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Westfalia Orphanage

Westfalia is a non-government orphanage dedicated to helping around 100 children; orphans, victims of family violence and abuse, abandoned, or homeless. Westfalia is essentially a small village situated in the dry, dusty hills of Cieneguilla about 90 minutes from downtown Lima, Peru. It provides housing, education, and psychological assistance to children with serious emotional development problems, who have suffered a state of material and moral abandonment. The orphanage provides an educational system based on a family model which allows the children to interact and maintain close relations with their new family and integrate into society again.

Westfalia receives no money from the Peruvian government and relies on donations and support to operate. Although not enough for the almost 100 kids, the village grows its own fruit and vegetables, has animals for food (pigs and guinea pigs) and for the children’s social development (ducks, llamas and rabbits) and also runs workshops of crafts and gardening.

Westfalia has been one of the main projects for Sonrisasenperu.org and we sponsor ongoing classes such as English, swimming and dance lessons. We also sponsor educational and social excursions and regularly provide food, clothing, and materials.

Check out the projects that Sonrisasenperu.org have been involved with at Westfalia Orpanage

8 Responses Post a comment
  1. Caroline McCooey permalink
    July 9, 2010

    I want to say was a huge thank you to Scott for letting me accompany him to see the wonderful work that is going on. The children are absolutely flourishing in a loving, supportive, creative and educational environment. Every child is cherished and filled with supportive messages and positive codes of conduct and a sense of understanding towards themselves and others. There are so many opportunities for each one to develop their skills and recuperate their well-being and sense of self through animal and plant cultivation, art therapy, foreign language skills, sports and so many more educational activities, conventional and otherwise. There are self-sustaining projects ongoing and I am absolutely humbled by the excellent, thoughtful and insightful work of the whole team involved in the care of these fantastic children. My hopes are that this organization can move to NGO status which it so deserves so it can benefit from further funding input. The work is invaluable and defines what we should actively be working towards in life: the improvement of the lives of children, especially those who have had a difficult start in life. A big thanks again to all of you in this fantastic team, but especially a big thanks to the children.

  2. George permalink
    September 24, 2011

    After one visit my heart has been stolen. I now know what my mission is here in Peru. It is impossible not to love these kids and easy to be impressed with the way Westfalia is run. They do an awesome job but always are in need of many things. I will continue to do my part and hope that many others will as well. Many thanks to Scott for bringing this wonderful place into my life.

  3. Sasha permalink
    January 23, 2016

    I just wanted to let everyone who is a part of this orphanage to know that I am putting together a benefit show will music and entertainment. 100% of the ticket sales will donated to the Westfalia Orphanage. There are many volunteers working right now to put this event together. We are putting our time and effort into raising as much money as we can for the orphanage. The event is in February so the donation money should be sent by the end of the month. Thank you to all who work for the orphanage to give the children blessed lives.

  4. February 20, 2016

    Hi Sasha. We just received the donation of US$228. Great effort! Please send us some info and photos as I’d love to put it on the website. 🙂

Trackbacks & Pingbacks

  1. Westfalia Orphanage classes | Sonrisas en Peru
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  4. Westfalia Orphanage 2011 Christmas Drive | Sonrisas en Peru

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