Home for unwanted: Disabled Juárez kids get help

By Louie Gilot / El Paso Times

Article Launched: 12/23/2007 12:00:00 AM MST

JUAREZ -- Patricia Silis' children were heading to college, and Silis was facing a crossroads in her life. Should she try to enjoy her empty nest or go back to work as a translator? Should she start a business? Or was there something more important she should be doing?

For a long time, Silis, a naturalized U.S. citizen living in El Paso and a former Juarense, had been disturbed by newspaper stories about children abandoned in Juárez -- sleeping infants and toddlers left on sidewalks, on church benches, or at an acquaintance's house with the promise to be picked up in a few hours.

Silis decided this would be her cause. She approached the Mexican agency that runs orphanages, Integral Family Development, or DIF.

"They told me, 'Frankly, no one wants the handicapped children.' So if I wanted to help, this was where I could help," Silis said.

DIF has more than 20 orphanages in Juárez, but none that is equipped to handle special-needs children.