Residents of the ‘Happy House’
shelter for children [photo:
ABS/David Singer WR411/12
MEX07DJ-55]
By David Singer, American Bible Society
MEXICO — In a country where violence and corruption regularly hit the headlines, educating future leaders in firm moral values must be a priority, the Bible Society of Mexico believes. In recent years, it has run programs which particularly target children at risk, living either in difficult family circumstances or on the street and often experiencing violence at first hand. This year it plans to support five orphanages and shelters working with children like these. One is found in the southern state of Chiapas.
With a population of over 500,000, many of whom are from indigenous groups, Tuxtla Gutiérrez, the capital of Chiapas, faces a range of social problems. They include a large number of children at risk. One person who has devoted her life to caring for these children is Elizabeth Castelazo, known to her charges as Mother Alli. She still remembers how her father, a church pastor, rented a house in the city’s red light district to provide a safe place for mothers to send their children. They would stay there for two or three weeks to escape violence at home.
Shelter
In 1993, Mrs Castelazo and her husband, who by then had three children of their own, opened their own shelter for children on a steep hillside just above the entrance to the Zoological Park. They named it Alegre Casa Hogar (‘Happy House’). One of the first children to seek help at Happy House was Maria Teresa Garcia. She had sought refuge with friends after her stepfather had attempted to molest her. They took her to a government agency which turned to Happy House for help. She arrived there brimming with hatred for her parents.
Elizabeth Castelazo Noguera,
founder and director of ‘Happy
House’ [photo: ABS/David Singer
WR411/12 MEX07DJ-47]
Suffered abuse
As a result of the abuse she had suffered at home, Maria had become deaf in one ear. Mrs Castelazo sent her for the appropriate medical treatment and paid for a hearing aid. She also told Maria about Jesus’s love and acceptance, which in turn helped her to mend her relationship with her mother. But it was five years before Maria, now 24, came to faith. “Now I have Jesus as my father,” she says. “God had a very special reason for bringing Maria here,” explains Mrs Castelazo. “She helps with the children and supervises reception. As secondin- charge she makes sure that things run smoothly.”
Open to all
“This place is open to all kinds of children,” adds Maria. “When they come here I tell them that they are lucky – God has a purpose for them.” Happy House shelters 120 children, most of whom have nowhere else to go, and provides them with an education up to the age of 13. Its complex of buildings includes a chapel, a cafeteria, classrooms, residential accommodation and offices. “God has provided all of this,” says Mrs Castelazo. “These children face many problems at home. We have a boy here whose parents kept him in a pen with the pigs they were raising. Most of the girls have suffered sexual abuse. This leaves them psychologically damaged, and many crave attention. We encourage the older children to help the younger ones.” This spirit of mutual dependence is particularly evident in the cafeteria, where the older children, especially the girls, readily help the younger ones with their food. Help comes from a wide range of sources, explains Mrs Castelazo. She is happy to accept shoes, clothing and food from wherever she can get them. She is particularly grateful for the materials the Bible Society provides as part of its Hope for Children at Risk program: Bible Comics, Scripture-based CDs and films and a Children’s Bible. But more materials are always needed.
A girl who lives at ‘Happy House’
[photo: ABS/David Singer
WR411/12 MEX07DJ-75]
Bible is central
As part of their spiritual education, the children perform Scripture-based drama at other youth facilities in the city. “The Bible is central to the hope we provide,” says Mrs Castelazo. “The children learn a verse from the Bible every week. Our main work is to leave them with the Word of God.” This report refers to project 81929. For an earlier article about the Bible Society’s work with children at risk, see World Report 400/1.
(WR 411/12 - 05.07)[7 photos]
Maria Teresa Garcia feeding a child at the shelter [photo: ABS/David Singer WR411/12 MEX07DJ-68]
and a resident of the ‘Happy House’ shelter for children [photo: ABS/David Singer WR411/12 MEX07DJ-74]