Children´s Fund is committed to building long-term community benefits for the street children of Guatemala City. Humanitarian efforts are our vision is to bring relief to the street children and elderly people where it is needed most.

We accomplish this by rescuing them from the street and providing a safe Christian refuge where they can grow and learn.  We also try to initiate community programs that help to protect and safeguard all children. 

How We Work

Our principal goal is to unite the children with their families. We try to find children who are entering the streets first time, before they are captivated by the street gangs; we rescue them and take them to a safe place. After counseling we take the children to join with their families, if not possible, to some orphanage that we patronage.

Our goals:

We feed the children one or twice every week on the streets or whenever we have the funds. This gives us a chance to meet and familiarize with existing street children.  

We are looking forward to enlarge our work among the street children. Our final goal is to see as many children as possible to be integrated into our Home for children at Guatemala.  In a short term a child gets initial counseling, and then in the longer term rehabilitation center where a child gets ready to join, momentarily, a family home until we can find an orphanage ready to assist them.The Children face many challenges in regards to health, education, security and food provision.

GUATEMALA. Caputo Children´s Fund sponsors and supports Misión Nueva Vida (New Life Mission), one of the poorest settlement section of the city.

Living in extreme poverty

Misión Nueva Vida desires to carry out the ministry of reconciliation, where families are integrated, where the orphan and the widow are loved and cared for, and where no child is abandoned. Our organization is a response to the needs of our country by increasing the number of children orphans, abandoned, abused and at-street because of the same family disintegration that leads to equivocal decisions affecting their lives even more. A new life is what we offer to this little in need of love, protection and total attendance.

We know that as a society have a responsibility joint and that success is first to attach God and later to all those involved in this task to help the most needy, there are 8 volunteer people who assist in the streets and  complying with programs, so that children  adolescents and youth are integrated into society.

OUR MISSION
1. To integrate the children's family
2. Making small leading a life of bitterness, loneliness and abuse are integrated into society as productive individuals.
3. Supporting marginalized and indigenous groups.

 OUR OBJECTIVES
1. Restoration spiritual, physical and emotional
2. Rescue of identity and dignity
3. Reintegration into their family
4. Incorporation into the productive life
5. Serve society.

We cannot operate without the help and support of people like you. We are not financially wealthy as individuals and cannot support a program of this size. If you would like to support this project, please consider making a tax-deductible, one time donation or monthly pledge to Misión Nueva Vida. You can make a gift online by visiting our Donation page.

Director of the project: Mrs. Adonia Chavarria (center) and Mr. Caputo with some of the children.

Left: grandmother living in a desperate situation (Mrs. Adonia supporting the family with love and devotion).

GUATEMALA. Caputo Children´s Fund sponsors and supports Father Rocco Famiglietti ´s Orphanage for 250 children.

March 28th 2006,  to witness the presentation of that country’s highest honor of recognition given to a civilian, The Humanitarian of the Year Award. This year’s recipient, recognizing his 55-plus years of service to the people of Central America and especially to the people of Guatemala, was Fr. Rocco Famiglietti, founder and present Guardian of Valle de los Angeles (Valley of the Angels) school and orphanage. The ceremonies, conducted at the National Palace in Guatemala City.

Dr. Salvatore Caputo (left), Father Rocco (right)

 First check received for the Orphanage. Name and account information deleted for the benefactor´s privacy.

GUATEMALA. Caputo Children´s Fund sponsors and support "Hospicio San Jose".

Fighting HIV Discrimination in Guatemala.

 Located on a quiet, green lot just outside of Antigua, one of Guatemala's more bustling tourist centers, "Hospicio San Jose" is one of the few facilities in Guatemala to provide integral support to people living with HIV.

Just over 50 children live at the Hospicio, where they receive antiretroviral treatment paid for by the Guatemalan government.

The same doctor and health care workers that make sure the children take their medication, eat properly and are generally in good health also tend to more than 100 HIV-positive adults who visit the hospice on an outpatient basis every month. Hospicio San Jose's clinic fills in the gaps left by public hospitals around the city, which will only see patients once every three months.

JUST  A MIRACLE

Take a good look at this adorable child. Precious little Diana is just one of dozens of children and adults living at the San Jose Hospice in the town of San Lucas, just outside of Guatemala City.

Diana's doctor who works at the hospice told, "We found out she was thrown in the garbage. Some fireman found her and brought her here. When I came here, she was about 1 month old. She was very sick. Her development and her body were abnormal.

And then I started to work with her. I started her on the proper exercises and medicine. And then she started growing, growing, growing and laughing. She was crying all the time. Then about five months ago she started to walk. She started to laugh. She started to eat."  

 

Dr. Salvatore Caputo visiting Hospicio San Jose

GUATEMALA. Caputo Children´s Fund sponsors and support " Down Syndrome Association".

 The Guatemalan Down Syndrome Association is a Non-profit Organization founded to help children with Down Syndrome.

We work in 4 different levels:

Early Intervention Center:

Early Education                     birth to 2 years

Preschool                               3 to 5 years old

Intermediate                        6 to 10 years old

CECAP*                                11 years old and up

*CECAP is the initials in Spanish for Pre-Work Student Center. This is where are students are taught real-life skills to be able to perform a trade once they are finished at the training center.

All the levels include early stimulation, physical therapy, special education, language therapy, and in CECAP several different workshops including: baking, carpentry, horticulture, etc.

Every level requires a monthly payment, but if the family cannot afford this payment, the Association find a sponsor for that child.  You are invited to sponsor a child with a monthly donation of $20.

Currently we have almost 50 children receiving therapy every day of the week.  

Future plans include a bus for transporting the children to and from classes and to special events.  We also would like to expand our kitchen for more “hands on” every-day-living activity training.

Be a part of this dream that is coming true in Guatemala with the Down Syndrome children.

Class room

EL SALVADOR.  Caputo Children´s Fund sponsors and supports Gift of Life (Regalo de Vida).

Gift of Life - Regalo de Vida, El Salvador, is a Non-governmental Organization created in 1992 by a group of volunteers, united with the only one mission of giving back the health and with that, a good future to the Salvadoran children of very scarce resources with different kind of heart diseases and other pathologies that cannot be treated here in El Salvador.