About
"..look after orphans and widows in their distress" --James 1:27
Our purpose at Prince of Peace:
MISSION:
To provide a safe refuge where each girl may:
*Receive spiritual, physical, educational, and emotional support
*Experience the unconditional love of God
*Develop self-respect and respect for others
VISION:
To introduce each girl to a personal, saving relationship in Jesus Christ and to facilitate their spiritual growth toward full devotion toward being on mission with God.
What does Prince of Peace offer the girls?
Prince of Peace in now in it’s 25th year as a home! God had granted the Home great favor and we all feel a special responsiblity to insure the girls have every opportunity to grow into productive Guatemalan citizens. Our goal is to provide all the tools possible, education, counseling and the opportunity for our girls to get a job when they leave the home. The home is somewhat unique in that we have a full time education director, psychologist and social worker to teach, promote healing and provide a safe, loving environment.
Education is the future!
It has been said on many occasions that educating young women is the way to change a culture. We at Prince of Peace believe along with providing a safe spiritual environment that allows for emotional healing that a quality education will provide the girls with lasting tools for long term growth.
The past year has been an exciting one at prince of peace in regards to education. Last October the Board of the Home met with a special focus on improving the girl’s education.
There were many needs identified that include:
• It was evident that a system to quickly identify the education levels of the girls when they arrived at the Home was needed. An evaluation was developed to insure the Girls would each get the personal attention needed for their education and prevent frustrations that can come from a new environment.
• Enhancing the curriculum of 1-6 grades that would allow greater success in later years as the girls go off site to Junior High. This resulted in the addition of a Math and English curriculum.
• Provide tutoring for the Girls in Junior high and the university age groups.
• Development of an education path that would provide the skills need for opportunities after leaving Prince of Peace.
• Need for continued development of the current teachers.
It was also clear that the task ahead was a large one and the Home needed an experienced Education Director to tie it all together. We were blessed with Soli!! Soli has lead each of the above needs and has provided individual support for girls along with emotional support as well. She has truly become part of the Prince of Peace family.
We are already seeing great results this year at all levels. The girls are excited about each girl getting a quality education and the girls confidence is growing every day!
We are also very proud of Maria Mendez for being the first alumni of Prince of Peace to be accepted to a college in the USA. She begins her study at the Collage of Ozarks in Missouri USA this summer! With God all things are possible.
This is just the beginning of God’s blessings with Prince of Peace and Education. We are thankful for your prayers and support.
Healing the mind
God provides healing for the broken hearted and having our own psychologist at the Home is such a blessing. Here’s a snapshot of the process Ninoshka uses with our girls to begin the process of healing and forgiveness.
As a new girl arrives, Ninoshka talks at length with her to understand why she is at the Home. She and Vilma our social worker, then explain to the girl what it’s like to live at the Home.
In the first interview each girl is evaluated and it depends on her age and emotional status which evaluation will be done. Most commonly, the evaluation consists of doing both an emotional and an IQ test. During this evaluation the girls are asked to do a family tree so we can see how the girl sees her family. Sometimes we ask the girl to do a sketch of the people she has been living with to get a feeling of how she sees her past circumstances.
During our time with the little girls, play therapy(dolls, games, etc) is often used allowing the girls to talk about everything that has happened in her life, both good and bad, but in a gentle way. A big part of our therapy is spending time talking with each girl about forgiveness and why it is so important for them to forgive to promote healing for their own past, present and future. The topics most frequently discussed in the sessions are: forgiveness, that God has a purpose in everything, improving social skills, and establishing real and measurable goals for their future.
The time in the counseling sessions are so important because the girls can see another point of view for their own life; she can learn new techniques of how to handle painful situations and how to deal with people in the real world. Also during this time the girls can establish new and more specific goals and begin developing the steps to achieve their goals. This process helps them stop seeing themselves as victims and begin thinking about themselves as someone who can love and be loved as a child.
Safety and Security are essential for the girls
We are so fortunate to have Vilma De la Cruz as our social worker. Vilma grew up in the home and went on to obtain her degree in Social Work from the University. She is now studying law. Vilma wears a lot of hats within Prince of Peace doing many of the following things every day.
• Initial Interview with freshmen girls
• Household visits to the social study of girls and their families.
• Liaise with other social work organizations to ensure that they can obtain resources through cooperation. Coordinate with Child care facilities that they provide assistance, such as courts, Doctors Without Borders, INACIF, prosecution etc.
• Cooperate with relevant institutions to develop and implement care strategies in the short and long term, to ensure that children receive appropriate care and support as they recover from the traumas of abuse.
• Develop and maintain strong healthy relationships with both government agencies and with nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and foundations that is relevant to relate the basis of our mission in Guatemala.
• Organize and maintain records of girls. Documented cases according to the requirements of the home and institutions they supervise.
• Coordinate activities involved staff in the area of attention to girls.
• Meets with Tia's(aunts) to support them in the care of girls
Case Work
• Receive and complete the preliminary form at the time of the first attention to the freshmen girls. Out the information needed to better understand the case.
• Document every relevant event in progress or social care to girls and their immediate families.
• Assist with the girls to legal proceedings with the Public Ministry, the judiciary, the Attorney General's Office.
• Attend hearings on the prosecution and / or tribunals and courts to provide information required for girls.
• Accompany children to appointments with medical and psychological professionals when necessary.
• Maintain case files and prepare preliminary reports and monitored for each case.
• Provide required reports.
• Meeting with “Tia’s” at Prince of Peace
• Organization
• Care for family visits
• Care of children
• Search and Registration of Schools for basic and diversified.
• Create biographies for the girls in Spanish.
• Inquire about the progress of cases in court.
These items are critical to Prince of Peace having excellent relationships with the court systems in Guatemala and we are so thankful to have Vilma with us.
Sponsor A Child
There are many things you can do to serve alongside of those ministering in Guatemala to the needs of the girls of Guatemala through Prince of Peace Home for Girls. Learn more ›
Our Newsletters
POP Videos
Click here to see some videos from beautiful Guatemala.
Board Members
Click here to learn about our board members.
Teams
Team Manual 2011
Team Leader Commitment Form
Our Calendar
View our calendar to see when Volunteer teams are scheduled to be in Guatemala.
Prince of Peace Ministries San Cristobal, Guatemala Office: 859.408.9611 P.O. Box 1344 Mt. Sterling, KY 40353
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