Santiago's Children: What I Learned about Life at an Orphanage in Chile

I read Santiago's Children after returning from a long-term volunteer placement in Latin America, and was thoroughly impressed. This book provides an unusually realistic account of volunteer work in a developing country. Although Steve Reifenberg occasionally sees dramatic results, he also learns to appreciate slow changes and small-scale victories in the lives of the children with whom he works. He depicts Chileans responding to political oppression not with heroic displays, but with quiet acts of kindness, courage, and generosity. Fortunately, you don't have to be an international traveler to enjoy this well written and engaging story. Its protagonist, the young Steve Reifenberg, is a complex, down-to-earth, and entirely likeable character. Steve offers honest, self-deprecating accounts of his successes and failures, enthusiasm and frustration. His love for the people and places he discovers, and especially for the children of Hogar Domingo Savio, is apparent in every anecdote. He comes away from his experience in Santiago with a universally useful lesson: "I learned to believe that maybe it was not a bad thing to have big dreams, even if sometimes they fell short."

I read Santiago's children coming from two places : First as an avid reader of autobiographies. This one will remain a gem in my memories. It is seldom that one finds a life story so well written, funny, terribly moving, sad, authentic and yet so humble. Reifenberg takes you from the first chapter to the very last page through numerous simple - yet incredible - everyday life stories in Chile. This book combines epics from the childhood of Chilean orphans, their wonderful "mama", Chilean history and includes Reifenberg's own story in the background. I roared with laughter, was moved to tears, even sobbed and did not want this unforgettable book to finish. A must read for anyone ! Secondly relating to the book as a career counselor. I wish that the choices my clients made could often take this path of self-reflection, as long, thorough and difficult as it may be. But where in the end one senses that the person has found his or her core values, the ones that will enable them a fulfilling career and life. Reifenberg seems to have set the ground for a lifelong self-understanding and calling during those two years in Chile.

One of the most difficult things for persons who engage in meaningful international volunteerism is balancing the reality of the limitations on what they can actually accomplish with the idealism, energy and commitment to doing good that brought them to the decision to volunteer in the first place. "Santiago's Children" is a wonderful narration that paints one international volunteering experience with honesty and insight across the what will be for potential volunteers and others curious about international volunteering a surprisingly broad mix of experiences, successful and unsuccessful, that this particular volunteer had during his years at the orphanage in Chile. Probably even more importantly, this book shows how the volunteer experience can transform the volunteer in unexpectedly profound ways. As the Executive Director of an NGO that sends volunteers to teach in developing countries, I have been looking for a book to send to our incoming volunteers to give them a realistic sense of what sorts of experiences lie ahead for them, as well as to show them how serious service can change their lives. We have decided on "Santiago's Children."

This is a great book for any recent college graduate, or for anyone older who is mulling over the meaning of life. Steve Reifenberg waited nearly 25 years to write a memoir of the two years he spent working in a small Chilean orphanage. The "hogar" was run by a remarkable young woman, who created a loving home for about a dozen young outcasts. As "Tio Esteve" works in the orphanage, he not only learns a lot about each of the loveable kids, and about raising children (even difficult ones), but also about what life is really all about. Reifenberg's beautiful, clear prose skillfully interweaves the story of the children, of Steve's coming of age, and the story of Chile under dictatorship. I found the book to be thoughtful, deep and affecting. This is not just a book for people who love latin america, or who may love children. There are stories and lessons in here that will appeal to a wide audience. When I finished reading, I wanted to start the book all over again. Santiago's Children is not only the story of the power of good, but it reminds us that one person can still make a difference.

Santiago's Children is an excellent read for many markets--people sensing that they want to "make a contribution" in a land far away; souls who are "finding themselves" thoughtfully; folks who are trying to understand the first two groups. Steve Reifenberg tells his personal story in a way that satisfies readers, regardless of where they are coming from. This occurs because Reifenberg's themes, what he learns, are important, universal truths. The truths he discerns, WE discern, without his having to articulate them in tones of "now remember this." We know from the beginning that Reisenberg has grown up a thoughtful reader and writer. Thus we hope that toward the end of the book he will look across the landscape of his life in Santiago and write in retrospect--stating his accomplishments, learnings, new beliefs. I'm glad the author does package up the lessons learned. You can pin these gems on your bulletin board, magnet them to the fridge, tape them inside your medicine cabinet.