It’s wonderful when “Friends” can visit Cozumel to meet some of the children and families who benefit from our efforts as well as enjoy the beauty of the island. And for me (Karen) it is especially meaningful to be able to personally share a bit of the culture and community service experiences with family members, friends and colleagues who have provided encouragement and support throughout the years.
Diane Schroeder
Diane works for Delta Dental and has provided scores of donated toothbrushes. A couple of years ago when NUAFA initiated weekly educational themes for daycare, parents were asked to provide a toothbrush for their children. Most parents couldn’t afford toothbrushes…it is a luxury for families struggling to provide food and shelter. Eloisa Buenfil, President/Founder of NUAFA, showed me the hygiene lesson plans and explained they would “talk about” brushing teeth but it wouldn’t be possible to actually teach the children how to brush because neither NUAFA or the families could afford to buy toothbrushes. We shared this with Diane who immediately offered toothbrushes from Delta Dental.
Ellen Look with NUAFA staff & kids
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Children love to look at photos
extremely frustrating!
NUAFA staff and children were delighted to talk with Ellen during her visit January 13. It is a treat to have a bilingual visitor!
Ellen provided a generous cash donation in 2009 to support “Los Talleres”, job skills training classes. Click here for more info about NUAFA Job Training for Women. We held a roundtable discussion about how the classes are impacting the lives of women. It was a GREAT discussion including Ellen, Diane, Karen, Eloisa, an instructor and four women participants from the cooking, sewing and beauty salon classes. Just a few highlights from our discussion . . .
- 90+ women participated in job training during 2009, enabling them to better support their families
- 30+% of Belleza (Beauty Salon) class participants are employed at a salon; others are using skills learned to save money by providing haircuts/color/perms for their extended families
- Ideas for expanding classes in 2010 include advanced sewing for special occasions (wedding dresses), machine embroidery, hammock making, specially designed classes for young women
Job training classes will resume in 2010 likely beginning in February depending on availability of resources.