Father Fabretto
driving ‘baby’ in the 1960s – a gift from the government – which he used to clear the road to Cusmapa.
Father Fabretto’s philosophy was to give a home and hope to underserved children, many of whom had been abandoned, abused, or orphaned. His organization grew to include five Oratorios in the Managua area and the northern highlands. These Oratorios offered a home, meals, counseling and both religious and academic education. For more than four decades, Father Fabretto sustained the Oratorios despite many adversities, including devastating earthquakes, severe hurricanes, and the devastating civil war of the 1980s. Despite a lack of financial resources, as well as the nation’s uncertain social, political and economic climate, Father Fabretto managed to obtain local resources of food, clothing and educational supplies, to maintain his “Familia” (family) of several hundred children, in five different Oratorios.
In March 1990, as peace came to Nicaragua, the “Familia Fabretto” suffered its greatest blow: Father Fabretto passed away unexpectedly, at the age of 70. Upon his death, the organization was left in a state of limbo; the future of Fabretto’s Oratorios – and that of the children it served – was uncertain.
Father Fabretto
with children from
one of the Oratorios
in the 1980s.
Father Fabretto’s Legacy Continues
After his untimely passing in 1990, Kevin Marinacci, then a volunteer, established a nonprofit organization to continue his legacy of service. From 1993 to 2021, Fabretto’s work grew from humbly serving 300 children to reaching over 60,000 children and youth in 2021 through education and development programs in Nicaragua.
As of mid-2022, Fabretto has begun a new chapter in which we are partnering with on-the-ground nonprofit organizations in Central America to strengthen education programs, provide technical assistance, and build local capacity to serve children and youth. This strategy will allow Fabretto to amplify the reach of our programs, first in Honduras and then in Guatemala. We are leveraging decades of experience implementing innovative grassroots education and development programs in Nicaragua to impact communities in neighboring countries in Central America by strengthening the capacities of the organizations we serve.
With your ongoing support Fabretto will continue to create change, fulfilling Father Fabretto’s legacy of empowering children and youth to reach their full potential.
