11th Annual Maligayang Paslit

We would like to congratulate the Bambang Youth Organization in Bambang, Bulakan Philippines for a successful Maligayang Paslit event this year. The annual event took place once again on December 24th for a one day children and youth celebration in the town of Bambang. This is the 5th year that Isa Mundo has contributed to the event and we have now become one of the main funders of this great celebration.

Under the guidance of Mr. Benjo Cruz, the Maligayang Paslit has reached out to over 700 children and youth in the community and continues to provide gifts, entertainment, food, laughter and leadership to those who attend. With support from Isa Mundo, the event in the past few years have also targeted families in Bambang by providing Christmas food hampers to the most needy. We are proud to be a part of this event and it's success and we look forward to the celebration in 2011.

Happy Holidays on behalf of Isa Mundo!

Auction Success

On November 8 of this year, we completed our Inaugural Auction. It was great to see the dynamic between the auction participants and the tenacity of some to win their bids. I wonder how much more we could of raise if we kept it going for another week.... ; )

Thank you to everyone who donated to the auction including Pedro, Coco, Michelle, Ariane, Patrick, Jennifer and many others! Thank you also to those who contributed to the acution and helped make it a great success!

We wanted to let you know that we are playing with the idea of having a yearly auction-if you know of any one who would be willing to donate for the next one, send us a quick email.

We hope you enjoy your winnings!

Isa Mundo's Inaugural Auction For Change

Finally, the long awaited online auction is live! If you have not received an invitation email and you would like to participate, please send us an email at isamundo@isamundo.org

Join in the fun!

Doing great work

Nukoko is Canadian not for profit is doing great work with youth in Congo. They work with local youth-run initiatives, with the hopes of ensuring equality and to contribute to the development and betterment of our world through their Education 4 All Project.
Check out their website at http://nukoko.org/wp/

Isa Mundo is heading to Peru

Isa Mundo will be heading to Peru at the end of the month and will be visiting three great local organizations in the city of Cuzco and its surrounding area. First, we will visit the SOS Children’s Village along with one of their Social Centers. SOS Children is the world’s largest orphan focused charity; they raise orphaned and abandoned children and help poor families care for their children. Through their family strengthening programmes they hope to empower families help themselves and create a better future; a future where they are independent and self-sufficient. We will then visit an organization called Inti Runakunaq Wasin, which has developed several programs for the many street children of in the Cuzco region. Finally, we will be traveling to a small community outside of Cuzco with members of the Peru’s Challenge organization to visit various initiatives they are doing with local communities. The organization focuses on creating opportunities for children in education, health and community programs in a safe environment.

For more information on these organizations visit their websites at:

http://www.soschildrensvillages.ca/Where-we-help/Americas/Peru/Pages/default.aspx

http://streetkidscusco.org/home.html

http://www.peruschallenge.com/

Summer Camp Photos

As promised, here are some great pics from the School of Champions 2010 Summer Camp. Thank you again for making a difference in the lives of those children.

In our community

In our quest to find gift certificates and donations for our upcoming auction, we discovered that Isa Mundo headquarters is surrounded by small businesses and community members that are very supportive of philanthropy work. As our readers know, Isa Mundo is a small not for profit and our philosophy around building partnerships aligns well with community involvement and community support. We are pleased to involve the local community in completing projects to better the lives of those less fortunate.

The joys of summer!

Thanks to your generous support we were able to fund 15 children to attend the summer camp at the School of Champions. We will be receiving photos shortly and will post them on our blog, please stay tuned. Thank you for your ongoing support! If you are interested in funding this activity on a yearly basis, please send us an email!

Summer camp anyone?

Are you interested in sponsoring a child to attend summer camp? Isa Mundo will be sponsoring children through Feed the Children Vallarta (formerly known as Children of the Dump) to attend a 4-week summer camp at the School of Champions, beginning July 12 through August 6, 2010. The children will receive breakfast and lunch and will attend classes in arts and crafts, computer, dancing, indoor games and a soccer tournament. The School is located near the now closed Puerto Vallarta dump. The closure of the dump has left people jobless and hungry. You can help feed the children and give them an opportunity to have fun!

For $25 you can sponsor a child for the full four weeks. If you are interested, please donate on our website before July 12.

Happy summer!

Local Community Project - Marine Mammal Rescue Program

The Isa Mundo Foundation completed its first Local Community Project in Vancouver,BC. The majority of our projects have focussed internationally in less fortunate communities in developing countries, but we also believe that it is important to support local community projects that are making a difference. The Marine Mammal Rescue Program (MMRP) is affiliated with the Vancouver Aquarium and provides housing and care for ill, injured, or abandoned marine mammals and rehabilitates them for release back into their natural habitat.

