OUR ANNUAL SUMMER VISIT TO CHIAPAS—2017
Linda Finch and I just returned from two weeks in San Cristóbal de Las Casas. It was a wonderful trip. Three times a year we fund a 1 ½ day workshop dedicated to the scholarship recipients. We arrived just in time to be able to attend it. This particular workshop was aimed at the girls and women who are leading the children’s programs, and focused on teaching methods and lesson planning. Here’s a photo of most of them.
We presented three new scholarships this year. Please go to “Scholarship Recipients” at the top of the page for the details and photographs of Deyssi, Alejandra and Magali.
Our newest children’s program started in the municipality of Huixtan, and Linda and I visited there. While only 4 of the 10 children were able to attend that Sunday, as 6 had another commitment, we were very impressed by the dedication of both the 3 adult teachers and the students. For more on this, please click on “Programs.”
I took a trip to Zinacantán, to see how our first two university graduates were doing. After they finished their scholarships, they left the cooperative and started another. They are doing wonderful work, with programs and English classes for children. They have built a children’s center complete with a tire playground and a vegetable garden. This is just what we hope for: that the girls we help educate will then educate others like ripples spreading in the sea.
The second weekend we were there was the bi-monthly 3-day workshop for the cooperative members. That gave us a chance to catch up with women in the different communities. It was good to see them all again, and to meet some new ones. That is also when we make available eye exams and glasses. 17 women and girls had exams, and glasses were prescribed for 6 of them. We also handed out the toothbrushes and hard glasses cases that Soroptimist International of Sequim provides us with every time we go. In addition, we passed out the donated “reader glasses” for the older women who need them for close work. And lastly, the hand-made cars donated by Larry Laing were divided up to be taken to the various children’s programs.
As usual, we had our business meetings with our coordinator, Carmen.
Thank you all for making this possible. One last note: Board members pay for all travel expenses themselves.
Judith Pasco, Board Chair