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Show - Vi.'--. A -- yj .., " r-- ' j r r ? 4g w ',.jp- ' p. - "': rrKy - r .v r r,.-- -- - . r ks ,, . . sSJ . , . jryt.a - ." y ' ; - ik Jjr kviZ , T&xt- -'' vs jkT-,- . h' y.i(y tA - 4 ' Wir i. - r f i t'" niui , (' Vv 4. .; ?Ii t I iI Vsw i 1 "'"V i J -- v fSr,i i v A.-- ., v-- o . W ., f ... ry (ti v ' - tSt&tLxLzLa?- Nich Andersen, an American who takes care of 45 Mexican ' ,. ' - i-'- "sons" - VH i" .V;-- . ' jJy L - - - , , ,' , , ( t H '4 u,- - , ':tVt.. ' - : v -- ' ' . - - " jr ' . ' - '' $.' '9k 2' , . 7 - f s?' t - -- rv - ' J I &' i A S.- ? I I t everyone to clear away scrub brush on their plot, and lay the foundation of their home. Bricks, tiles and cement 20-ac- re U mm a bags were stacked all around, and work. the local mason was supervising But there was one enormous problem: small financial contributions from friends in the States had run dry, and Nich had no idea where to get the money to finish his home. by George Michaelson OCOZOCOAUTLA, MEXICO, jich Andersen is a happy man: he has 45 "sons." The lanky, crew-cformer dropout from Portage, Wis., came to southern Mexico 10 years ago "looking for something worthwhile to do with my life." Today, at 36, he is the operator and originator of Hogar Infantil (Children's Hearth), a ranchlike home carved out of the wilderness, where Mexican boys from poor and broken homes come to live, to study, and as Nich puts it, "to adopt a father." ut so does Nich in his room goes over the books. As the place grows laundress. and cook also a paperwork. He's had to hire a secretary ' - PARADE readers first learned about Nich (pronounced Nick) back in March, 1968 ("The Man Who Found 12 Sons"), when he and 12 boys were just beginning to build the ranch. At the time, was working around the clock np hj , ( iV . " ' ' - ' and his boys he that rancbhouse is the field. In background eads group to a soccer - 4, sr , high-scho- ol Readers respond out, thousands of readers responded to the PARADE article. Over the past five years, they have sent As it turned $100,000 enabling Nich to finish construction of almost the entire ranch, as well as feed, clothe, and send to school his family of boys. "I am he says. "I've got 45 boys very grateful in now, and soon I'll have space to take more. Maybe it sounds sappy to say it, but I'm the luckiest man in the world a man whose dream is coming true." fast-growi- PARADE JUNE 24. 1973 |