Thank you from Santa Rosa! (2025)
See several of our Santa Rosa students who graduated in Biology this year! Dreams, goals and aspirations for many children and young people are being built thanks to your support.
Stories
Recent Renovations Completed at the Daycare Center in 2025
Several major repairs were completed at the Daycare Center during 2024 and 2025. There is more work to be done,
but check out this slide presentation showing some of the work in process, plus before and after photos.
2024 Building Repairs at the Clinic in Santa Elena, Guatemala
The funds allocated to the Sisters in Santa Elena (Clinic and Orphanage) were almost completely used to pay for a new roof on the Clinic.
Donut Day!
It was a delicious day when two sisters from the Orphanage made donuts. They shared the goodies with Sisters there, along with the man who drives them school, as a thank-you.
In Their Own Words
We received letters from students at our school in Santa Rosa. They wrote to OCIMA and to the Dominican Sisters who run OCIMA’s program there. The pdf’s are in the girls’ own handwriting and we’ve provided a rough translation of…
Shelter-in-place during COVID-19
The sisters in Guatemala are on “shelter-in-place” orders. Imagine the extra work at the orphanage to help the children keep up with their studies, do their chores and have some fun too! Not to mention meals and hygiene! Faith, Love…
Guatemala by the Numbers
A recent study of health in Guatemala found: We could write more statistics but you get the point. Father Nick knew Guatemala was one of the Latin American countries most affected by nutritional problems. He knew of the high rates…
Santa Rosa School
One of OCIMA’s projects is the support of CENSE – the Center of Education of Our Lady of Hope in Chapas, Nueva Santa Rosa – a village about one and a half hours southeast of Guatemala City. In 1996 the…
Morales Nutritional Center
My first visit with Father Nick to the Nutritional Center told me quite a bit about why OCIMA financially supports a small group of Dominican sisters located in Morales, Guatemala. Morales is a small city in the eastern part of…
Santa Elena Food Program
In 2004, OCIMA began another important project – to help feed the hungry in the rural areas surrounding Morales and Santa Elena in Guatemala, where malnutrition continues to be a reality of life. According to data published by The World…
Santa Elena Orphanage
OCIMA supports an all-girl orphanage in Santa Elena, a village in north central Guatemala. At any given time, there can be as many as 30 girls, primarily of Mayan descent, who live at the orphanage. Most of these children cannot…
Santa Elena Medical Center
OCIMA provides the primary support for a small health clinic in Santa Elena in the department of Peten. Santa Elena is a poor city, just a short walk across a causeway to its sister city of Flores — a popular…
OCIMA: What’s in a Name?
OCIMA is the Overseas & Continental Independent Mercy Association — a 501(c)(3) non-profit. Backwards, OCIMA is AMICO, which is the last name of the organization’s founder, Father Nick Amico. Amico also means “friend” in Italian. And friend Father Nick has…