History

Study Tour

NESES, started as a family project in 1998, began by taking Salvadoran, orphaned children on a study tour to give them the chance to explore their rich cultural communities through a week-long bus trip. The NESES trip is designed to be entertaining and culturally enriching and for most of the students it has become a motivation for them to stay in school and do well in their studies.
 
Through the seven-day trip, NESES encourages the children to become productive citizens,  to engage actively with their communities, and to strengthen the ties to all Salvadorans.
 
The needs of orphaned children sometimes exceeds the traditional school curricula. The greatest need was for children in the care of Salvadoran administered orphanages.
 
Dolores Sousa, Hogar del Niño, in the department of San Miguel was the first orphanage. After two years, we decided to give the opportunity to another orphanage, Aldea San Antonio, also, in San Miguel and then, San Vicente de Paul in San Salvador. In 2003 we began working with Ciudad de Los Niños in Santa Ana.
 
All these orphanages are government run under the umbrella organization of ISPM (Salvadoran Institute for the Protection of Minors), now called ISNA (Salvadoran Institute for Children and Adolescents). Each time we go, the trip changes based on different opportunities that become available. [view a sample of the itinerary].
 
We give the kids t-shirts with the NESES logo on them so they have a keepsake and we supply each child with a one-use camera and return their developed pictures to them after the trip. We also encourage them to write in their journals, take pictures, and get to know other people we visit on our trips.

Scholarships

 
In 2003, NESES saw the opportunity to further expand the knowledge and opportunities of the students it serves by giving scholarships to those students who had graduated from the ninth grade. NESES was granted non-profit status in order to raise funds to award scholarships to those students who apply themselves and show exceptional potential. To learn more about donating toward NESES scholarhsips,  click here.