Happy Holidays and Happy New Year

The year 2020 has been full of challenges and sacrifices for everyone globally but even more so for those less fortunate in the world. Our focus has always been to support children and youth who need to have access to education, improve the lives of children in child centred facilities and focus on environmental health initiatives. We often work with communities and people who are vulnerable both socially and economically and that any slight change or shift in policy, economy or social issues could have significant effects on their lives. The COVID pandemic has done just that, revealed the already widening social and economic divisions that existed before the crisis began. But communities we work and support have shown incredible resiliency, patience and hope that a better year and future are still on the horizon and believe that better days are ahead.

We have supported local organizations since the lockdown began in March and we managed to keep providing funding to communities in Mexico and Philippines. We realized that organizations we support locally are some of the most committed volunteers and will do all they can to ensure projects remain sustainable despite challenges they faced.

We want to celebrate these heroes who sacrificed time and resources to go beyond their capacity and wish them the very best this holiday season and a healthy and prosperous 2021!

Thank you, Merci, Gracias, Salamat po!

Isa Mundo Foundation

 

** Photo is from the 2021 -13 Moons Halq’eméylem Calendar. Created and designed by Bonny Graham from Sto:lo Nation (Skwah and Snuneymuxw First Nation). To learn more about her work and commitment to preserve and promote the Halq’eméylem languge, visit her website at B.Wyse Coast Salish Art.

Adaptation is Key to Success

We wanted to highlight a great project that our education coordinator in Boca de Tomatlan (Cynthia Leigh) launched in the community. Due to the lack of access to our IMEC and the Boca Education Project facility, Cynthia still wanted to continue contributing to improving access to education for students in Boca.

Cynthia also manages a hotel in the community and offered the rooftop patio as temporary space for students to gather and learn in a safe environment. We are supportive of this project and have committed to provide funds needed to purchase school supplies and other materials for both teachers and students.

We invite our members and funders who have traveled and volunteered in Boca to do the same and divert some of our holiday stocking gifts to a few students in the community. The students have remained committed to learn so let's support them by ensuring they have the space and resources to continue their education. 

To learn more and support this program, please visit the Boca Education Project site.

Maligayang Paslit 2021

It has been a few years since we have contributed to Maligayang Paslit in Bambang Bulakan due to other priorities and launching of new projects. Given the situation of most communities and the global effect of COVID, it has been a very difficult and challenging year for most non profit organizations and charities.

Maligayang Paslit has been a consistent event in Bambang, Bulakan, led by a youth group of volunteers and funded via private and business donations. We will do our best to support this year's event and contribute in any way we can.  

For his year, there will be a Christmas Caravan Drive to provide food, cloths and gifts to most needy folks in the community and we are asking our members and funders to provide what you can. We acknowledge that most of us have given a significant amount of our time and resources and have sacrificed many things in 2020 but there are other communities that are not as fortunate as we are in Canada and a small amount will really change lives of families heading to 2021.

We thank you in advance and please stay safe and healthy.

Thank you, Merci, Gracias, Salamat po.

Boca de Tomatlan Food Bank

We are continuing our efforts to support communities we serve in Mexico, including Boca de Tomatlan. In the past few years, we have committed to develop an education project in Boca and successfully launched Isa Mundo Education Centre (IMEC) with the support of the Global Young Leaders Network. We have been gathering education supplies and technology to bring to Boca when the COVID lockdown hit.

The Boca community has been hit hard by the COVID lockdown with businesses suffering due to the lack of tourism and its trickle down effect on service industry and other jobs. This has resulted in local organizations in the region coming together to launch the Boca Food Bank to help support citizens who are most vulnerable. 

Isa Mundo has been working with local businesses and our members to collect funds to donate to the Boca Food Bank and support food delivery in the community. We would like to thank folks who have already contributed and invite others to join in providing much needed help to those less fortunate in Boca de Tomatlan. 

To learn more about the Boca Food Bank and ways to donate, visit Collectivo Viva Boca.

Thank You Saputo !

