***************La Zapotera Community Center Opening**************

Community Center Opening Ceremony

Our wonderful women

Official Town Invitation

Lois and Company

Fish  Fry

*Short Film*

**La Zapotera Community Center Opening**

*Click Me!*

Agapanthus Plant Sale Fundraiser - Supporting San Pedro Itzican

So we loaded up the Family Van with 190 white agapanthus plants

for our fundraising sale.  The plants were generously donated, dug up and potted

in support of our San Pedro Itzican programs.

Plant Sale

ALL WHITE AGAPANTHUS PLANTS

Friday, August 24 and Saturday August 25th, 2018

The Garden Center in Riberas (Hidalgo #352-C) - next door to the 7/11 store 

9:00 am to 1:00 pm.

READY FOR PLANTING

​

Easy to grow; will fill in with new plants when established; likes sun; 

can flower more than once a year;  may be grown in pots;

 flowers last a long time and look great in flower arrangements.  

Poco a Poco projects for the San Pedro Itzican area | Plant Sale!

https://www.pocoapocosanpedro.com/plant-sale

We support local groups and offer our own projects, encourage and facilitate start up projects.

1 pot for 40 pesos, 3 for 100 pesos or 8 for 200 pesos

Note - there are only White Agapanthus plants for sale - but we will also have

some jewelry items on sale

Present for the 2 day sale were Kari Higgins, Doris Wakeman, Anita Torres Guerrero and Fco. Nava

In addition to the white agapanthus plants, the jewelry from the Women of Mezcala Jewelry Program was also featured.

Sales were brisk and plenty.

In the end, we were able to sell almost all of the plants and many pieces of jewelry.

We'd like to thank the wonderful volunteers who came out to help,

and especially the generous, supportive people who purchased

the plants and jewelry.  Especially,

Margaret and Richard Swinburne
Laura from the Garden Center, Riberas del Pilar

Jan Clayton-Miller

Peter Wakeman

Anita Torres Guerrero

Kari and Jim Higgins

Doris Wakeman

**** La Zapotera and San Pedro Itzican Meet ****

La Zapotera Community Center

Food Program

In Mexico we have a saying "Me acompañas?"  This is what you ask a friend when you want them to just "be" with you or to accompany you on whatever errand or adventure you are heading toward.  Today mi amigo Harvey Bernier asked me to acompañar/go with him to see the Food Program at the La Zapotera Community Center that we helped develop, along with the good people of La Zapotera.

At 10:30 a.m. we arrived at our destination to find a line of children waiting outside of the Community Center.  They seemed patient and hungry as the breakfast program was about to begin.

Indoors the tables and chairs had been set up and the children who were assigned to serve that day were laying out fruit on each table.

Shortly after 10:30 a.m. the children filed into the Community Center to sign in for the meal.

Agua fresca de Jamaica at the ready, the children filed into the dining room 

while the kitchen staff served happily.

 

Before each meal children are reminded to wash their hands.

Everything was done in an orderly manner...and the children, in the short time that they've had this program, seemed well versed in manners and politeness.

The food was appreciatively eaten with gusto.

At the end of the meal the children scrapped off their plates and placed them in bins to be taken to the kitchen to be washed.  The scraps would go to feed farm animals in the local homes. 

Then a most miraculous thing happened.  The children started to clean up the dining room and to put away the tables and chairs....all on their own!   Without anyone telling them what to do. 

We were pleasantly surprised.

The children seemed to enjoy the chores and in a lickety-split moment, all the clean up was done.

In addition to the food program, the community center will also have a functioning bazaar or store soon.  Talk of it being run as a token store was heard.  Sonia is to head up this new venture.

 The breakfast program is to feed 100 children, 3 times a week right now, 

with expansion coming next week as the children start their new school year.

The need for more food grows as the children start heading back to school.

San Pedro Itzcian

Dental Hygiene Workshop

One of my goals this trip was to share with my friend Harvey the work that we've

been doing in the San Pedro Itzican area.  As we arrived at the Brigadista home office

we were greeted by Doris Wakeman, who had brought Nikki and Henna to visit.

Nikki is a dental hygienist and she was going to talk about dental health

with the local children and Moms.

The children were both eager and shy, eventually trusting Nikki

to show them proper brushing techniques.

Our music teacher Yanin was also doing double duty as a translator for Nikki.

Moms were also shown proper brushing techniques for infants.  

While Nikki worked with the kids and moms indoors, Henna (Dutch) took pictures of the kids outdoors.

The kids loved seeing their images instantly on Henna's camera.

Harvey & Henna

San Pedro Itzican

Music Workshop

One of our on-going workshops is the music workshop.  We've moved the workshop from La Pena to San Pedro Itzican, because most of the students live in this area and it is easier for them to attend.

The Brigadista plant nursery looked so inviting that our music teacher Gil decided to have the music class in the garden.  Brigadista Xochitl was present to work on her guitar skills.

 San Pedro Itzican

Medicinal Plant Nursery

 

You truly never know how what you say and do will inspire people.  In a recent conversation with Brigadista Director, Anita Torres Guerrero, I mentioned that my Medicinal Plant Garden was also working as a food/herb garden. With this idea in mind, Anita decided to expand the San Pedro Nursery

into a medicinal plant garden as well.

When we arrived for our various workshops I saw the plants in the nursery

had been tagged and identified with their medicinal properties.

 

As it turned out a woman from the town came to us that day with need for assistance with a dental infection.  We were able to prescribe mouth rinses and local plant remedies for her, as well as a possible visit to the the Tepehua Dental Clinic on Friday.

And as always, we continue our recycling efforts throughout the towns.

“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”

– Albert Einstein, Physicist