WINSTED – Twenty-two volunteers from the First Church of Winsted have helped complete a housing project in Oaxaca, Mexico, where 35 families live off what they can find in a dump.

The volunteers, mostly teenagers and a half-dozen adults, were there from July 19-26.  During that time, they built the last of of 28 small cinder block homes for the development.  The project was spearheaded by Simply Smiles, a nonprofit organization based in Central Connecticut that looks to improve the lives of impoverished children.

This was the third straight summer the church had organized a trip to Oaxaca, a city of 258,000 in southern Mexico.  Those who have gone each year say they have slowly grown accustomed to the deplorable conditions in which the natives live.

This year, the volunteers walked through the dump, where they observed some 50 unhealthy-looking dogs and vultures flying above them.  Methane gas is burned as it leaves the soil.

“The smell is real bad,” said volunteer Debby Kane, adding she felt like gagging.  “It’s hard to even conceptualize how bad it is.”

Michael Wu, the church pastor, said the first year they were there, they appalled the locals with their constant use of disinfectants and paper towels to wipe everything down.  This year, the smell from a dead mouse or a clogged toilet hardly bothered them.

The volunteers stayed in an orphanage.  Some slept in bunk beds, while others laid on thin mattresses on the floor.  No one got their own room.  The children who live there share socks and underwear and have few toys.

The trips have given the volunteers a greater appreciation for what they have here.

“I look around here and I go, ‘What the heck are we all worried about?” said Thomas Mazzei.  “They got it  lot worse than I do.  May be I should stop worrying so much an go with the flow.”

Building a home for someone was an amazing experience.  In Oaxaca, we didn’t change the world or end hunger, but we were able to give a man a home. – Alex Tenney ‘11

The Rev. Marc Trister, Choate chaplain and Director of Campus Ministry, first learned about Simply Smiles at the First Church of Bethlehem, Conn.  Its members had volunteered to build homes and help special needs orphans in Oaxaca (pronounced “wa-ha-cah“), Mexico, and had continued to actively raise funds.  Choate Rosemary Hall had been looking for an ongoing service outreach and this seemed like the perfect opportunity.

Bryan Nurnberger, the force behind Simply Smiles, was brought in to talk to students and their parents, and hoped that a few would respond to the trip scheduled for the second week of spring break.  Some 21 students signed up and raised almost $600 for the orphanage.  A box at the bookstore filled up with school supplies; hats and t-shirts were donated by development, admission and student activities offices.

We arrived at Casa Hogar, the only orphanage in Oaxaca that accepts special needs children, late at night.  The next morning, we saw a pleasant compound of brightly painted buildings and many, many curious children.  Choate students pulled out sidewalk chalk, soccer balls, crayons and paper, and friendship bracelets.  In no time, the courtyard was a frenzy of games, piggy-back rides, and arts and crafts.  The common language was laughter.  Spanish was not required.

Quickly, we learned their names.  There was Flor, with the repaired cleft pallet; Kevin, in a wheelchair but with a  ready smile; Angel, born without eyes and, at age 4, finally learning to walk, and others.  For the rest of the week, part of every day was spent with the children.  Says Deanna Cho ‘11, “They were the sun rays that brightened everyone’s moods after a day’s worth of difficult work.”

We “toured” the Oaxaca garbage dump and met some of the people who make their living sorting through the trash and collecting anything of value that can be sold.  Until Simply Smiles, their homes were made of corrugated tin, cardboard and found materials.  Floors were packed dirt.  Now, 20 of the 33 families had concrete block homes with windows and a steel door with a lock.  We were to work on house number 21.

For the rest of the week, we learned how to build.  Under supervision of the maestros (master builders), we sifted sand, mixed it into cement in a centuries-old method to create mortar.  We chipped holes and notched into hundreds of cinder blocks so rebar could be used to reinforce the walls.

Goodbyes were difficult.  The intense week had bonded the Choate contingent and the children of Casa Hogar in a way no one expected.   Tears were shed, hugs were exchanged and promises to stay in touch were made.  The bus was quiet as we left the orphanage.  We were not the same group that had arrived a mere week before.

