Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos (NPH), literally meaning Our little brothers and sisters, is a charitable organization that has provided a home for thousands of orphans and abandoned children since 1954. Currently there are NPH homes in nine Latin American countries. Mission & Philosophy The official mission of NPH is "to provide shelter, food, clothing, healthcare and education in a Christian family environment based on unconditional acceptance and love, sharing, working and responsibility." Self-sufficiency is a cornerstone of the NPH philosophy; thus, many NPH homes grow much of their own food. Each home also has its own primary and secondary school, clinic, and chapel. Reciprocity is another foundational ideal of NPH, which is why every pequeno must give a year of service at their home after graduating high school and before going to college. Many NPH children work later in their lives for the organization as lawyers, teachers, doctors, and directors of NPH homes and national chapters. While not related by blood ties, every child in the NPH organization is treated as a member of a single family. Raised and provided for as such, none of the children is available for adoption. This philosophy and mission engenders in NPH children a spirit of trust, confidence, and sharing toward others, attitudes which are unusual in persons with histories of abuse or abandonment. As Erich Fromm, the renowned psychologist, has pointed out in a study that he conducted with Michael Maccoby of the NPH organization: "The boys and girls come from the poorest classes, from families in which the mother has died and, in about 80 percent of the cases, in which the father has abandoned the children. Considering these conditions, one would expect a great many behavioral difficulties -- either destructiveness or sexual problems... But contrary to such expectations, no major behavior problems exist among these children. There are practically no problems of violence in the sense of serious physical assault against another member of the community, teachers, or outsiders, nor are there any serious sexual problems... What is remarkable, however, is the absence of not only major behavioral problems but the presence of a spirit of cooperation and mutual responsibility. The boys and girls feel themselves to be members of the “family” and are proud of this membership, although this family is not based on the common tie of blood and is so large that it exceeds the limits of what could