Helping Orphans in Mexico

Alan and Pamela Skuse originally from the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia, have six grown up children and a growing number of grandchildren. Three of their children are now married to Mexicans and most live in Queensland.

Pam and Alan arrived in Tapachula, Chiapas, Mexico in November 2000 to spend 12 months volunteering at an orphanage. The organization they came to help closed down within 6 months so Pam and Alan were left with the dilemma of what to do regarding the children in their care.

"Do we just leave and let the children go back to the streets and lives of abuse after giving them a taste of what life could be like or do we take on this huge responsibility with no resources to support us?"


"It didn´t take long to realize that we could not abandon these kids and because we could see that there was such a great need in this area of work, we decided to stay."

Alan and Pam ‘stepped out’ and established their own refuge, Albergue Mission Mexico, Dando, Amor, Vida y Esperanza (Mission Mexico Refuge, Giving Love, Life and Hope) to care for the children and have dedicated their lives to doing this work. They care for children, boys and girls, aged 2 to 17 years, who have been abandoned, abused, neglected or orphaned and are often from backgrounds of extreme poverty. The number of children in their care changes constantly but on average they care for 50 children on a permanent basis.

Since the refuge was established Pam and Alan have helped around 250 children from various circumstances of need.

If you wish to learn more, go to their website;

http://www.lovelifehope.com/