]]> http://www.simplysmiles.org/2009/06/to-give-a-man-a-home-choates-service-trip-to-oaxaca-mexico/feed/ 0 http://www.simplysmiles.org/2009/04/students-embark-on-spring-service-trip-to-mexico/ http://www.simplysmiles.org/2009/04/students-embark-on-spring-service-trip-to-mexico/#comments Fri, 10 Apr 2009 20:11:11 +0000 Simply Smiles http://www.simplysmiles.org/?p=1737

From March 15th to March 22nd, 21 Choate students traveled to sweltering Oaxaca, Mexico.  For a community service week on behalf of Simply Smiles, a nonprofit organization that strives to provide impoverished children home, an education, and everything a successful life requires.  Bryan Nurnberger, who founded Simply Smiles in 2003, along with his wife, Kristen Graves, guided the group’s efforts at both the dump and at Casa Hogar.  Choate Chaplain Marc Trister, parent Kathryn Gaffney, Vince McDermott, Pastor Cheryl Anderson, and Jim Esslinger served as chaperones for the trip.

At the first work site, the Oaxaca dump, the Choate participants helped Simply Smiles’ attempt to provide homes to 120 people. Prior to the introduction of Simply Smiles, 33 families resided at the dump, sorting through trash to took for plastic bottles, tin cans and cardboard to sell in order to earn a living of $1 a day.

“The amazing thing about the families at the dump is that even though they earn so little a day after so much work, impoverished as they are, they still love one another, stay as a family and keep together,” states Rahim Mawji ‘11, a student who participated in the community service trip.

With work from the volunteers and the building maestros, Simply Smiles has succeeded in constructing more than half of these homes already.  The Choate group helped the project by sifting rocks to make cement, chipping cinderblocks and laying cinderblocks to build the homes.  After each cinderblock home was built, the owner and his family choose the colors they want the house to be painted, in an effort to personalize each structure.

The Choate group completed a house for an Oaxaca resident named Renato in a mere three days.  This noteworthy achievement was the fastest construction job Simply Smiles has seen to date.

“The family who is moving into Renato’s house now has a safe place to live in,” Ify Ozoma ‘11 comments.  “They no longer have to stay awake at night, worried that people might easily break in and steal their possessions or hurt them.”

“The one thing that stands out to me is that the families live in simple, small houses, yet they are so proud of them.  They take care of their houses the same way a millionaire would take care of his mention, and that really is a testament to their character,” Ozoma observed.

After embarking on construction work at the dump, the Choate group relocated to the town of Casa Hogar.  Casa Hogar is home to almost eighty children from the region of Oaxaca.  The local orphanage focuses on children with special needs and provides them with every opportunity they need to leave the home someday with the skills necessary to lead a more fulfilling life.

The Choate students lived at Casa Hogar, allowing them to spend every moment with the orphaned children.  “As orphans, many of the kids have a void when it comes to family and loving contact, and so being able to help fill that void, even a little bit, was amazing,” Ozoma states.

“They were great together,” chaperone Kathryn Gaffney commented on the interactions between the children and the students.  “Our students gave so much of themselves that they formed very strong bonds with the Casa Hogar kids.  I”m sure they won’t be forgotten.  They’re friends for life.”  Reverend Trister observed that the children at Casa Hogar embraced the group, “giving everything they had.’

Lanya Tseng ‘11 commented on the compassion of the children.  “There was one scene that I will never forget: blind Nacho waling around the courtyard, holding eyeless Angel in his arms and singing.”

By the end of the journey, the group’s expectations of Oaxaca had been exceeded by the end of the journey.  Reverend Trister believes that the group “grew and matured in a way that  could have only occurred through an experience like this.”  He commented that the trip changed the group’s value system and emotional strengths.  The 21 students, who were strangers to the Oaxaca community upon their arrival, left the region having grown much closer to locals they encountered.

“My plan was just to go to Oaxaca, get my required community service hours, and come back to the United States,” Rahim Mawji ‘11 said.  “But by the end of the trip, I didn’t want to leave Casa Hogar at all.”

“When planning our trip to Mexico, we were told that we would be helping children at an orphanage, and ‘filling a void’  in each of them.  However, as we were leaving Casa Hogar, I realized that the kids had a much greater impact on us,” Tseng commented.

