Birthdays at NPH
At NPH we recognise that a child’s birthday is a special day and we want to be able to recognise and celebrate this. That’s why we have a Sharing fund which our supporters can donate towards. This fund allows us to throw birthday parties for the children who live in our homes and community students who attend our schools.
We like to take the children on special outings for their birthdays. However, due to Covid19, this hasn’t always been possible over the past year. Below I share with you some highlights from birthday parties at our 9 NPH homes. I also share other ways our sharing fund is used to help celebrate other important events such as holiday activities.
Donate to the sharing fund
NPH Bolivia
Birthday celebrations
Small parties for the kids, including a special meal (fast food), treats, cake and presents.
Recreational Activities
Every few months we do a special recreational activity with the children, such as a special workshop, ie-karate. The sharing fund helps pay for these activities and for any snacks/treats on these days.
Saint John’s Day
The Sharing fund paid for a special meal for the children on this day on the 18th of June 2020.
Trips to the pools
Last year we were able to take the kids to a special trip to a private pool which we rented out for the children.
Christmas and New Years Eve
We use the sharing fund to pay for a special meal for the kids on Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve. We also use this funding to give special treats to the children on Three Kings Day, 6th January.
Donate to the sharing fund
NPH Peru
Birthday celebrations
A special dinner, cake and presents (clothes, shoes, socks, cookies) for the kids.
Godparents day
This is the day that the children celebrate their sponsors/Godparents. In
September they celebrated with a special lunch, fizzy drink, treats, pinatas and prizes.
Summer vacation classes
In January the children participated in a number of different summer vacation workshops such as karate, soccer, baking, cooking, hair cutting, and music.
Donate to the sharing fund
NPH Honduras
Birthday celebrations
Small parties for the kids, including a special meal, treats, cake and presents. When it’s possible we take the children on a special trip, ie- to a swimming pool.
Weekend activities
On the weekends there are organised fun activities for the kids such as dance competitions and games. The Sharing fund ensures that we have some prizes to give the kids, such as bags of lollies, biscuits, chocolates, juices, balls and shirts.
Casa de los Angeles (Special needs home)
The sharing fund was used for a special summer activity, a beach trip which took place in January 2020. This did not happen in 2021 due to Covid and the underlying conditions that some of the children have.
Family Day This day is celebrated each February with a special lunch, juices, snacks, piñatas and lollies. It’s a day full of activities and games.
Anniversary of NPH (The Olympic Games)
We were able to celebrate the anniversary of NPH with a special Olympic games event, in which all the children, staff and volunteers participated. The sharing fund helped pay for a special lunch, dessert, snacks, piñatas and prizes. We celebrated this over 3 days, remaining in home groups in order to respect social distancing.
15th birthday
The most important birthday celebration in Latin America is not 21 but 15. We celebrate all the children who turn 15 in November each year with a big fiesta! The sharing fund helps pay for their formal outfits (which are often handmade by our young people), a special dinner, cakes, fizzy drink, flowers and decorations.
Christmas
Our young people and children were involved in making a Christmas movie last year. The sharing fund helped pay for their costumes and other materials that were needed. The Sharing fund also helps pay for a special Christmas dinner, fizzy drink, dessert, treats etc.
Donate to the sharing fund
NPH Dominican Republic
At NPH Dominican Republic, we used the sharing fund last year to help give extra supplies and food packages to families in need in our local community. The Covid19 crisis has hit these families hard, so we wanted to be able to support them as much as possible.
For the children who live at our NPH home, we use the sharing fund to help celebrate their birthdays. Our community students are also starting to participate in our birthday celebrations. Our birthday celebrations include cake, gifts, hamburgers, chips, decorations, fun activities (sometimes an outing if possible).
Other celebrations that we were able to host thanks to the sharing fund include:
- Three Kings celebration (when Christmas presents are given)
- Saint Valentines Day
- Talks about self-esteem and gender violence.
- Talks about recycling and looking after the environment
- Prizes for weekend activities/competitions/dances etc.
- Talk about family reintegration and protection orders.
- Clothes and materials for workshops.
