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History and Mission of the
Orphanage
<Back
In a quiet neighborhood on the north side of the town of La Romana in the
Dominican Republic, there is an orphanage called ‘Orfanato Niños De Cristo'. The orphanage was founded ten years ago by Sonia Hane.
Sonia, a native Dominican, had been living in the United States for several years
when she felt a strong call by God to return to her country to open a home
devoted to abandoned, abused, or parentless children.
Upon her return, Sonia learned of a child in need and drove across the country to
the western border of the Dominican Republic to rescue this child from a severe
situation. Despite a major automobile crash and a serious injury to Sonia that culminated in
the loss of her arm, she and the baby made it back to La Romana where she
founded Orfanato Niños De Cristo. The mission of the orphanage is to provide a safe home, family and
education to these children and to prepare them for adulthood.
Orfanato Niños De Cristo serves as a safe refuge for children from all over the
country who come from the most severe circumstances. When most of us think of
an orphanage, we think of a child whose parents have died or abandoned them primarily for financial reasons.
This is not the case with many of the children at Orfanato Niños De Cristo. One four-year-old boy who now lives at the orphanage was abandoned after
witnessing his mother's murder by his stepfather. Another seven-year-old girl
came to the orphanage after she was left by her mentally unstable mother to
rummage through the garbage for food. These are just two of the many stories of
the orphans at Orfanato Niños De Cristo and yet what strikes first time visitors
is how happy these children are, especially given their circumstances. All of the
older girls tend to the diapering and bathing of the younger children, help in the
kitchen and supervise play activities, all are protective, loving and caring of each
other.
Adoption in the Dominica Republic is extremely difficult because past abuses of
the system, therefore almost all of the children that come to the orphanage Niños
De Cristo wil stay until they are young adults and can find their way out into
society.
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