Campus Ministries will sponsor the trip again next year, and the dates have been set for March 14th to March 21st.

]]> http://www.simplysmiles.org/2009/04/sharing-smiles/feed/ 0 http://www.simplysmiles.org/2008/07/residents-bring-smiles-to-orphans-in-mexico/ http://www.simplysmiles.org/2008/07/residents-bring-smiles-to-orphans-in-mexico/#comments Thu, 31 Jul 2008 15:15:08 +0000 Simply Smiles http://www.simplysmiles.org/?p=1813

Sometimes holding child’s hand is all it takes to bring a smile to their young face.

This certainly was the case for 15 members of the Monroe Congregational Church, who traveled to Casa Hogar Children’s Home, an orphanage in Oaxaca City, Mexico.

As part of the church’s outreach program, parishioners brought clothing and supplies to 80 youths, ages 3 to 20, housed at the orphanage.

However, their main goal is, in fact, to demonstrate to the children that people do care about them.

“The children are so happy just to have someone hugging them and holding their hand,” said Monroe resident Shirley Dotoratos.  “Although we do participate in a lot of activities with them, such as playing games and reading, I think they most appreciate us just being with them.  They don’t usually receive a lot of one-on-one time,” she said.

The Monroe Congregation missionary trip is part of Simply Smiles, a non-profit organization created by Bryan Nurnberger to help impoverished children.

During a visit to Mexico in 2003, Nurnberger reportedly was emotionally moved by the youngsters, many of whom had special needs and physical disabilities.  He also noted that many children were economic orphans and had parents who were alive but could not afford to care for them.

When he returned to the United States, Nurnberger was determined to make a difference in these children’s lives.  According to the organization’s website, simplysmiles.org, bringing a smile to their faces could make a difference that would positively affect the rest of their lives.

Dotoratos said that the Monroe group not only spent time with children but also ministered to local families living nearby.

“We brought school and medical supplies,” she said.  “Sometimes the families had special issues that we are able to help them with, too.”

During their weeklong stay, members of Monroe Congregational Church also helped to build a house for families in need, who live and eat from the town’s garbage dump.

Using donations generously provided by the organization’s supporters, one of Simply Smiles’ initiatives is to build permanent housing for all of these families.

“This is a totally devastated area,” Dotoratos said.  “Once you visit the dump and see how people live, you want to cry your eyes out.  There are little kids and babies walking around in the garbage.  It is very disturbing.”

However, the good news she said, is that 16 houses already have been constructed for the 40 families in need.

Simply Smiles also has involved the orphans in helping with the Garbage Dump Project, by encouraging them to bring sandwiches to the families twice a week.

“We are trying to enforce the idea that people are helping them, and they need to now go out and also help others in need,” Dotoratos said.

She said that it’s always “bittersweet” to visit Casa Hogar, because everyone on the missionary trip realizes how much they are needed by the children.

“We take so many simple amenities for granted,” Dotoratos said.  “For example, the first thing I couldn’t wait to do when I got back home was to take a long hot shower.”

Also, there is little hope that the children would be adopted formally, because many do not have birth certificates.

Dotoratos said that the majority of children at Casa Hogar were born to uneducated parents in rural villages, where birth certificates are inexistent.

However, her favorite part of the journey was seeing the children’s reactions when the Monroe group arrived.

“Many of us had been there before, so the children recognized us,” she said.  “They saw our familiar faces, so it was like we were friends and family coming to visit them.  Also, I think it made them feel good to know that we didn’t forget about them and that there are people out there who continue to care.”

For more information about Simply Smiles, go to simplysmiles.org or call Monroe Congregational Church at 268-9327.

WASHINGTON – Written on walls within Casa Hogar Children’s Home in Oaxaca City, Mexico, is this biblical passage: “Y cualquiera que de a uno de estos pequenitos un vaso de aqua de cierto os digo que no perdera su recompensa . . .” (Matthew 10:42)

The translation is: “And whoever in the name of the disciple gives to one of these little ones a cup of cold water to drink, truly I say to you he shall not lose his reward.”

This speaks volumes about the program Simply Smiles, a nonprofit organization founded by Bryan Nurnberger, who serves as president of Simply Smiles and is a native of Connecticut.

