Friends of Cozumel

Honoring Mothers — May 2013

pedersenll — Sun, 12 May 2013 18:39:17 +0000

Happy Mother’s Day to all the amazing Friends of Cozumel volunteers and donors who are mothers and grandmothers. Mother’s Day is also a time to recognize “It takes a village” to care for family members of all ages. We’d also like to honor all the aunts and special friends who are not mothers including our sisters, Phyllis and Lori, who share their love and support with their nieces/nephews as well as Cozumel children. Later today we’ll be joining Vida Abundante Church for a special Mother’s Day celebration. ~ Karen and Larry

Remembrances of Mother’s Day in Cozumel . . .

We visited Margarita (mother at left), her husband and their four children just before they went to a school Mother’s Day program. Margarita’s family lives in one room apartment with a patio. The children receive backpacks with school supplies and a pair of athletic shoes as part of our School Project. Shirley Larsen, a Friends of Cozumel mission volunteer from California, helped them start container gardening in February. Margarita was excited to receive a couple of additional plants for Mother’s Day as well as a baked pastry to share with the family.

Friends of Cozumel volunteers grew cherry tomato plants, Spanish oregano and various ornamental potted plants to give as Mother’s Day gifts to six families. April’s labor of love each year is to put together personal gifts of hygiene, beauty products, make-up samples and other goodies in decorative bags to give to a dozen mothers and grandmothers of families FOC supports. Many of them are mothers caring for children with disabilities and/or single mothers supporting their family. It is a special treat for these moms because most of them don’t have the funds to be able to buy nice soap, shampoo, toothpaste, body lotion, etc.

It was so fun to see the pride that the younger children in Jose’s family had when they arrived home from school and raced to give their mother a gift they made in class. Lili is mother of four children (back center holding photo); Francesca is mother of four (at right) and Antonia (seated in center) is their grandmother.

Happy Mother’s Day / Feliz Dia de Madre – May 2013

pedersenll — Sat, 11 May 2013 16:21:24 +0000

Happy Mother’s Day to all of you! In Mexico, they celebrate Mother’s Day on May 10th regardless of which day of the week it lands. I’ve been playing keyboard with the Vida Abundante Church and we had a group that was practicing some songs to sing in honor of Mother’s Day. (I assumed they would be sung during this week’s church service) Last week, Pastor Salomon told us “We’ll practice one more time next Thursday evening and we will be ready”. I inquired as to what time we would meet to practice and he said “alas once” (11 p.m.). I asked him why we might be practicing so late in the evening and he explained that way the songs would be fresh when we went out to sing them beginning at midnight? WHAT???? I thought that he was simply joking with me and I asked if this was a joke….he then explained that it’s tradition to go out and serenade the mothers beginning at midnight and that our plan would be to go to every mother’s house from our church until all had been visited. I asked how long that would take and he thought perhaps 4-5 hours.

By this time, I was certain they were kidding me and asked again if this was truly what we planned to do. The group thought it was rather funny that I didn’t believe him but he soon convinced me that was the plan so this past Thursday evening we met at the church at 11:00 pm to go through the songs and then at midnight our small caravan of 14+ singers, a guitarist and myself with my portable keyboard headed out in our three cars and two mopeds.

The first home we went to was ready for us and after singing the songs, treated us to drinks and delicious empanadas. I certainly hoped that we wouldn’t be eating like this at every home we visited (thankfully, that wasn’t the case). But, we continued to visit and serenade mothers until we had visited everyone. Surprisingly, we were finished shortly after 3:00 a.m. and I was able to get three hours of sleep after arriving home. Oh…..we did come across other groups doing the same exact thing so I knew it wasn’t just us and no one was pulling a “fast one” on me.

I went to a florist Friday to purchase some flowers and you’ve never seen such chaos! They couldn’t make bouquets fast enough! It seemed that everyone was buying flowers for Mother’s Day. That’s one of the things you learn about the culture here in Mexico – the family is “numero uno”. I think that’s one of things we respect here, just how much they value the family unit and the respect that is given to the mother, who frequently serves as the head of the household.

