OUR STORY

Eduardo Castañon and Jovita Godínez are the founders and directors of the Marsh Children's Home. They were both raised as orphans in the Latin American Orphanage run by Lawrence and Alice Marsh, where Jovita met her future husband, Eduardo. After raising four children of their own, Eduardo and Jovita generously made the decision to open a space to help needy children and dedicate the rest of their lives to giving love and protection to the next generations of orphans and misplaced youngsters. They named the "Marsh Home" in memory of the couple who lovingly raised them.

On February 4, 2006, Eduardo passed away peacefully. He is survived by his wife Jovita and their four children. Eduardo's love and many hours of hard work, seven days a week, for the welfare of the children at the Marsh Children's Home are sorely missed by all.

Eduardo's dream of helping children in need at the Marsh Children's Home will continue - a testament to his unselfish dedication to this ideal. Eduardo's wife, Jovita, along with his children and the Board of Directors, are dedicated to fulfilling his dream and improving his legacy.  

With his departure we have renewed our efforts to assist Jovita in continuing this outstanding legacy and ensure she has the support she needs as Director. Jovita has always been the heart and soul of the Marsh Children's Home, and now more than ever she needs to know her friends, the Marsh Children's Home TIOS and TIAS, and all the generous people who have helped over the years are working with her.

To the 80+ children at the Marsh Children's Home, our dearly-departed Eduardo, who the children loving called "Tio Lalo", is now a shining star in the firmament.

Interestingly, a mere 12 years ago the Marsh Children's Home had only 30 children (three, sometimes four, to a bed!), and Mamá Jovita (our Director) was saying, "no more children" - but Jovita's heart is SO BIG that she has never been able to say "no" to any child who arrived at her doorstep in need of a loving home.

FULL HOUSE: A few short years ago we still only wanted a maximum of 30 children. In June 2006, we had 60 children.  We then took in over 25 new children as the summer vacations ended and school was about to begin. Today we have 80+ children, ages 4 through 18, which is record for us - and every child has his/her own bed.

Several of these children are from purely indigenous backgrounds, from the high Sierra Madre mountains close to the border with Oaxaca.   The region is one of the poorest in Mexico. Yet these children come to us with so much hope and energy!   Many of them do not speak Spanish when they arrive, yet they do well in school and are quick learners. We now have a table in the dining room just with "Mixteco" speakers. We want them to retain their native language and continue speaking it among themselves, as a very important part of their heritage. We also hope that with your help we can aid even more children by expanding our facilities - buying a parcel of land adjacent to the Marsh Children's Home.