Simply Smiles offers a home to more than 80 children, some disabled, while building new homes for less fortunate families living in the city dump, which Mr. Nurnberger refers to as “Hell on Earth”.  The organization was established in 2003 with the motto “dedicated to building bright futures while improving the daily lives of impoverished peoples”.

And thus far, it is proving to be doing just that.

Casa Hogar is a home where orphaned children are cared for by Mr. Nurnberger, Kristen Graves and volunteers ready to lend a hand.  Vicky and Hacinta, two women who were left in chairs by polio, have proved to be valuable assets to the home by serving as mothers, cooks, nurses and more.  Currently, there is an effort to build a house for the two women so they no longer have to share a room with the kids.

Recently, a group of Spanish-speaking Shepaug Valley High School students flew to Casa Hogar, where they were able to communicate and play with the kids, and successfully built a house in the dump in just three days.  It was the 18th house Simply Smiles has built.

After receiving $45,552 in donations in 2003, the organization grew to the point where total donations reached $308,705 in 2006, a significant step toward more smiles.  With 98 percent of all sponsorship going directly to the children, donors are certain their money will be well spent.  A third of donations are child sponsorships and the remainder general donations.  Each of the Shepaug volunteers donated about 200 pesos, about $20, which paid for the kids’ new soccer uniforms.

The group, including Spanish teacher Michael Nolan, heard about the organization through Shepaug graduate Callie Larson’s senior project, entitled “More Smiles for Simply Smiles.”

Mr. Nurnberger gladly flew in from Oaxaca to speak with the group of students volunteering at Casa Hogar and plans were set.  The students made arrangements to spend June 22 to 28 in Mexico, doing as much as they could in one week.

The first two days, students spent their time in the orphanage, getting to know individual children and acclimate themselves to the high altitude.  Right away, the students gladly offered a helping hand by serving food at a welcome party, and making pancakes the following morning.

A wake-up call at 7 a.m. on their third day marked the first day at the dump.  As the bus rolled into the dump, the students saw what looked like an oversized trash-ridden ant-hill, and next to it was a community of 33 families, living on other people’s garbage.

The group’s goal was to build a concrete block house in four days and paint three other homes.  Local supervisors, including Marcelo, and his assistant, Alejandro, taught students to sift sand, chip cement blocks, and lay the blocks with mortar cement, which they also mixed.

Families raise children in makeshift homes surrounded by pungent odors, stray dogs and vultures.  Below the ground level people walk on are layers of garbage covered with a blanket of dirt.  New homes are built with cement floors and walls to hold the house stable in this earthquake area.

To make the houses more attractive, the students painted the outside with flowers and inscribed the greeting ‘bienvenidos”, meaning welcome, over the door frame.  The inside walls are covered with stucco so that it wasn’t just a cement box.  The families even showed enthusiasm about painting, as they picked out their own colors, and one girl even lent a hand, literally, as she finger-painted her own house.

The dump denizens were initially shy, but  as the Shepaug students introduced themselves with firm handshakes, an alliance was made.  After a morning filled with back-breaking labor, the students would sit down to enjoy Coca-Cola and sandwiches prepared by a woman who now runs a food shop out of her new home, built by Simply Smiles.  All the students agreed that there must be something about the special Oaxacan cheese or toasted rolls that made their mouths water, or it could have just been the jalapeno peppers.

At the orphanage, some students found it more difficult to forge a connection with the kids, many of whom are disabled.  “When we first got there, it was like there was a wall between us and them [the disabled children] that we were creating,” said Anna Carlson, who will be a senior at Shepaug.  “They were completely open to us and we learned to embrace that.”

Ricardo is one of the more severe special needs cases at Casa Hogar.  He is 29 and suffered from cerebral palsy, making him unable to move his legs or use his right hand.  Before coming to live at Casa Hogar, he was tied in a wooden chair all day long.  Anna saw past Ricardo’s disabilities and instead saw a friend.

Carley Davenport connected especially to one girl, Luz, meaning “light,” who was deaf.  “I didn’t know what to say.  She spoke a different language and she was deaf, but you figure it out, make up your own signs, and you get know each other.  She was outgoing and personable, which made it not even matter that she was deaf.”  Deafness is common among the children in Oaxaca because of the high altitude and lack of medical attention.

