However, this is a boarding situation for impoverished, mostly rural, students that would otherwise not be able to attend school. These children have families but must stay away from them for long periods. A percentage of the children in each shelter also have the same family problems that cause placement into the orphanages. In these remote areas, the shelters serve to circumvent this option. Some are away from the school location and others are a part of the school site.
Directors are often the same people that teach at the school.
The daily routine for the children at a shelter is the same as the children in an orphanage. Each shelter must feed, clothe, shelter and support each child's physical and emotional needs. Although the children are supposed to go home on the weekend, d ue to emergency conditions, coupled with distances, some children are unable to do this and must remain at the Albergue . Without any immediate family support, these children must face the options available to any other young adult. They may have to enter the work force or, if fortunate, be able to attend a trade school, university, college, or a technological institution.