Program Staff in Mexico Support Orphaned Children and Unite Latin America Team
Unity 4 Orphans’ Programs Director provides an update on expanding counseling and holistic care for children and staff at the orphanages in Tijuana, Mexico.
Since we welcomed them on staff, Marco and his wife Anabel have been busy supporting the staff and children at the orphanages that U4O serves south of the border. The value that they bring to our organization has been immediately apparent and we’re so thankful for their dedication to providing quality care and unconditional love to the orphanages.
Marco is bringing in Mexican volunteers to partner with the U4O team, an exciting first for our organization. One young woman from Youth With a Mission (YWAM) is visiting the orphanages on a regular basis and bringing others with her on our monthly service trips. These efforts serve to build our team across borders and increase our impact and stability for the kids.
Holistic Care Starts with Relational Consistency for Children Who Need Healing
During COVID, we remained consistent with a couple of orphanages, and are now building our roster to include four regular partnerships, with an eye on more. This means that we are able to reach almost double the number of vulnerable children through counseling and specialized teaching to help them catch up to their appropriate grade levels.
Because we love God and the children, love is the best thing we have to share with them.
-Marco Aguilera, Programs Director, Latin America
Healing from Childhood Trauma through Counseling and Educational Intervention
Our dedicated Mexico team has already begun to see progress in the children’s behavior over the past few months. Marco recently met with three children who have experienced familial abuse, and have fallen behind in school as a result. They have been absent from school for years, and at 13 years old, the eldest, cannot read.
Our teachers have been working with this boy, and after a few weeks of gentle instruction and encouragement, they are finally seeing the boy smile. He is thankful for the love he receives now on a daily basis and is improving in his studies. Marco and the team have found a place at a public school for all three of the children and they’re doing well, catching up with their grade levels, and healing from past trauma.
Building Brighter Futures One Child at a Time
Marco says that the shared goal for the children and staff we serve at the orphanages in Tijuana is to build friendships and strong relationships, thus providing a safe place for them and for some, the first true haven they’ve ever experienced. The team has the honor of visiting the orphanages twice a week to stay involved in their lives, see what God is doing, and pray for them.
As this mission progresses and evolves, he hopes to see healthy hearts and healthy people. It’s about a future vision for the children to build healthy families of their own one day. Often people visit an orphanage looking to feel better, and it’s easy to see the kids with mercy and compassion, but the Mexico team always prays that God will help them see the children as He sees them.
We focus on building their futures and providing opportunities for transformation from what is, to what God wants for them.
-Marco Aguilera, Programs Director, Latin America
How Can We Support the Latin America Team?
Our Mexico team is interviewing potential teachers, volunteers, and counselors, and Marco asks for prayer to find the right people who will be aligned with our mission. In building a strong team, we are bringing a valuable support system into the lives of children who need it most. Under Anabel’s leadership, we’re formalizing our educational intervention approach to bolster the kids’ progress in school.
Another key hire is a Lead Counselor, and Claudia is developing a trauma counseling program for the orphanages. We ask for your prayers as this vital team in Mexico builds an even stronger foundation for the children to reach for healthy, stable futures. The orphanage teams are also in need of a vehicle to transport the counselors, instead of them having to take taxis.
As the programs director for Latin America, Marco also is beginning to work with U4O staff at our ESL program in Nicaragua. He looks forward to developing those relationships for the benefit of the many children we serve across our programs in Mexico, Nicaragua, and soon, Ecuador, and asks for prayer in that area as well.