NPH El Salvador: Supporting Children & Families

Country Facts
NPH El Salvador at a Glance

Country Facts

Understanding El Salvador’s geographic and social landscape helps explain the challenges children and families face and the need for long-term, community-based support.

Area

8,124 square miles – about the same size as New Jersey

Population

6,628,702 (2024 est.)

Languages

Spanish, Nahua (among some Amerindians)

Issues

A 12-year civil war ended in 1992; very high rate of violence and crime; deforestation, soil erosion, water pollution; hurricanes and earthquakes.

El Salvador at a Glance

NPH El Salvador has supported children and families for more than 25 years through family-style care, education, healthcare, and community-based programs rooted in long-term stability and opportunity

Opened

June 29, 1999

Location

Casa Sagrada Familia (“Holy Family”) is near the border of Guatemala in Texistepeque, about 30 miles from San Salvador.

NPH Operates

Family-style home, school (grades K – 9), medical clinic, farm, vocational workshops. Community Programs include the Centro Bienestar Infantil (CBI) Child Wellness and Daycare Center for children ages 1 to 7, and scholarships for children/youth in the area.

2024 Impact in El Salvador

These 2024 outcomes reflect the impact of NPH programs in El Salvador.

Children and adults supported

Local people employed

K – University graduates

An NPH doctor listens to a NPH student's heartbeat using a stethoscope.

A group of young NPH students play on the floor with colorful building toys.

Your support helps children thrive.

Donor support makes it possible for NPH to provide long-term care, education, healthcare, and family programs for children and families in need.

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How to Get Involved

Interesting facts

Program Highlights in El Salvador

Dora Serrano, NPH El Salvador’s National Director, is an Hermana Mayor (“Older Sister”), who was raised at the home.

Since opening in 1999, the main purpose of the home has changed in response to national legislation around child welfare. Once a home solely for orphaned and abandoned children, NPH El Salvador evolved to serve two different populations: children who live inside the home, and community students. These students receive scholarships spanning from early education to university, as well as meals and healthcare. They come from low income families that cannot afford to support their children’s education, which is the case for most Salvadorans.

Students in 8th and 9th grades attend vocational workshops in baking and/or sewing.

The Centro Bienestar Infantil (CBI) Child Wellness and Daycare Center provides children aged 1 – 7 who live in vulnerable communities in Santa Ana, and the children of Hermanos Mayores (“Older Siblings”) who were raised at the NPH home, with preschool education, health care, meals, transportation, books, and materials.

The agriculture program provides nourishing food for children and staff, and also serves as a living-classroom. In 2022, the Casa Sagrada team built two greenhouses and prepared the soil to grow organic food. Also, the installation of an electric milking machine improved dairy and cheese production.