Visiting the Ninos y Jovenes Orphanage

Ninos y Jovenes in San Juan Cosala, Jalisco, is an orphanage which has existed for many years. Founded by Padre Macias, who was for a long time the priest at the church in San Juan Cosala, it is located on the edge of town, with the mountains right behind it. This photo, which Kelly took during the rainy season, shows the entrance to it. I don't know whose horses these are.

The orphanage is just a few blocks from where we live, so recently I have gone there a couple of times to visit the priest. Padre Macias, or Padre Beto as many call him, is in his early 80s and still sharp as can be. He knows some English, but we conversed in Spanish, which he was adept at slowing down for us. If he thought we didn't catch a particular word, he often tossed in the English one. Our young friend Peter was with us yesterday, and his Spanish is more limited than ours. Padre Macias told a couple of jokes. Kelly and I got one but not the other, and I think Peter missed them both!

The priest told us that Ninos y Jovenes currently houses about 120 students. Some 40 of them are indigenous: Huicholes, Coras, and others. When the indigenous students first come, they often don't speak Spanish very fluently since it isn't their first language, but within a few months, they are doing great, he reported... most of them would have studied it in school for up to three years in primary school.  The other students are from San Juan Cosala and other areas. Some of the students are indeed orphans, but others may have living parents who cannot care for them for one reason or another.

I have no idea how the orphanage operates financially, but I am sure any help would be most welcome. So far as I know, neither the government nor the church is a major factor. I have heard that there are some local people who help in various ways. There is a staff, including an English teacher I met briefly.

At the time of the waterspout, when there was some damage to Ninos y Jovenes, I linked to a website about the orphanage but my emails to that site have gone unanswered and the US phone number given there doesn't work any more. My guess is that the people moved to the Lake Chapala area, as they said on the site that they intended to do, and just haven't gotten back to the site.

If anyone reading this knows more about the foreign involvement with the orphanage, I would like to know more... both regarding people who volunteer and regarding any organized way of donating. Please email me at rosana at mexico-with-heart.com or leave a comment here. (I do know about Ruben, the local restauranteur who helps out.) Thanks! I found it very inspiring to meet and talk with Padre Macias.