So, if you’re not doing anything at midnight on May 9th next year, come join us for an evening of singing! ~Larry

Garden Project Continues GROWING — May 2013

pedersenll — Wed, 08 May 2013 16:33:49 +0000

A key focus for Friends of Cozumel is to engage in projects that have “sustainability”. We’ve all heard the phrase “Buy a man a fish and feed him for a day – teach him to fish and feed him for a lifetime.” We’re all about teaching people to fish. The garden project we initiated with six families in February fits beautifully with this concept.

Antonia’s latest harvest . . . fully grown carrots. The entire family is very proud of the produce they’ve been able to grow since the raised bed garden was constructed three months ago.

Antonia is pictured here checking her compost container. She and her husband are patriarchs of “Jose’s family”, a multi-generational extended family of 10 children and 6 adults living together in a modest settlement several miles from town. They are now in their late 50′s. Antonia’s husband worked for years as a laborer clearing trees from jungle land for development, hand stripping the branches and carrying logs on his shoulders. He’s been out of work for months because he isn’t physically able to continue carrying heavy loads and machinery now replaces some manual labor.

Antonia mentioned she wanted to put in another garden “some day” if she could get her husband to help clear a place. Her success in selling cilantro, chili peppers, lettuce and flower starters to people who pass by their place has resulted in a huge change. Antonia is earning money for the first time in her life to buy tortillas and beans for the family to eat AND her husband is now working with her to expand their gardens. She told us it IS his work.

Lack of resources is a consistent challenge for them. We assumed that if/when they were ready to expand their garden, assistance would be needed with materials for garden beds, purchasing soil, seeds, etc. Yesterday we visited them and were completely blown away to discover in the past four weeks they tripled the size of their garden entirely on their own by adding two more raised beds.

They replicated the approximate size and depth of the initial garden bed by piling large stones and using other reclaimed materials to contain the soil without the need for cement. Antonia’s husband and other family members walked deep into the jungle to scrape good soil into buckets and mix it with organic materials, then hauled it all by hand back to their home area. They used earnings from selling produce to purchase more seeds in the market and she also dried seeds from chilis and vegetables to use for planting. The two new gardens are planted with radishes and cilantro with an incredible “order” of straight rows and staggered stages of growth to ensure a continuous harvest.

You can see and feel Antonia’s excitement as she discusses their garden. Several months ago when she first started selling a couple of things for a few pesos, she made it clear this was not a business . . . she was just “growing things”. Now she’s thinking ahead, making decisions and “investments” for her small home based business. For example, she’s decided to plant more cilantro because that’s what people want and she can sell it for 5 pesos (about 40 cents) per handful. She “invested” in buying small plastic bags to fill with dirt to start flowering plants to sell. She’s changed her mind and now would like a sign or two listing items for sell. And she has ideas for future expansion.

Passion for Sewing and Serving Others – March 2013

pedersenll — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 04:01:55 +0000

Becky Gomez, FOC Mission Volunteer (Left back) and Elizbeth Martinez, local sewing instructor, with mending class participants

Many of us have hobbies or interests we enjoy but avid sewers, quilters and knitters seem to have this PASSION for their art that goes beyond a way to spend leisure time. They describe it as “Sewing is who I am . . . it doesn’t feel right if I’m not sewing everyday” or “Sewing is my personal ministry to serve others.”

We’re fortunate to have volunteers and donors who share their love of sewing in many different ways . . . sewing items for others, teaching/helping with sewing classes, donating equipment/fabric/supplies, maintaining equipment inventories, servicing sewing machines and organizing opportunities for local women to use donated sewing machines.

Volunteer sewers have tackled everything from making curtains, fitted sheets for a daycare, chair cushions for special needs children, vinyl covers to protect sound systems, sewing machine carriers, bean bags for educators, pencil pouches for school backpacks, and beautiful decorative banners for Vida Abundante Church (photos below).

Quilted Nativity for Vida Abundante by Becky Gomez

These + Aleluya banners by Jane Donahue

Pastors Salomon & Mariela, banner by Treva Mahan

Our focus on sewing began five years ago by teaching women job skills

Treva cleaning machines”

to support their families. Two volunteers, Ilene Kendrick and Treva Mahan, have championed this cause for years raising funds to help pay for a local instructor and purchase machines as well as bringing donated fabric, notions and yes, more sewing machines. It is comical to see their very “creative” solutions for bringing machines via cruiseship and plane. Donated machines help supplement those purchased locally and provide extras needed for women to check out to use at home.

