Mexico, with its rugged mountains, rocky deserts, lush forests and tropical beaches, is home to over 200,000 species of animals. Humans have called this breathtaking land home for at least 10,000 years. Prior to Spanish conquest and colonization, countless Mesoamerican nations thrived here, including such civilizations as the Olmec, Teotihuacan, Maya and Aztec. Today, Mexico is the world’s tenth-largest nation — and largest Spanish-speaking country by population — with a growing, diversified economy and a relatively stable democratic government. Mexico’s wealth of culture, history, natural resources and beauty, however, belies the condition of poverty in which many of its people live. Crime and murder rates here are high, and corruption and drug cartel activity are constant sources of concern despite recent improvements on these issues.

The beautiful colonial city of San Miguel de Allende, though a favorite haunt of tourists and artists, is no exception to these maladies. Indeed, its bohemian façade conceals the poverty in which many of its residents live. In the 1960s, moved by the plight of impoverished children, a famous Mexican singer-turned-priest named José de Guadalupe Mojica built the Mexiquito Home near San Miguel de Allende’s trash dump to provide easy access for the impoverished children who frequented the landfill. Today, nuns of the Dominican Sisters of Mary manage the Mexiquito Home, which has moved to a location where they can better serve the children. In its new location, the home continues to serve as a refuge and a beacon of hope, providing impoverished children with compassion, shelter, support and education, as well as the opportunity to rise above the difficult socioeconomic circumstances from which they come.