Looming over the shoulders of the volunteers was a constant fear of bed bugs, parasites in the tap water, altitude sickness and, of course, fungus.  Fortunately, water jugs were found everywhere the volunteers went within the orphanage and local stores, so Montezuma never had his revenge.

Early in the trip one student was under the weather because of altitude sickness and was unable to keep her tacos dow, but quickly recovered and was eager to get back to the dump.  Another student fell victim to a case of athlete’s foot.  She performed a ‘mini-surgery” on herself that included a sterilized sewing needle and athlete’s foot spray – luckily, results were desirable.

Two unfortunate volunteers had tiny visitors crawl into their beds and luggage leaving bite marks and exploding into the  “Bed Bug Epidemic.”  This forced them to spend the last two days moving all the furniture outside to be disinfected, and questionable mattresses were burned.  When asked about the situation, Mr. Nurnberger jokingly called it a “code rojo.”

After working at the dump one day, a few of the students were motivated to go for a hike.  Daniel, 11, from the orphanage wanted to tag along and bring his best friend Nacho.  Nacho is blind.  Daniel guided Nacho all the way up the mountain by holding his arm, stepping with him in unison, and even describing the view.  All the students helped direct him, even offering piggy-back-rides.  It was a beautiful display of teamwork as they all acted together using Spanish and kinesthetic senses to help Nacho reach the very top.

Senor Nolan, the Spanish teacher and chaperone, said of the trip, “It was eye-opening to see how happy the children in Casa Hogar and the families living in the dump were.  When you look at how little they have, you would expect them to have a different outlook on life.  Coming back to the United States, it helps put our relatively minor everyday problems into perspective.”

The whole group reconsidered the priorities and values of life in Litchfield County.  “I often find myself talking about the great job the Shepaug kids did, and the positive impression they left in Casa Hogar,” the teacher added.  “I did not hear one complaint the entire trip.  The students really stepped up to the challenge of working in the dump and making the most of their short time with the children of Casa Hogar.”

Senor Nolan plans to return to Casa Hogar with a group from Monroe in August, and the Shepaug students unanimously decided to make arrangements to return next year, possibly as part of Nathalie Fernandes’ senior project.

Following its arrival home, the group organized a dinner and a slideshow at Odd Fellows Hall in New Milford for family and friends, where they played at the orphanage, hiking, working at the dump, walking the Zapotec ruins and an evening out on the town in Oaxaca City.

Donations were collected and sent directly to Casa Hogar.  The students are also in the process of editing footage for a screening upon returning to school in the fall, with the hopes of spreading awareness and encouraging other students to come next year – a way of spreading more smiles and maintaining a connection with a community outside of our own.

Claire Franjola, who will be a senior at Shepaug Valley High School in the fall, is an intern with The Litchfield County Times and Housatonic Publications.

The 14-year-old Bethel High School freshmans’ vacation didn’t include sunbathing or windsurfing in glamourous tourist destinations like Cozumel, Acapulco or Cancun.

Instead, Sara spent the week working with disabled orphan’s at the Casa Hogar Children’s Home in Oaxaca and helping build permanent home for families who earn their livings scavenging for recyclables at the nearby dump.

“We see things like that on TV, but when you see it in person, it’s totally different,” said Sara, who described the entire experience as “overwhelming.”

Sara was one of eight high school students from across Connecticut who went to Mexico last month as part of Simply Smiles, a nonprofit organization founded in 2001 by Bryan Nurnberger of Naugatuck.  The program is strongly supported by the United Church of Christ, including the Bethel Congregational Church, where Sara and her mother Lori, are members.

Sara first heard about Simply Smiles through a church sponsored summer camp that she has attended for the past several years and decided last December that she wanted to go.

“Sara has always had a lot of empathy for people,” her mother said.  “I had heard about it from other people who had been there, and when she said she wanted to go, I said, ‘Let’s make it happen.’  I feel it’s my job to give her wings.”

During the first several days in Mexico, the teens stayed at the orphanage, which is home to 80 children and adults, many of them physically disabled.  In the poor area of Mexico where the orphanage is located, farming is a way of life, and if a child cannot work, parents sometime abandon them, Lori Cipot said.