Notions like zippers and special accessories are readily available in local stores, although most women we help in sewing classes can’t afford to buy what they need. Many are single mothers with extremely limited resources. If they work and are lucky enough to receive minimum wage (about $7US per day, NOT per hour), saving $ to buy fabric and notions is a huge challenge. The GREAT news is a small core group of women have enough sewing experience to start earning money doing alterations or they can save money making vs. buying their children’s school uniforms.

Special thanks to these donors . . .

Becky Gomez, Lincoln NE, donated her Baby Lock machine with embroidery capability; zippers, thread, patterns for sewing boxers class and more

Lynn Hedrick, Cozumel, donated sewing kits for participants in mending, sewing and crafts classes held Feb. 2013

Paul at Sew Creative, Lincoln NE, provided a serger, a HUGE supply of serger thread and more. This serger was donated to Elizabeth Martinez, local sewing instructor, so she could further develop her expertise and then teach serger skills to advanced level sewers

Sue Feiler, Cozumel, donated a new serger used by Friends of Cozumel for projects to benefit the community and for advanced sewing classes

Treva Mahan, Paris TX, scouts garage sales and contacts sewing clubs year-round. She acquired, transported and donated multiple machines 2010-2013 to develop a pool of loaner machines and this past year made 20+ bags to protect all the machines

Many, many island visitors and their friends “back home” who have donated fabric and notions to support sewing classes

See more sewing related photos and posts by scrolling down this page to . . .
Are We Done?
Sewing a Godsend–A volunteer’s perspective

Gardens Grow Food, Pride and Family Involvement – March 2013

pedersenll — Sun, 17 Mar 2013 11:57:29 +0000

The entire family is engaged and proud of their new garden

April and I just returned from visiting Jose’s, an extended family of 10 children and 6 adults who live several miles outside town in a collection of very modest concrete block and wood pole structures. When you pull up to their place, the kids come running out to greet you. They are ALWAYS excited to have visitors and as soon as we receive their hugs they say “Come see the garden!”

Everyone in the family is proud of their new raised garden bed, including the men who enhanced it after installation during the Friends of Cozumel mission project week last month. The men cut and stripped wood poles from young trees in the jungle then anchored the poles in concrete on top of the blocks to create a canopy of palm fronds providing partial shade for the young plants. The garden is beautiful, thriving with healthy plants and has a truly amazing “order” in stark contrast to the chaos of this family’s daily life and living conditions.

Antonia and one of her granddaughters were proud to show off the garden

Cilantro, lettuce and carrots are growing in neat rows with space allocated for subsequent plantings. Antonia, the gardener and family matriarch shown in the photo with a grand daughter, provides a tour pointing out squash seeds drying in the sun to be planted in a couple of weeks. She clearly has a vision and “plan” for next steps. In the years I have known her, I’ve never seen her so positive and confident.

It is gratifying to see Antonia’s enthusiasm for making natural organic fertilizer (compost). She is practicing what she learned in an educational workshop taught by Adrian Medina as part of our garden mission project. Adrian is a local compost expert, biologist and dive instructor. Antonia has three compost areas: one enclosed in a bag given to each family at the compost workshop that she is monitoring the desired heat temperature and is nearly ready to spread on her garden; a second active compost container where the family puts all organic left over food matter; and a third container storing leaves and other natural plant materials to add to the food matter.

We had to laugh because when Antonia showed us the compost container for food matter, there were a couple of non-organic garbage items the kids probably put there. She immediately called everyone together to re-explain that only organic food items go in that container and the rest is “garbage” to be thrown away. She is teaching the children and holding them accountable for knowing what goes into the compost and what is not organic. One difference we noticed representing a significant change in the family’s outdoor living area is the ground around the raised garden bed is raked clean of clutter.

Luisito, Ivonne and baby Maria Paula will benefit from fresh food.

