«Santo Niño» Project
Chihuahua, Ciudad Juárez
Web: proyectosantonino.org
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/proyectosantonino
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/proyectosantonino/
Mail: proyectosantonino@gmail.com
About
Proyecto Santo Niño became incorporated as a nonprofit in the United States in 2022 but began about twenty years ago when three Sisters of Charity from Cincinnati, Ohio felt called to offer assistance to women and their children with special needs in Anapra, Mexico. Of the founding sisters, one was a family physician, one was a registered nurse, and the other was trained in massage therapy and alternative body work. At the time, there was practically no access to prenatal and general health care in the area resulting in a significantly high incidence of birth defects and injuries occurring to children during the birth process. Women who delivered children with disabilities and handicapping conditions had little to no support. The sisters helped ensure the women had proper pre- and post-natal care and taught the mothers how to care for their children. Through the love and care lavished on the women and children, these mothers came to see that their children were not burdens or curses but were precious children of God, with the innate human dignity that should be respected in all people regardless of ability or limitations.
In the past few years as access to health care has improved, the most critical need in Anapra is the lack of adequate education for not only the children with special needs, but for their typically-learning siblings. Additional Sisters of Charity with educational background and experience relocated to the area to lend their expertise and determined that the Montessori philosophy, methods and curriculum perfectly address the needs of the diverse group of children and youth needing instruction. Two sisters are completing the requirements for Montessori certification and began implementing the program at the beginning of the school term of 2022.
There is an early childhood classroom for children 2 ½ to 6 years of age and another for children in both the lower and upper elementary grades. Additionally, those children who have reached middle-school age but have no accessibility to the public school system are permitted to continue attending Santo Niño. A specialized form of neuro-education is provided for infants through adults who are not developing normally or who are experiencing physical, developmental or emotional trauma. Speech and language therapy is provided to all who need it twice weekly.
Because we began as a family-based ministry, the mothers of the children with special needs continue to come with their children and provide services like cooking and cleaning the facility. They have formed close friendships and support each other in navigating all the difficulties of raising a child with special needs in a community plagued by extreme poverty and gang violence. The sisters continue to offer assistance when their needs become more than they can manage. We celebrate birthdays, holidays, pregnancies, and births and deaths together as a family.
Lastly, we began sponsoring the young adults in the community who have the capacity and desire to earn college degrees but would otherwise not have the resources to fund their studies. We are currently supporting four young women in their studies with one recent graduate who is already teaching in one of the public schools. We are hoping that these women will become the teachers and leaders of Santo Niño in the years to come as we continue to develop into an accredited school that can provide an inclusive and quality education to all the children in the neighborhood who would like to attend. We are also hoping to create a bi-national laboratory school in which university students on both sides of the US-Mexican border can have practicum and student teaching experiences together. This will be of benefit to both the university students and the children attending the school.