But the bulk of Sara’s time was spent at he dump, where 33 families live in shelters composed of whatever building materials they can find.

Whole families earned their livelihoods by retrieving plastic bottles for recycling, often dodging the big trucks and construction equipment at the site.

“They work very hard for their money, and they are very proud,” Sara said. “When the kids came home from school, they would go out in the dump and work with their parents.”

The teens, under the direction of three construction workers, made concrete blocks that were assembled into homes, then painted them.

One of Simply Smiles goals is to build a house for each of the families at the dump.

Sara said her trip has given her a new outlook on things she had previously taken for granted.

“I think I appreciate things more, schools with running water and electricity, and clean bathrooms,” she said.  “I really have a lot to be thankful for.”

As part of the program, each of the participants is supposed to speak publicly about their experiences, and Sara has done some of that, talking before a church group and at school.

But like the other teens, Sara is “still processing” much of hat she saw, her mother said.

“I’m not pushing.  When she’s really ready to talk about it, she will,”  Lori Cipot said.

]]> http://www.simplysmiles.org/2008/05/bethel-students-gets-new-outlook-on-life/feed/ 0 http://www.simplysmiles.org/2007/12/bethlehems-first-church-seeks-help-for-families-in-mexico/ http://www.simplysmiles.org/2007/12/bethlehems-first-church-seeks-help-for-families-in-mexico/#comments Wed, 05 Dec 2007 20:39:25 +0000 Simply Smiles http://www.simplysmiles.org/?p=1758

BETHLEHEM – When Bryan Nurnberger of Naugatuck went to Mexico for vacation, he chanced upon an orphanage where children lived in destitute conditions.

He also made an alarming discovery at the dump in Oaxaca, Mexico – 33 families living in structures that rose from the refuse, families whose job consisted of sifting through garbage for recyclables.

The families it turned out, had purchased the small piece of land at the dump from the government.

This weekend, miles away from Mexico, Bethlehem will be bustling with people when the Christmas Town Festival takes place on Friday and Saturday, December 7 and 8.

People will watch the reenactment of Mary and Joseph looking for shelter and minds will be occupied with the glory and gift giving of the season.

The Rev. Pamela Briddle of First Church of Bethlehem, 21 Main St. South, is asking residents to extend the spirit of gift giving to the children and families in Mexico.

“The name Bethlehem literally means house of bread,” Rev. Briddle told Voices.  “We are intentionally working to become a church in mission.  We’re inviting the community to participate with us.”

First Church of Bethlehem is working with Simply Smiles of Naugatuck, a non-profit organization Mr. Nurnberger founded after his trip to Mexico.  Those who attended the Christmas festival in Bethlehem are welcome to stop by First Church, Rev. Briddle invited.

An auction will take place and food will be available for purchase, will (sp.) all proceeds going towards the church’s mission work.  The church seeks to provide funds door both orphanage and for the families living at the dump.

One cement block home for a family costs $2,400 to build and comes with a table, chairs and bunk beds.

Those who make a donation to the church’s mission work will receive a loaf of freshly baked bread.

“Let’s have Bethlehem, the house of bread, build a home with bread,” said Rev. Briddle.

Rev. Briddle said that during one Sunday service, she was struck with an inspirational thought.

“If 24 of us put $100 in a plate, we’d have enough to build a house,” she said she told the congregation.  “Within five minutes, we had $1300 in that plate.  We raised money for half a house.”

There is no minimum donation required; Rev.Briddle said First Church is seeking participation from the community, no matter what the age or talent is of those who wish to help.

She gives examples of people who knit mittens or help paint homes in the local area.  She said the church members take trips to the orphanage and the dump, and members of the community who wish to come need not be church members.

“When you go down there, all you hear is children laughing and playing games,”she said.  “They had nothing but each other.  There’s more joy there – you don’t hear kids bickering because there was nothing to bicker over.”

Now, the children in the orphanage have uniforms and a bus to go to school in.  Before Simply Smiles, the children did not go to school because students are required to have uniforms in order to attend and could not afford them, said Rev. Briddle.

“Bryan has really transformed the lives of the children,” she said.

The orphanage, called Casa Hogar, has developed a relationship with the families living in the dump.  Once a week, those who live in the orphanage bring lunch to the dump.

The families will not leave the dump because they are proud and often, that is all they know, said Rev. Briddle. Families are raised in the dump and the children and adults work there.

She said Mr. Nurnberger worked hard to develop a relationship of respect and trust.

She shared a touching story about a woman who lives in one of the cement homes from Simply Smiles.

“They get to pick the colors of their house,” she sad.  “One woman picked blue for the outside.  She had Bienvenido, the Spanish word for welcome, painted over the door.”

A small paved walkway and plastic flowers found in the dump decorate the outside of the house.  Rev. Briddle said the woman will not wear her shoes in the house and carefully removes them before entering.

Helping out the orphanage and local families in Oaxaca, Mexico, is great role for First Church.  Rev. Briddle said the Congregation voted to enter itself in missionary work.

“We do really good job of taking care of ourselves,” she said.  “The gospel says ‘feed your sheep, tend them,’ and that’s what we hope to do.”

First Church will be open from 5 to 10 p.m., Friday, December 7, and 10 a.m. to 4p.m. Saturday, December 8.  A 7:30 p.m. Vesper’s service will take place on Friday and a Handbell Choir Concert will take place at noon on Saturday.

Those seeking additional information may call First Church at 203-266-7288.  Those seeking additional information on Simply Smiles may visit www.simplysmiles.org

NAUGATUCK, Conn. — A Naugatuck man’s trip to Mexico four years ago ended up becoming a life-changing mission — not only for him, but for an orphanage full of children.

Bryan Nurnberger said he traveled over the border for the first time during his summer break from teaching in 2003.

“I was doing a combination of teaching and guiding rock and ice climbing. Summer break came and I was looking for something to do,” Nurnberger said. “I was just traveling around to different towns in Mexico — in the central mountains, reading books and looking for rock-climbing areas.”

Nurnberger said that after about a month, he grew tired of his vacation. He said that a woman he had worked with

told him of an orphanage in the southern part of the country, in a state called Oaxaca.

“I called the number that I had, and they sent a pickup truck to get me. It was nighttime and they brought me to the orphanage and all the kids were asleep. The next morning I woke up and all of a sudden there were all these kids — 80-plus children,” he said.

Nurnberger said that after meeting the children, he knew that he had to do something to make a difference in their lives.

“There were all these kids, 80-plus children, children with disabilities, children with malnutrition, all kinds of horrible circumstances,” he said. “I befriended one of the boys who had cerebral palsy who was in a wheelchair. His name was Ricardo and he was in the same clothes for three days, same diaper.”

Nurnberger said that the majority of the orphanage’s children were economic orphans — children whose parents couldn’t afford to care for them.

After returning to Connecticut, Nurnberger founded the group Simply Smiles, to help provide food and care to the children.

“I thought we’d just put a Band-Aid on it, and do what we could, and you know, maybe spread some awareness here and generate a little support,” he said.

Nurnberger said that the organization has grown quickly in its four years of existence, and that the organization’s efforts wouldn’t be possible without volunteers from the First Congregational Church of Naugatuck.

“All they know is that they’re happy and they’re smiling because there’s three meals every single day and it’s those kinds of moments that we are trying to create in these children’s lives,” Nurnberger said. “They have a computer lab with Internet, and all of these amenities which they deserve, but four years ago would never have dreamed of having.”

Simply Smiles now runs two orphanages and volunteers will soon build homes for people who are living inside a dump.

“They live in the dump. They live off the dump. They find things to make their homes in the dump,” Nurnberger said.

Volunteers and siblings Josh and Jillian Dufresne visited Mexico and said their goal is to give the children a better standard of living. They said their fist visit to Mexico was full of surprises.

“The cockroaches in your bed and the lizards on your face — it’s a little different, but you get used to it,” Josh Dufresne said.

The Dufresnes’ mother also gives her time to the organization by making quilts.

“We sent 86 quilts down, mostly with pictures of the kids on them that he had brought back for us so we could give them a little comfort and have it personalized,” said Peggy Dufresne.

