Our Homes: NPH Mexico

Mexico COVID-19 Updates

Hear from the National Director of NPH Mexico, Rafael Bermudez, on the challenges of COVID-19 on the homes and children.

Mexico Facts

Area:
761,602 square miles – almost three times the size of Texas

Population:
125,959,205 (July 2018 est.)

Languages:
Spanish, various indigenous languages

Issues:
Lack of clean water, deforestation; hurricanes, volcanoes and earthquakes; illicit drug production and trafficking resulting in a high level of violence

Discover NPH Mexico

Hacienda San Salvador, an old, converted sugar plantation, serves as the main facility for the large family of over 400 children. Always bustling with activity, its facilities are quite extensive and offer a small town feel with cobblestone streets.

NPH Mexico Facts

Opened:
August 2, 1954

Children/youth fully supported:
719

Total services provided:
1,677 (includes children and youth fully supported, community children, youths and adults who receive support by either attending our onsite schools, receive scholarships, receive in-kind donations and or medical/social services.)

Locations/Facilities:

Miacatlán: Located 77 miles south of Mexico City, Casa San Salvador has served as NPH Mexico’s main facility since 1970. The 130-acre site features primary and secondary schools, a clinic, a greenhouse and farms.
Cuernavaca: The pequeños attending NPH’s Bachillerato Tecnológico (technical high school) in Cuernavaca live at nearby Casa Buen Señor, where the NPH Mexico and NPH International offices are also located.
Monterrey & Mexico City: Youths attending universities in Monterrey live at Casa San Luis. In Mexico City, students live in group houses.
Matamoros: Founded by John Shinsky, the Ciudad de los Niños (“City of the Children”) home is located on 17 acres of land across the border from Brownsville, Texas. The children attend local schools and some of their caretakers are pequeños in their year of service.

Did You Know?

The National Director is an Hermano Mayor (“older brother”), who was raised at NPH Mexico.
Livestock, fish, fruit and vegetables are raised on the farm, which has “green stations” (small ponds) to improve irrigation system and preserve the home’s natural resources. A second greenhouse was added in 2015, and one for organic tomatoes was opened in 2017.
The Estudiantina y Danza Troupe performs folkloric music and dances locally and in the U.S.
On September 19, 2017, a 7.1-magnitude earthquake caused an estimated $5 million in damage to the NPH facilities in Miacatlán and Cuernavaca, although thankfully none of our children, volunteers or staff were injured. Reconstruction projects that were completed in Miacatlán in 2018 included:
- A water treatment plant, including a new elevated water tank and a modernized hydraulic network, were constructed
- The large historic dining hall and kitchen were saved
- The school buildings were made safe to hold classes again
- Various cultural heritage buildings were made secure
In 2018, 74 indigenous Mixtec children from Metlatónoc in Guerrero, the country’s second poorest municipality, were welcomed to NPH. Although they were undernourished when they arrived, their condition steadily improved and they are doing well.

Learn about the other NPH homes: