The orphanage is located in the highlands of Guatemala.

The Sisterhood of the Unprivileged, `Madres Desamparados´ in Spanish, take care of the abandoned, by administering an orphanage that provides a nursery, an elementary school and a dining hall.
This institution offers permanent employment, as well as a salary under humanitarian conditions, to 30 people in San Cristobal.

We have been working on site with the nuns, since 2001. They have deep insights into the families and the village structure and are, therefore, always helpful in the selection, implementation and aftercare of our projects.

The Sisterhood of the Unprivileged is a strong pillar, in one of the poorest areas in Central America, offering moral authority in a country scared by civil war.

To this day, anarchy reigns over the indigenous population.

Our area of focus is San Cristobal, Alta Verapaz, in the rural highlands of Guatemala, 1393 metres above sea level.

The area covers 192 square kilometres, with about 50,000 inhabitants living in 54 communities.
The Mayas `Poconchies´ represent 83% of the population, the `Ladinos´ represents 15% and the `Qeqchíes´ represent the remaining 2%. 70% of the population live without electricity and commonly lack basic provisions, like, running water, sanitation facilities and roads. About half of the men work for large landowners. They only earn around €2 each day and live with their families in cramped housing.
The children of Guatemala particularly suffer from the supply shortage of basic necessities. 80% of Guatemalans live below the poverty line and two thirds of them live in extreme poverty.

The indigenous population of Guatemala come from Mayan descent. They often have no possessions, such as housing, and live in conditions of extreme poverty. They are still excluded from any political influence, education and health care.

Land ownership in Guatemala is managed unfairly. It has one of the worst systems in the whole of Latin America.

States and big corporations steal, the already limited, natural resources from the country. It results in the eviction of hundreds of thousands of indigenous people and members of other ethnic minorities, so that mining, plantation and dam projects can be carried out.

Furthermore, thousands of indigenous people are exploited each day for their labour. They work without legal regulations, meaning that safety measures are ignored. It means that their wages are also unregulated, allowing corporations to pay the workers at a very low rate, barely allowing them to survive. If the workers try to claim their intitled rights they are quickly dismissed.