Nurnberger said the organization is always looking for volunteers to help make the children’s lives a bit more complete.

Naugatuck – In the summer of 2002, Bryan Nurnberger found himself heartbroken and appalled by the severe poverty he saw on a trip to Oaxaca, Mexico.

Children at an orphanage where he volunteered were wearing the same clothes day after day.  Many of them wore the same diapers day in and day out, and most didn’t have food in their bellies.

So Nurnberger, then a special education teacher in Prospect, emptied his savings account of about $5,000.00.  With that he bought food, clothes and diapers for the children at Casa Hogar, a struggling Mexican orphanage with 80 children.

A year later, he gave up teaching and began a nonprofit organization called Simply Smiles Inc., dedicated to solely to improving the orphanage.  The organization provides funding for food, shelter, medical assistance, and educational opportunities for children at Casa Hogar.

In three years, Simply Smiles has raised more than $500,000 for the children.  The orphanage has gone from a place where children seldom had a decent meal, to a model children’s home that not only provides orphans with adequate food and shelter but also enjoys access to high-speed internet service.

“Just because kids are born in Mexico, it doesn’t mean they don’t deserve the same things any other kid would get,” said Nurnberger, now 29.  “Whether you were born in Greenwich, or the south of Mexico, it doesn’t matter, you should have the same opportunities to succeed.”

Nurnberger, a Naugatuck native, said children who come to the orphanage are treated like family.  Unlike many traditional orphanages, children at Casa Hogar are not sent into the “real world” when they turn 18.

“If they want to go to college, we’re going to help them get there and finish,” he said,  adding that Casa Hogar means “a house that is a home” in Spanish.

Two children who have been at the orphanage are now in college; one studies accounting and the other studies law.

Nurnberger, who is single,  said another child who came to the orphanage with a stomach full of parasites now has a heart filled with hope.  He’s healthy and the best student in his class, Nurnberger said.

Another child is the best soccer player in his school.

“In Mexico, that’s like being the best football player in Texas,” Nurnberger said.

Nurnberger, the president Simply Smiles, runs the organization out of a third-floor office at the Congregational Church of Naugatuck.  He visits Casa Hogar for two to three weeks every two months.

Simply Smiles is in the process of building a second orphanage in Oaxcaca.

“Casa Hogar has become a model children’s home, and we want to duplicate that,” he said, adding that the goal is to have eight Casa Hogars in Oaxaca.

It would cost about $11 million to complete that goal.  That why Nurnberger uses almost every waking moment campaigning for donations.  About 60 percent of the organization’s funds come form donations, and the other 40 percent comes from people sponsoring children.  Donors can sponsor children for $30 to $120 a month, or $360 to $1440 a year.  Ninety-eight percent of all donations go directly to the children.

Simply Smiles raised a total of $122,879 and $82,293 went straight to the orphanage in 2005, according to an examination of the organization’s fiscal records.  The records show $14,250 went to compensation of officers, while the rest is being saved for future needs of the organization.

The Rev. Laura Whitmore has known Nurnberger since he was a 9-year-old parishioner at the Congregational Church of Naugatuck.  Though she is now a minister at a parish in Fairfield, Whitmore has kept in touch with Nurnberger, and is a member of the Simply Smiles Board of Directors.

“Bryan is the type of person who sees a need, and feels compelled to help,” Whitmore said. “When he came back form Mexcio, he sat a my kitchen table and told me he needed to do something to help these people.”

She said since that meeting, Nurnberger has put in 10-12 hours almost every day bringing his vision for the orphanage to life.

“His vision was so big, but his drive is so incredible,” she said.  “I don’t think anybody expected it to become this big in such a short period . . . I think it will continue to grow and get better.”

And while his goal is lofty, Nurnberger is confident.  He has overcome adversity many times in efforts to help the children in his “family”.

Nurnberger once fought for eight months to bring a yellow bus filled with medical supplies, toiletries, clothing and toys to 80 Mexican children.  He had to fight through the bureaucracy of the Mexican government, but the bus eventually reached the children.

And he doesn’t plant to give up on his crusade.

“I’d like to think I have another 50 years of doing this,” he said.  “what it comes down to is putting stock in children who others might disregard.”