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Project Amigo
January 2011 E-News |
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| Greetings! | |
Happy New Year from Cofradia de Suchitlan! While it seems like yesterday that 2010 rolled in, here we are already in 2011. What happened in 2010? Let us share some numbers with you.
There are 110 students with full scholarships to Junior and Senior High and University, thanks to contributions from Project Amigo's friends and supporters.
There are 258 students in primary schools enjoying our enrichment programs this year (including gifts of new clothing and shoes, and three fun and educational excursions).
1,000 primary school students in our region receive fluoride treatment daily!
1,800 kids received dental exams, and 200 of these were treated by volunteer dentists.
5,000 elementary school children received books from our literacy program.
Between December 2009 and December 2010 eight of our scholars graduated from the University of Colima in six different fields and are now employed in Colima.
One hundred fifty US and Canadian volunteers participated on Project Amigo's service weeks. They learned to be effective volunteers - gaining skills they can use in their own communities and in other developing areas they may visit in the future. They boosted the efforts of Jorge and Lety, Project Amigo's Director and Sub-Director of Children's Services, by interacting with approximately 70 scholars in the Cofradia, Suchitlán and Casa Amiga homework clubs. They helped our students gain the social and communications skills they need to interact with adults and people from other countries with confidence! Self-esteem is an important character trait to help build in "country kids" who hope to be effective leaders in their communities when they finish school.
Thank you for being part of our successful team - with your contributions, with your presence, with your prayers and with your good wishes. As we closed 2010 with a sigh of satisfaction, we open 2011 with hope and dreams.
Celebrate your many blessings! We appreciate your sharing them with us this year. May this New Year be filled with hope, fulfillment and good health!
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A promise made | |
Every fall we ask our university students to reflect on their scholastic successes that have brought them to this point in their education. We ask them to reflect on the circumstances and people that contributed to make their educations possible. Our goal is to inspire in them a spirit of cooperation and a desire to help students who come after them - the way Project Amigo's supporters have helped them along their way.
Jessica Manzo is starting her second semester of University in January. This is her promise to Project Amigo: 
The career I'm pursuing (International Commerce/Customs) is a career famed for corruption. I consider myself to be a person who loathes corruption and who wants Mexico to be known not for its insecurity and corruption, but for its high level of social stability and transparency in business. It should be the envy of other countries, not reviled by them. My friends tell me that this will only happen in my dreams. But I am firmly convinced that with great effort and will to make itself better, Mexico will rise to great heights.
And, of course!, Project Amigo can not only count on me to be the best student I can be, and to work hard to make my country a better place. You can count on me to be there to help the students who come after me. Students like me, who grew up poor and who never imagined that they could have a chance to go to school and make something of their lives. Strangers have helped me, and I'm so grateful to them. But I will not be a stranger to the students I will be helping. And I will encourage them to continue this tradition of helping the next one along the way when their studies are complete.
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| One Family's Project Amigo story |
 | | A Project Amigo student reading his new book to our son. |
In December 2008 I traveled with my husband, Bruce, and our teenagers, Sarah and Paul, to Mexico for a "work week" at Project Amigo. It was an unforgettable seven days for all of us that recall happily with each email we receive from the Project Amigo student we have been proud to sponsor ever since.
Bruce and I had met Ted and Susan during a visit they made to Seattle in April of that year. I work for PCC Natural Markets (PCC), the largest natural foods cooperative in the United States.
PCC's number one selling produce item - bananas - are grown by Organics Unlimited, a small, family-owned company located near Project Amigo headquarters in Colima. Ted and Susan spoke about the connection between Project Amigo, PCC and the GROW (Giving Resources and Opportunities to Workers) Fund, which was created by Organics Unlimited. For each case of bananas sold in our stores, PCC contributes 60 cents to the Fund, none of which is added to the retail price.
Organics Unlimited's owners - Mayra and Manuel Velasquez de Leon - donate a large portion of the Fund to Project Amigo annually which, in turn, gives their workers' children access to the educational opportunities and services available through Project Amigo. For four years GROW, in partnership with the International Community Foundation, has provided grants to support scholarships for 28 Project Amigo students in junior high through college. It also has contributed to Project Amigo's administrative costs and to student housing at Casa Amiga, a boarding home for young scholars who need a safe place to live while attending school in Colima.
Bruce and I were blown away by the Project Amigo story and wanted to learn more. We boarded our pets, packed up the kids and took off for Mexico eight months later. After flying to Guadalajara, we traveled by "Amigo Bus" to the village of Cofradia de Suchitlán in the state of Colima, which is the heart of Project Amigo's operations. We were met by Ted and Susan and given our assignments for the week, which included organizing books, clothing and shoes for distribution to more than 200 local children. And at week's end, we threw a holiday fiesta for the children who had stayed in school all year and attended Project Amigo-run homework clubs.
It's hard to say who in our family enjoyed our Project Amigo experience most. Our children still speak of it often, our daughter, (now in college) has decorated her dorm room with Project Amigo recuerdos (souvenirs) and our son has been inspired to continue his study of Spanish. We all look forward to returning to Cofradia and, until that's possible, we enjoy the news we get from Ted and Susan and from our sponsored child. I think we would all agree that it just takes one week in Cofradia to make a huge impact on an entire family. We hope other families are able to share this experience and, if not, to have the great fun and satisfaction of seeing the world through eyes of a Project Amigo student.
Diana Crane
Seattle, WA
For more information and stories about work weeks, read more. |
| Save the Date | |
Ted and Susan will be featured at three fun events this spring. Please save the dates - details will follow in an upcoming enews.
April 9, Novato, California
May 10, Centerville, Utah
June 25, Edmonton, Alberta
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Project Amigo is a U.S. 501(c)(3) organization. Our Federal Tax ID # 68-0396073.
Project Amigo Society Canada has been approved. Our official number is pending.
Our mission is to enable the poor children of Colima to achieve their highest potential by providing educational opportunities, material support, enrichment activities, and medical and dental services not otherwise available to them. We provide scholarships to outstanding students who complete sixth grade so that they can attend junior high, high school and college at the University of Colima.
Our scholars are becoming doctors, lawyers, teachers and community leaders. When these students complete college and enter a profession they, and their whole family, break out of the cycle of poverty that has imprisoned them for generations. Our administrative costs are low, and the benefits to the children we serve are high. You can help Project Amigo by using your credit card and making a contribution on-line by clicking Donate -- or by sending your check to: Project Amigo 14 Commercial Blvd # 119 Novato, CA 94949 |
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