Who benefits from garden efforts? The entire family, especially the children like Luisito, Ivonne and baby Maria Paula pictured here. Antonia continues to sell flower clippings and various types of chili peppers. Although the garden bed plants are not yet mature, she plans to use some to feed the family and sell others.

Antonia’s husband works as an “albanil” . . . a cement laborer, when he can find work. He is starting to help her sell cuttings of flowers and chili peppers by taking them to neighbors and into town. I asked Antonia what she does with the money she earns. She said “Compro mis fijolitos y tortillas para la familia” (Translation: I buy my beans and tortillas for the family.) For the first time in her life, she is earning $ and helping put food on the table. She feels good about herself, is involving the kids in pumping/carrying water from the well to water the garden and she has a common project to do with her husband that benefits the whole family.

Many of us who are involved as volunteers with Friends of Cozumel took a break after our February mission projects. Check back often. We are now resuming frequent posts about mission efforts. We’ve been so blessed with cruiseship visitors and spring break vacationers bringing donations to benefit the community. THANKS to everyone! ~ Karen

Are We Done?

pedersenll — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 19:34:15 +0000

How can you tell if you’re done when there’s so much left to do? That’s the question for Friends of Cozumel volunteers. Some say it’s when you absolutely must return home to your ‘real’ work. Others say it’s when you run out of time and energy. But perhaps there is no such thing as being done as long as the need remains.

The project list could go on and on, but the rewards continue, too. We’ve received lots of smiles and blessings. And it’s great when you can see you’ve made a dent in solving a problem.

When we tally up the numbers, it’s clear we had an impact. These stats provide the details, but the photos below also help tell the story.

Total of 40 volunteers including 2 Canadians, 7 Mexicans and US visitors from, Colo., Iowa, N.C., Neb., Minn., Texas, Oregon. Half volunteered for projects on a half or full-time basis. Others joined for one or more activities during the week. Half are island visitors combining some vacation time with mission projects; the rest are island residents.
Total of 22 community service projects focused on benefitting children with special needs, providing learning opportunities for children and adults, helping families and non-profit organizations that support them to become self-sufficient, and promoting local volunteerism.

Impact:

Enhanced quality of life for children with disabilities—through construction of therapy equipment, repairs for Casita Corazon, preparing a donated lift van to transport children to therapy.
Increased knowledge, skills and learning experiences for individuals, families, non-profit organizations and ministries to help them advance economically—by providing 7 classes in composting, sewing, mending, crafts to sell, basic home repairs, conversational English.
Supplemented food resources for 32 children and 16 adults –by implementing garden beds and container gardens in six family homes.
Enabled families to receive daily needs of clothing, shoes, household goods through the Gran Bazar and distribution of reading eyeglasses
Helped Cozumel becoming an audiometric evaluation, therapy and resource center—through construction of a soundproof testing room for Manos y Voces, enclosing a teaching classroom for the hearing impaired, and making improvements positioning Manos y Voces to be a holistic evaluation/therapy/retail resource center. Families will no longer have to travel to the mainland to receive services.
Built cross cultural bridges of understanding—through a number of interactive events for local families and volunteers.

A huge thank you to every single one of this mission week’s volunteers. You KNOW how much effort you put into this. And we couldn’t have done it without the contributions of so many generous donors. Literally hundreds of people have given everything from used and new clothing to sewing machines and tools to money. Thank you, thank you and muchisimas gracias por todo.

Sewing Skills a Godsend–a volunteer’s perspective

pedersenll — Sat, 09 Feb 2013 01:42:46 +0000

Diana (right) helps a sewing workshop participant.

Learning to sew and having a sewing machine, was a godsend to me in my life. Hard to believe now that there was a time when I made all the clothes for my family. My birthday money put shoes on my child, and my hands made her dresses and PJs. I could put a curtain on my window, because I knew how to sew.

In our sewing workshop we taught women how to use a sewing machine to replace zippers. One woman who had no electricity in her home used a treadle sewing machine, so the electric ones used in the workshop were a bit frightening to her.

Sharing my sewing knowledge with women who have less than I did was very special and empowering. Sewing is a skill they can use to clothe their families and could even help them make money.

