Niñeras program provides extra care for orphans_61305

Posted: 6/13/05

Niñeras program provides extra care for orphans

Buckner Baptist Benevolences

The “Grandmother” program Buckner Orphan Care International launched in Russia has proven so successful that it has inspired a similar ministry in Latin America.

In Russia, Buckner hires caregivers, or Grandmothers, of all ages to work in Orphanage No. 15 in St. Petersburg, a hospital and intake center, providing care for children to supplement the orphanage’s small staff.

Now a similar Buckner program in Guatemala has changed the lives of children in a babies’ orphanage by providing additional care. The Niñeras program at the Casa Alegría —Home of Happiness—babies’ home in Guatemala City recently was initiated to overcome the problems caused by lack of adequate care.

Leslie Chace, Buckner missions director, said that prior to the use of the Niñeras, or “nannies,” as they are called, “there were two caregivers taking turns with the almost 50 babies at the orphanage.

“It was so bad, the children were lying in cribs, dirty and not able to stand or speak. When we hired the caregivers, the change was immediate. The children became responsive and happy,” Chace said.

Eleven trained Buckner Niñeras work at Casa Alegría , and Buckner has raised funding for a total of 13 of the nannies. Chace says she would like to raise the number eventually to 15, as well as find additional funding to expand the program into other orphanages.

Funding for each Niñera, said Chace, is about $200 per month, depending on the valuation of the American dollar to the Guatemalan currency, the Quetzal. For more information on sponsoring a Niñera, contact Chace by telephone at (469) 877-4521 or e-mail at lchace@buckner.org.