Isa Mundo visited the MMRP facility to assess how we can support their initiative. We learned that the MMRP is in need of various supplies, materials and equipments and one of their priorities was a cooler to store food and supplies. Isa Mundo was able to partner with Saputo, the largest dairy processor and snack-cake manufacturer in Canada, to provide a cooler to the MMRP. Saputo kindly donated the cooler as part of their commitment to support local causes and organizations in order to give back to the communities who have sustained and helped them grow. On May 14th, Alan Yau, Saputo Sales Representative
and Isa Mundo delivered the cooler to Lindsaye Akhurst, Manager of MMRP.

To learn more about the MMRP, please visit their website at: http://www.vanaqua.org/mmrr/

To learn more about Saputo and their products, please visit their website at: www.saputo.com

Isa Mundo in Cabeza de Toro

A recent trip to Dominican Republic brought Isa Mundo volunteer, Maxine Croteau, to the town of Cabeza de Toro, located near the resort town of Punta Cana. Cabeza de Toro is a small community that is sustained economically by a handful of resorts that provide jobs to residents. It is here that we met one of Isa Mundo’s most recent collaborators, a local business owner and environmental scientist called Juan Carlos.

Juan Carlos gave us a tour of the town and talked to us about a school that is in need of help and that is mostly supported by charitable donations. Many of the students who attend Centro Educativo Cabeza de Toro are originally from Haiti and are between the ages of 6 and 17. Juan Carlos mentioned that both teachers and students are in need of school supplies and that several of the children that come from less fortunate households also need clothing, shoes, toiletries and toys.

Volunteers from Ottawa put the word out and collected a total of four huge suitcases! We could not believe the warm response that they received and the generosity that came from family and friends! Our volunteers got together with Juan Carlos, who brought them to the school to meet the Principal Professor Bonifacio. Once inside, the director proceeded to go through all of the collected items one by one, explaining to the volunteers how each of the donations will be used by the teachers or students. For instance, the soap and shampoo that was donated would be used by a handful of kids who regularly shower at the school before class because they do not have the means to do so at home.

Upon a brief tour of the school, our volunteers noticed the lack of computers in the classrooms. They were told that although the electricity and wireless internet is presently donated by a local electricity company, the school does not have enough computers and the ones that they currently have for students are not connected to the internet. The director hopes to someday have a room filled with computers to teach the children how to use basic word processing programs and how to use the internet to do research for their school projects. The tour also revealed a very limited library of older books. Prof. Bonifacio mentioned that one of his highest priorities is to obtain new books written in Spanish on all school subjects for the school’s library. He also mentioned hopes to expand the school yard to enable more students to play simultaneously, and to build a wall around the yard to prevent adults from giving or selling drugs to the kids through the existing wire fence. The execution of these projects will however depend on future volunteer aid and funding to the school.

Isa Mundo would like to thank everyone who donated items to the Centro Educativo Cabeza de Toro!

Haiti Campaign and Red Cross

Isa Mundo Foundation completed its Helping Hand to Haiti Campaign in mid March and we were able to raise over $600 in 30 days to help the people of Haiti. Isa Mundo visited the Red Cross head office in Burnaby, British Columbia to drop off the funds and meet the great people of Red Cross working diligently to deliver urgent supplies and donations to Haiti.

We look forward to working with Red Cross again in the future and we would like to once again thank the supporters and friends of Isa Mundo for responding to our last minute campaign.

For more information click on Red Cross' Haiti Earthquake initiative.

Merlyn Power in Puerto Vallarta

Scott from Merlyn Power and Pierre, an Isa Mundo volunteer spent the week in Puerto Vallarta working with Oscar and Carlos at Pasitos de Luz to set-up for the arrival of the solar panels. Scott and Pierre's trip was planned so that they could install the panels while in Mexico. Unfortunately, the week went by and the panel never arrived; they were stuck at the customs office in Guadalajara. It was a good lesson learned for all of us! Even though we knew we might encounter delays, we did not account for so many days of delay. The trip was a success despite the lack of solar panels. The four gentlemen labored away clearing the roof and building a frame in anticipation of the panels. Scott trained Oscar and Carlos for the installation of the panels and possible future support for the sustainability of this project which will be operated and repaired by Pasitos de Luz. They also spent some time learning a bit of Spanish, English and French…a multicultural effort! All in all, the four of them were a great team. Thank you for your dedication to this project!