- Special trips for classes who graduate (when this is possible).
- A big birthday celebration for our girls who turn 15 and boys who turn 18. This happens in November each year.
- Christmas and New Year celebrations.
- Thanksgiving – a special lunch and small gifts for the children.
Donate to the sharing fund
NPH El Salvador
Birthday celebrations
Small parties for the kids, including a special meal (ie-fast food), treats, cake and presents and we project a movie for the kids to watch. Each child receives a present for their birthday.
Donate to the Sharing fund
NPH Mexico
Birthday celebrations
The sharing fund helps pay for small parties for the kids, including a special meal, treats and cake. Normally the children receive birthday money so they can buy themselves a present. This was recently stopped because of lack of funds due to Covid19. We’ve had to cut back on expenses for each activity that the sharing fund usually pays for. We don’t want to cut the activities completely because the kids will miss out on important traditions.
Easter celebrations:
The sharing fund pays for Easter eggs for the kids. The annual Easter hunt is a highly anticipated event.
Saint Valentines Day
The sharing fund pays for different materials so the children can make cards and hearts for each other. They also do a lot of fun activities, including a special dance. The children also receive a special snack.
Graduations
The sharing fund pays for certificates, cake and a cross for each graduate.
Confirmations
The sharing fund pays for cake for this special day.
Celebration of the Day of the Dead
This is an important Mexican tradition celebrated in November each year. It’s one of the most anticipated day of the year at NPH Mexico.
15th birthday party
A big celebration to celebrate the young people who turn 15. This happens in November each year and it’s a big fiesta with a special dinner, formal clothing and music.
Christmas
The sharing fund pays for candles for nativity pilgrimages, fireworks and special snacks for Three Kings Day.
Donate to the sharing fund
NPH Haiti
Birthday celebrations
The sharing fund pays for small parties for the kids, including a special meal (fast food), treats, cake and presents. In some cases we are able to take the kids on a special outing to a museum for tourists.
Carnival
This is a fun day that we celebrate each year with costumes, a parade and special snacks.
33rd anniversary
We were able to celebrate this special occasion with a special party, including special gifts for the winners of a dance competition.
Beds
Last September we used the Sharing fund to purchase 60 new beds for the kids in our home as our beds were very old and comfortable.
Community assistance
Backpacks for our Don Bosco community high school students were purchased in November. When needed we use Sharing funds to help community students with social assistance – for example, with surgery, travel, renting accommodation, or help starting up a new business. This is at the discretion of the National Director and his team.
Valentines Day
We have a fun activity for Valentines Day each year where the kids enjoy special treats.
Watch a birthday party celebration at NPH Haiti.
Donate to the sharing fund
NPH Guatemala
Birthday celebrations
The sharing fund pays for small parties for the kids, including a special meal (fast food), treats, cake and presents. Each child receives new clothes for their birthday. Before Covid we took the children to McDonalds and the movies for their birthday parties. At the moment the birthday celebrations are on our property.
Motivational talks
Every few months a different home group has a special activity which is paid for by the sharing fund, which includes a special meal and a talk. For example, for the older children, they will receive a talk about how to make the most of their opportunities.
Soccer tournaments
In March we had a special soccer tournament at our home. This included a special lunch with fizzy drink.
24th anniversary
In November we celebrated NPH Guatemala’s 24th anniversary. The sharing fund paid for a special lunch and prizes for the winners of fun activities.
15th birthday celebrations
In Latin America the most important birthday celebration is for 15 year olds. We celebrate this every November for all the young people who are 15. This big fiesta is paid for by the sharing fund, including a special dinner, formal clothing and decorations.
Christmas and New Years Eve
We use the sharing fund to pay for a special meal for the kids on Christmas Day, as well as fruit, treats and fireworks.
Special outings
We were able to take the older children on a special nature walk in March. This was a retreat day and a way to motivate and inspire them to study hard.
Donate to the sharing fund
NPH Nicaragua
At our community centre and school in Nicaragua we are able to enjoy a lot of fun activities with the children thanks to the Sharing fund.
For example, Children’s Day, birthdays, graduations and Christmas.