It’s unbelievable that I can teach without speaking the language by just sitting next to them. It reminds me of my grandmother who was a seamstress. I show them how, then they show me, and I say “perfecto!” Is that even a word? But we smile at each other and then we are both happy because I know it will make a difference in their lives.

Can it get better than that? ~ with love, Diana, a local volunteer

Sewing classes attended by dozens of local women would not have been possible without generous donations of sewing equipment, zippers, thread and other supplies. Thanks to Sew Creative of Lincoln, Neb. for a serger, to volunteer Becky Gomez for a sewing machine, and to many additional volunteers and supporters for their help.

Jan (left) helps Juventina (right) who said “It’s very important for me to learn more to be able to work in this economy and to help other people that I know and to help my family.”

Angels visit Cozumel – February 5, 2013

pedersenll — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 21:58:58 +0000

Sample of the finished product

The thirst for learning continued to blossom Tuesday morning. Diane had shown the women at the craft class a sample of a ribbon angel. Their imaginations took flight with so many ideas of what they could do with these angels that another class was scheduled. Becky, Karen, Sara, Sandy, and Ilene agreed to return with Diane to teach again. Not only could the angels be sold to tourists, but they could make red ones for children’s Valentines, Christmas decorations, and they could be given to babies as guardian angels at baptisms. Four women were scheduled to attend, but word of mouth about the craft class the night before brought 10 instead, including several young girls.

The craft class after completion

These skills are not something typically learned in the local culture, but these women and girls devoured the learning experience. They kept telling us they would teach more women in their fellowship groups. God had supposedly sent angels to make angels and they would grow more angels in their community. Maybe they were right because their enthusiasm sure made us volunteers feel like angels! ~ Diane from Nebraska

Hope Blooms

pedersenll — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 14:34:41 +0000

Becky showed how to construct fabric flowers.

On Monday evening 11 ladies and one man gathered at Vida Abundante Church with lots of enthusiasm. They all were anxious to learn about crafts our volunteers make. While we enjoy crafts as a hobby, they were hoping this might be a way to raise funds for for a church building. This fellowship currently meets in an open air space covered by a tin roof.

Diane helped class participants use a glue gun while making flowers.

Becky and Diane taught the group to repurpose fabric scraps to make flowers that can be used in many ways from shoe decorations to jewelry. Ilene and Sandy taught them how to make beads from rolled strips of newspaper. Nuria, Karen, and Sara helped translate during the classes and even Sara’s husband threw himself into the project.

These crafts hold great hope for these women. They plan to sell them on the town square to raise money for a permanent church building with a real learning center.

One woman came back the next day to show us that she had gone home and immediately put her new skills to work. She had made absolutely beautiful flowers to attach a train to a wedding dress.

Ilene demonstrated how to create beads from newspaper while Nuria
translated.

The flowers were not the only thing blooming. Fellowship blossomed between cultures, skills grew, and hope bloomed for a better life for this tiny church and its families. ~ Diane from Nebraska.

The fabric flowers can be used for decoration or jewelry.

Handy Women Unite—Tuesday, Feb. 5

pedersenll — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 16:01:05 +0000

Nine local women attended a workshop to learn home repair skills.

The women were in charge.

Laura repaired the toilet so that it flushes now. Sandy showed how to make a shelf, level it and attach it to a concrete wall. Jodi showed how to install a doorknob. Shirley worked on a dripping faucet. Sara translated.

Nine women attended a home repair class held by Friends of Cozumel women volunteers on Tuesday.

“From my perspective, we wanted to give a bit of empowerment to women so that they would know how to do some things on their own to improve their homes,” said volunteer Shirley.

Creating a shelf was easy once they had the knowledge and tools needed.

“They were pretty wild about working with the electric drill. It was really cute.”

The nine local women were also given a packet of donated hand tools—screwdrivers, wrenches, hammer, channel locks, pliers and a tape measure.

“They seemed to really enjoy it,” said local volunteer Sandy. “Pastor Mariela said her faucet had been leaking forever and she was going right home to fix it. And Maria was going home to put up a shelf. We know we’ve succeeded if they ask for more workshops—and they certainly did.” ~ Phyllis from Nebraska.

Any way you look at it, being able to repair a toilet is a valued skill.