Merlyn Power

After our visit to Puerto Vallarta and Pasitos de Luz, we began our research to find companies and businesses focusing on renewable energy in order to find a way to lower the electricity cost at the facility. Our research led us to Meryln Power Renewable Energy Systems and it's founder Scott Cooper. Scott's enthusiasm was evident from the beginning as he was very interested in collaborating with Isa Mundo and we were glad to have the opportunity to partner with Canadian company.

Merlyn Power is a growing business in the Kitchener/Waterloo, Ontario region. They have been in operation since 2003 and have installed approximately 140 different solar energy systems in the Waterloo Region and surrounding area. Marlyn Power works in the areas of consulting on the energy and resource efficiency of new buildings; service of older solar water heating and pool heating systems; design of solar energy systems for thermal and electric applications; and, installation of solar energy equipment and drainwater heat recovery exchanger.

And now, Merlyn Power will be extending their work all the way to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. We would like to say a big "muchas gracias" to Scott and Merlyn Power for wanting to better the lives of the children at Pasitos!

Check out Merlyn Power's website at:
http://www.merlynpower.ca/

Solar Panels at Pasitos

Last June, we travelled to Puerto Vallarta and visited Pasitos de Luz, a centre that provides assistance for families with disabled children. You can check out our Pasitos de Luz write-up under Children & Youth for more information.

In the last few months, we have been working with a Scott Cooper, Founder and Owner of Merlyn Power Renewable Energy Systems, a company focused on renewable energy systems and energy efficiency in residential and commercial buildings in the Waterloo Region and the surrounding area (check out separate blog to find out more about Scott and his company).

In March 2010, Scott and an Isa Mundo volunteer (Pierre Lacasse) will be heading to Pasitos de Luz to install the solar panels which will be used to heat the water for the use of the therapeutic bath. We are excited about the completion of this project as this will be another solar powered initiative for Isa Mundo. Stay tuned for more updates and photos!

Helping Hand to Haiti Campaign

Since the devastating earthquake hit Haiti, many of you have been asking if Isa Mundo will be fundraising to help rebuild Haiti. Although we don't have any projects in Haiti, we have decided to launch our "Helping Hand to Haiti Campaign", where for the next 30 days we will be dedicating our "Change for Change Campaign" to the people and communities of Haiti.

We will be partnering up with the Canadian Red Cross to bring the much needed supplies to the people of Haiti. Check out our campaign poster on our home page. Remember, a small change can make a huge difference!

Isa Mundo in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

Isa Mundo made it's first site visits to Dominican Republic in December 2009 near the resort town of Punta Cana. Despite the economic success brought about by the tourism industry, there are still communities that are coping with poverty and other related social problems.

Isa Mundo believes there are opportunities in Dominican to complete environmental and education projects. Isa Mundo was able to see firsthand the infamous Reef Ball Foundation's reef ball projects which have been installed in front of hotels on the southern side of Dominican republic for purposes for beach restoration. The mission of the Reef Ball Foundation “is to rehabilitate our world's ocean reef ecosystems and to protect our natural reef systems using Reef Ball artificial reef technologies. Reef Balls are artificial reef modules placed in the ocean to form reef habitat” (www.reefball.org). Isa Mundo was guided by Miguel Cabral, Reef Ball Dominicana (Reef Ball Foundation partner for Dominican Republic) on a breezy, sun-drenched day in the Caribbean. The snorkeling excursion began from the white sand beach in front of the Grand Dominicus hotel and headed east over a few hundred reef balls. It is evident that the logistics of getting so many concrete Reef Balls into place must have been a challenge, but they have certainly stood the test of time (even through a hurricane), have prevented further erosion of sand from the beach and have increased the amount of sand creating a larger sand beach. Further details of this project can be found at their website. We would like to thank Miguel and the Reef Ball Foundation for the tour – the Isa Mundo Foundation looks forward to exploring future collaborations to help carry out the Reef Ball Foundation’s mission of protecting our oceans.

Isa Mundo was also able to learn about the organization called FESONAP (Fundación Ecológica y Social Natura Park) who is doing work to promote conservation and ecotourism to the local community. We were fortunate to meet FESONAP member Juan Carlos Sanchez, who gave Isa Mundo the history of the foundation, the national protected park nearby and a local school and community in need of support.

The Isa Mundo Foundation looks forward to exploring future collaborations with our new friends in Dominican. We will keep you updated as we progress. We will also have Isa Mundoers visiting the area in February and in March, bringing donations and much needed supplies to communities, a school and an orphanage.