Hola Boca de Tomatlan!

Members of the Global Youth Leadership Network - GYLN (Kelvin Au, Janice Lee, Aileen Lai and Chris Cheng) and Isa Mundo Foundation Founder and Director (Paul Lorilla) arrived in Boca de Tomatlan today to aid the development of a learning centre in the village of Boca de Tomatlan.

We arrived early in the morning and received a warm "Bienvenido" from students, teachers and Cynthia Leigh, the Lead Coordinator of Boca de Tomatlan Community Education Program.  Cynthia outlined the operation of the school and showed us the classroom that will become the main space for her after school English lesson, literacy and computer program.

GYLN representatives spent the morning with students teaching them about their organization and stories of their lives in Vancouver and abroad.  They read books, participated in curriculum activities and led outdoor games with all the kids. The rest of the day was spent building shelves, assembling a storage system, setting up laptops and organizing books for a future library. The group also had time to visit the Secundario school and a hike to explore the rest of the Boca village and local life.

The first day ended with a stop to Old Vallarta area to see souvenir shops and local eateries to celebrate the day.

The next day will be another busy morning and an afternoon trip to Casa Connor to learn about Pasitos de Luz and spend time with the children and staff of this important facility serving children with disabilities in the area.

Saludos

GYLN and Isa Mundo!

PS: Wanted to acknowledge ERA again for their continued support in providing much needed laptops to children and students in schools we work with.  Gracias ERA!

Mexico Project March 21-27, 2018

Isa Mundo Foundation will be joining a youth group in Mexico this month to officially launch a new partnership with the Boca de Tomatlan school. Mundoers visited the school for the first time in November 2017 and continued discussion on how to develop a partnership moving forward.

The group provided a blog as a formal note to Isa Mundo Foundation and its members.

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We would like to introduce the Sunwah Foundation Global Young Leaders Network (GYLN) - a non-profit organization that provides social services internationally, with on-going projects around the world to serve communities, support people in need and develop leadership skills in young leaders.

The organization was formed by a group of volunteers who are passionate in giving back to societies and develop a network to exchange cultural values and diversities. We establish chapters and recruit members globally to strengthen local connections and provide direct support to communities.

GYLN's objectives align well with Isa Mundo's approach in providing service to less fortunate communities around the world and supporting families in need, while collaborating with other not-for-profit organizations to create a larger impact globally. The experience of Isa Mundo in Mexico, where resources for schools are not enough relative to those local schools in Canada, provides us an insight of the importance in serving our neighboring countries as well. We believe that partnering with Isa Mundo will allow us to explore the vast opportunities of volunteering in areas related to schools in Mexico.

This will be our first project in Mexico and we are planning our visit during the week of March 21 - 27, 2018. The first stage of the week long project is to support the refurbishing of classrooms, bring school supplies and host teaching activities for students in Boca de Tomatlan School. We are also planning a visit to Casa Connor/Pasitos de Luz to understand the health and situation of children and the facility. This visit will provide an opportunity to assess potential long-term support in the future. It will be a great experience for our chapter to learn the local culture, establish connections, and explore any possibilities of future projects in the region and surrounding communities.

To learn more about our organization, please visit our website at www.sunwah-gyln.com