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Stories written by Shelley Callahan

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Tomorrow-Focused

Young women, technology, and the future generations of San Miguel de Allende

After just a few days in Mexico, Luis and I have already seen the impact of not just Children Incorporated’s efforts in these communities, but the impact of local generosity and perseverance too. Luis pictured with Sister Isabel Santa Julia, a home for girls just outside downtown San Miguel de Allende, was both like and unlike Mexiquito. Narrow roads led to the home, which is closely surrounded by private residences separated […]

The Serenity of Mexiquito

A home for boys in San Miguel de Allende provides much-needed support to kids

It’s our fourth day in Mexico, and Luis and I have left a truly special place. I have never felt so much serenity when visiting one of our projects — in Mexico, in Africa, in Bolivia, or anywhere else. The sisters who run the Mexiquito Home outside San Miguel de Allende have just shown us a sanctuary (in every sense of the word) for boys of all ages. Everybody needs help, as Luis said, and […]

The Ministering Angels of Casa Hogar Santa Ines

In Mexico City, a girl's home is helping children in need

Tucked away amongst the small, tree-lined cobblestone streets and Colonial-era houses of Coyoacan Delegation, lies the Casa Hogar Santa Ines Girls’ Home. It’s pretty here, with the home (and now museum) of celebrated Mexican artist Frida Kahlo nearby. We made it through the busy, but organized Mexico City morning traffic to the Home’s huge wooden door, which opens for us as we arrive. It’s tough to drive through the streets in this neighborhood. The roads […]

Welcome to Mexico

Children Incorporated goes On the Road to Central America

En route to Mexico, I noticed that I felt differently than I had on our way to visit other Children Incorporated projects. The excitement I normally felt was there — it’s always exciting to meet the children and the people who take care of them — but there was something else, too. Unlike the other places we’d visited thus far, I’ve been to Mexico before. I spent several months in a city called Cuernavaca more […]

Bearing Fruit

Revisiting Kids Hope Ethiopia’s Gardening Program

When Luis Bourdet and I traveled to Africa earlier this summer, we found ourselves, as always, deeply impressed by the programs and centers we visited and the hard-working people who run them.   The beginning of gardening work at Kids Hope. A five-acre compound that schools, houses, and nurtures the disadvantaged children of rural Ethiopia is supported by the child sponsorship organization, Canadian Humanitarian. In the area outside of Shashamane, life is both easier […]

A Songbird in El Salvador

A young student at the Marillac School gets the chance to show off her talents

In El Salvador, children have two choices: try as hard as they can to stay in school or submit to the constant pressure to join neighborhood gangs. Organized crime is rife in El Salvador, and recruitment starts at an early age, when kids are at their most vulnerable. Often, their parents are working and the children are home alone—that’s when gang culture starts to come knocking, angling for loyalty and increasing their numbers.