Hogar de la Niña
Santa Rosa de Lima
A Catholic home for girls in Guatemala — and a ministry Montgomery Catholic already calls family.
Cuilapa, Guatemala · Diocese of Santa Rosa de Lima
Montgomery Catholic Preparatory School exists to help students grow into people of faith, virtue, and wisdom. This year, our Meals to Missions campaign is packing 30,000 meals across all three of our campuses — and for the first time, a portion of them are headed somewhere special: a home our school community already supports.
A safe home for girls who need one most
Hogar de la Niña Santa Rosa de Lima is a Catholic home for girls who have been placed there because of extreme poverty, abandonment, or unsafe family circumstances. For many of the girls who live here, it is the first place they have ever felt truly safe.
The home operates as both an orphanage and a protective care center — a refuge where girls can simply be children again, cared for, fed, and loved.
MCPS students on a recent mission trip to Guatemala
The Sisters of the Small Apostles of the Redemption
The home is run by the Sisters of the Small Apostles of the Redemption, a Catholic religious congregation that lives on-site with the girls. The Sisters manage the day-to-day rhythm of the home — meals, school, prayer, play — and provide the kind of structured, faith-based guidance that gives every girl there a sense of stability and belonging.
Sisters serving the local community in Cuilapa
Holistic, everyday care
Beyond shelter, the Sisters make sure every girl in their care has what she needs to grow up healthy, educated, and loved.
Cuilapa, Guatemala
Cuilapa is the capital of the Santa Rosa department and the seat of the Diocese of Santa Rosa de Lima, roughly a 90-minute drive from Guatemala City. It's a region where local Catholic leaders have spent years working toward what they call “holistic development” — safe housing, clean water, agriculture support, and education for families living in deep poverty. Hogar de la Niña Santa Rosa de Lima is part of that same spirit of care already at work in the community.
Country Guatemala, Central America |
Diocese Santa Rosa de Lima |
Distance from Guatemala City ~90 minutes |
Run By Sisters of the Small Apostles of the Redemption |
Photos From the Field
Moments from a recent Montgomery Catholic mission trip to Guatemala.
A Mission Lived, Not Just Learned
In February, Montgomery Catholic students traveled to Guatemala on a mission trip focused on faith, service, and community — led by school President Justin Castanza, Agnes Armstrong Smith, Father Gaten Armstrong, and Joanie Armstrong.
While they may one day become doctors, lawyers, teachers, or professionals in other fields, on this trip the students lived as missionaries for Christ. They served alongside the Sisters and girls at Hogar de la Niña — hauling rocks, clearing litter, carrying limbs, and stacking bamboo. Their hard work provided practical help, while their presence strengthened the bonds of the universal Church.
“Their time in Guatemala was a powerful reminder that faith comes alive when it is shared through service.”
This Is Why We Pack.
Every meal our Knights family packs this year helps support our own MCPS programs and reaches families in need — right here at home through the Brown Bag Bus, and at Hogar de la Niña Santa Rosa de Lima in Guatemala.
Give & Register TodayMontgomery Catholic Preparatory School · Meals to Missions 2026
Learn more about our partner ministry via Cross Catholic Outreach's work in Guatemala.