Joy and her kids

Thirty two year old Joy Pulsifer has been running Hogar Amiguitos, a children’s home in Jinotega, Nicaragua for the last four years. This amazing mom to 17 (that’s right, 17!) children, took some time out of her ridiculously hectic schedule to talk to Bilingual Readers about her unusual bilingual home.

BR: How did you end up running Hogar Amiguitos? How many people work with you full time?

Joy: I came down to teach English for a year. When the director at that time left, I was given the job.  That was four years ago. I currently have 9 full time staff members.  Only one other volunteer and I are here 24/7.

BR:  How many children live at Hogar Amiguitos? How old are they, and what kind of backgrounds do they come from?

Joy: There are 17 children living here. They range from age 6 to 17, and most of them have been placed here because of severe abuse ranging from simple beatings to attempted murder.

BR: Walk us through an average day at Hogar Amiguitos.

Joy: The children get up at 6am, get dressed and clean their rooms. Devotions at 6:30 am. Breakfast is at 7am. The high school students have to be at school at 7:30 am. Fortunately, the high school is only a five minute walk from our home.  The elementary students have private tutoring in the mornings from 8am to 10am.  After this they shower and get dressed for school. Lunch for them is at 11:30 am, then we leave for school at 12 noon.  They have school from 12:30 until 5 pm.  The high school students return at 12:30 and have lunch at 1pm.  They have private tutoring from 2pm until 5pm.  The elementary students return around 5:30 pm.  Supper is at 6pm.  After supper is free time.  Bedtime for the younger children is 8pm and for the teenagers around 9pm.  This is also when the adults go to bed since by that time we are completely exhausted!

BR: Why do you think it’s important for the kids to learn languages other than Spanish?

Joy: Speaking more than one language is essential for success in this global economy.  Tourism is a large industry here in Nicaragua, and the best jobs in this area go to those who are bilingual.  Truthfully, most of the best paying jobs in all industries here go to bilingual workers.

BR: What steps are you taking to help your children learn other languages?

Joy: The children here have German lessons and English lessons several times a week.  Also, we frequently speak to them in English so they are accustomed to hearing both languages.

BR: Any funny stories about the kids learning English with you?

Joy: I was teaching a lesson about household items.  We learned “bed”, “blanket” and “pillow”, but when we arrived at “sheet” we had a problem with pronunciation.  The entire class was yelling an obscenity. No matter how hard I tried to correct them, they just couldn’t get the difference between the two words.  Finally, I just moved on to chair.

BR: You are a mother to so many children. Any advice for all the parents out there?

Joy: Reading is such a wonderful way of stimulating the mind.  My children love reading and being read to.  I always include a book as one of their birthday presents and encourage anyone coming to bring books for the children especially book that are in both English and Spanish.

BR: Some of our readers may be interested in supporting Hogar Amiguitos. What are your most pressing needs right now?

Joy: We are currently in the process of installing the second largest solar energy system in Nicaragua (you can read more about the project here).  When it is completed it will be the first sell back system in the country.  This means that we will be feeding energy into the grid, likely more than we use.  We will not get paid for the extra energy, but we don’t mind since it will basically lower our electric bill to $0, while helping to provide clean effecient energy to the country.  We are currently waiting for the local power company to install a bi-directional meter, the only one in the country, so we can start operating the system at full capacity.  We are also in the process of raising funds for two solar hot water heaters one for the boys and the other for the girls bathroom.  This will further lower our energy use.  If you are interested in supporting this project or sponsoring a child at Hogar Amiguitos, please send us an email to info@bilingualreaders.com or contact Joy directly at joyepulsifer@aim.com.

Everyone has a story to tell, and we’d love to hear yours! If you’re interested in being interviewed for our Real Stories, Real Lives section please send us an email at info@bilingualreaders.com.