Casa de Mi Papito

The Child Development Center  “Casa de Mi Papito”  is a fully integrated plan to improve the nutrition, education, health, and faith of the children of San Carlos, Carazo, Nicaragua.  

We began a relationship with the local church, Casa De Mi Padre in 2013 when we met the highly motivated and genuinely loving couple that are the pastors – Juan & Ximena. They have a strong vision of sharing the love of Jesus and identified one community – San Carlos – as having a particularly acute need. School grades and learning were being hampered by poor family dynamics and by malnutrition amongst the children. When measured according to World Health standards, a whopping 85% of the children were malnutritioned, leading to the poor school performance. We wanted to help change this.

To achieve this, a large building has been constructed and staff has been hired.  Children are fed a lunch of 800 calories 5 days a week to combat the malnutrition that is common in this farming community. Medical visits and attention are arranged on a quarterly basis. Training on faith, healthy family structures, family planning, home/personal hygiene and healthy living choices are offered to the adults as well as the children of San Carlos. As many as 130 children are fed each day and up to 60 students per day are receiving tutoring to help them in their schoolwork.

Through our local church, Casa De Mi Padre, we supply the groceries, the kitchen staff, three teachers, and the complete facility for this faith-based child development initiative.  Casa de Mi Padre , under the direction of Juan & Ximena Vado, coordinates all activities of the Center. In 2018 a computer lab was added to teach basic computing skills to the adolescents, a marketable job skill that will help them dream and achieve a better future. Teaching about Jesus gives the ultimate foundation for that hope. 

Thanks for your consideration of support for this worthwhile project. It takes many dedicated partners to keep the budget in the black. We have some faithful supporters, but if this description has left you with doubts or questions on how you can be involved – please ask! – we would be happy to provide more details. 

The poverty that we encounter here in Carazo, Nicaragua is of a material nature. Families get by with very little. However, God is very present and recognized in their lives and sharing God’s love with them through this child development Center is WELCOME and appreciated. What a privilege it is to serve in this way!

There is so much more that I could tell you about San Carlos, our church involvement there, our goal of self-sustaining ministry and the steps we have taken so far in that regard. Be sure to ask us about the coffee plantation that we manage in San Carlos to help towards budget costs.