Mexico Visits in March

Isa Mundo Foundation will be very busy with the first visits of 2019 in Mexico that will take place in March.

Mundoers (led by Andrée Lacasse) will be visiting Pasitos de Luz at Casa Connor the week of March 8-15 and will be assessing potential partnership to develop student practicums on-site.

Paul Lorilla will accompany the GYLN group again this year the week of March 16-23 and will return to Boca Primary School to continue the work the group launched and supported in 2018. The GYLN group will also visit Yelapa to assess future projects, do some hands on work and spend time doing activities with students and teachers.  This is a great opportunity to visit a community that we have always wanted to partner with.

We will report back on-site and we would like to thank our supporters and partners in making these trips possible.

Thank you, Merci, Gracias!

Air Transat Partnership

Isa Mundo Foundation is very excited to have completed a partnership with Air Transat and  looking forward to traveling to our projects in Latin America by using Air Transat services (flights, accommodation, cargo) in the future.

This is an important partnership and collaboration as travel costs are often an "out of pocket" expense for all Isa Mundo members and volunteers. With 100% of all funding via grants, in-kind or financial donations going straight to projects - Mundoers have been donating their own funding to every trip completed for site visits, on-site hands on volunteer work and project evaluation trips.

We are grateful for Air Transat and its staff for their commitment to support the work we do in origin and destination locations they serve.  Air Transat has been doing tremendous work globally with some projects having similar focus as Isa Mundo such as SOS Children's Village, supporting orphanages, donating education and humanitarian supplies and responding to natural disasters relief efforts. 

We believe that we can support the efforts of Air Transat and it can enhance the travel experience of our volunteers providing their time and passion to serve those less fortunate.

To learn more about Air Transat and its commitment to family and community development, please visit its Corporate Responsibility page.

Thank you, Merci, Gracias!

Happy Holidays

Here is to another successful year as 2018 brought new members, new projects and new opportunities to follow up in 2019. We would like to wish everyone Happy Holidays and to know how grateful we are for the support, advice, ideas and time given to us in 2018.

We acknowledge that our success is due to the commitment and support from Mundoers, funders, and community members we work with on the ground. We are merely an entity that allows like minded individuals to come together for the common cause of improving the lives of those less fortunate in the world. 

2018 is a perfect example of completing initiatives, one project at a time by visiting communities, meeting with local leaders, presenting to potential partners, recruiting volunteers and looking for the next important project. We want to ensure we continue the same approach in the coming year.

From all of us at the Isa Mundo Foundation, we wish you all a happy and peaceful New Year!!

Boca Education Project

Mundoers were on-site this week and visited the Boca school.  We are happy to report that the IMEC is doing well and many activities are being held inside the centre.  During our visit today, we were able to see students participating in various English literacy and reading lessons led by Maestra Cynthia and a volunteer.

We observed closely the interaction between teacher and students and more importantly, how the IMEC laptops and library have become part of their daily school curriculum. This allowed us to assess that we could expand in 2019 by providing additional space and technology to allow more students to access the IMEC.

We were also able to coordinate another visit next week by Mundoers (Ed and Jo) to meet the Boca students and bring another teacher from Yelapa as a guest to assess the education project in the village.  In the future, our goal is to launch an IMEC in the village of Yelapa. Stay tuned!

Visit to Casa Connor / Pasitos de Luz

We are happy to be back and enjoy the day with the children and staff at the new Casa Connor, the new home of Pasitos de Luz program. We are always grateful for the opportunity to visit and learn from some of the most inspiring people doing important work in the community.

We were glad to see old friends, happy faces of children, and learn about new projects and challenges on how to sustain and improve the services provided in the facility. We participated in dance activities, play time, helped feed the children, learn about energy use and met with the Founders (Peter and Teena) on plans for 2019!

We are discussing how to launch or support Pasitos de Luz in the coming year and will be looking for new partners and volunteers to brainstorm ideas that we can implement to contribute to existing services at Casa Connor. If you have any advice, please contact us at info@isamundo.org.



PS. We introduced the youngest Mundoer to the world during this visit.  Meet Eva, the little sister of Sila.  We are hoping that the two of them find inspiration during these trips and take Isa Mundo farther than we ever think is possible.

Bienvenido a México

Mundoers will make its last trip of 2018 to Jalisco, Mexico the first week of November. It has been a very productive year in the region for Isa Mundo as it launched a new Isa Mundo Education Centre (IMEC) in the village of Boca de Tomatlan. We will be bringing books, education supplies and laptops to enhance the centre.

The trip in March with GYLN and a follow up visit by Mundoers in May, allowed us to assess further needs of the IMEC and the after school program. The last visit will determine how to move forward in 2019 and set the objective to carry the IMEC into year two of our five year commitment.

During our visit, we will also have the opportunity to visit Casa Connor / Pasitos de Luz to volunteer for a day to help staff with activities and day to day operation. 

We will update on site and thank you for everyone's support on our on-going projects in Mexico.

Saludos

International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples

The International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples is celebrated each year on August 9th.  Since our launch in 2006, we have supported the United Nation's message to protect and promote the rights of Indigenous peoples, specifically in countries and communities we work with.  Our education projects have ensured that Indigenous languages are also in the forefront of curriculum development along with other languages taught to improve literacy.

Isa Mundo has also supported traditional agricultural practices that are promoted by Indigenous peoples and are deemed sustainable by community members for their own needs.

Indigenous peoples remain some of the most vulnerable groups in the world. Their traditional knowledge has shown to provide solutions to some of the challenges we currently face in environmental and social issues.  Today, we celebrate and commemorate their languages, knowledge and cultures that continue to inspire and contribute to the world.

To learn more, visit the International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples website.

Photo courtesy of @UNESCO. #WeAreIndigenous