We would like to acknowledge the commitment and passion of Saputo Dairy Products Canada to support the work of Isa Mundo Foundation throughout the years. In particular, the hard work of long time Isa Mundo supporter, Alan Yau. His dedication to coordinate with stores and Saputo allowed Isa Mundo to fulfill its commitment to provide KidSafe with 600 litres of milk and 200 dozen eggs for its lunch program.

This is a great example of individuals, businesses and non-profits coming together and collaborating to provide assistance to the most vulnerable in our community. Without this partnership, it would be challenging for Isa Mundo to continue its work. We are grateful for Saputo and we hope to continue this partnership in the future. 

A big thank you to Mundoers who volunteered to deliver food for KidSafe during this COVID crisis, we are aware of the risk but Mundoers were able to step up and remained safe and healthy while providing essential service to our community.

It has been a productive summer for Isa Mundo and we look forward to continuing our work in the Fall and the rest of 2020!

Salvation Army Community and Family Services

We are continuing our efforts to partner with local organizations that are in need of our support. This week, we visited and met the staff at Salvation Army Community and Family Services to learn more about its services and programs offered in the community.

The organization is always looking for volunteers both to deliver daily supplies, support services or assist in seasonal programs such as the Christmas Toy Program. Everyone is welcome to join and contribute different skills and talents or learn new things in a group environment.

Isa Mundo is committed to support Salvation Army's food hampers program and delivered much needed supply of bread and baked goods during its first on-site visit. Mundoers will be collecting additional food supplies in the coming weeks and help deliver food in the community. We invite everyone to lend a hand and share your time or resources to this organization. To learn more about the Salvation Army Community and Family Services and their programs, visit its location or website at Salvation Army Vancouver.

Bread for KidSafe

We are thankful for an anonymous donor who provided Isa Mundo with 150 loaves of bread to help organizations providing nutritious food in communities. We were able to work with KidSafe and donated all the bread to the organization and its summer lunch program partner BitterSweet Kitchen.

BitterSweet Kitchen provides scratch made lunches with quality ingredients for elementary schools, and kids spring break and summer camps in Vancouver. This summer, BitterSweet has volunteered to make lunches for KidSafe kids and families it serves.

Isa Mundo was able to learn about BitterSweet's operations and meet the dedicated staff providing support to KidSafe. We hope to continue supporting the two organizations this year.

To learn more about BitterSweet Kitchen, visit www.bittersweetkitchen.ca

KidSafe Project Society

Isa Mundo Foundation is happy to announce a new partnership with KidSafe Project Society based in Vancouver, BC.

KidSafe provides support to the most vulnerable children via safety, meals and education programs, ensuring that children have access to things they need and reach their full potential. They are doing amazing work in the community. We reached out to KidSafe (Janelle Zwarych, Manager, Donor Engagement) as part our new focus on working with local organizations in our communities. Through various discussions, we were made aware that the organization was in need of sanitizers and PPEs in order for volunteers and kids/families they serve to remain safe and healthy.

Isa Mundo was made aware that Key West Ford (KWF), a local dealership in New Westminster had also been supporting local community organizations during  the COVID-19 crisis. Isa Mundo reached out to KWF (Joel Isfeld) and they were happy to help the kids, staff and volunteers of KidSafe. Isa Mundo coordinated the pick up and delivery of 150 litres of sanitizers, 500 masks and 700 gloves and face shields as an initial donation to KidSafe - who were ecstatic to receive these important supplies.

We would like to thank Key West Ford for supporting local community organizations by donating much needed supplies to front line workers and those who continue to provide essential services.

A big thank you to KidSafe for doing so much for kids and families who need help in our communities and we hope to provide additional support in the coming weeks.

To learn more about KidSafe please visit their website at www.kidsafe.ca

If you are in need of a new or used vehicle, we recommend the great folks at Key West Ford.

Supporting Heroes

Since the start of the COVID19 lockdown and travel bans, Isa Mundo has shifted its efforts in collaborating with local projects and organizations including providing much needed support to health care workers in our communities.

Isa Mundo is always looking to partner and with the help of Panago Pizza, we were able to deliver food to health care workers at the Langley Memorial Hospital, Langley BC. At the very least, we can help feed as many heroes as we can in the hospital and hope that we can make a small difference and to let them know we are thankful for all they do.

We are also grateful for the support of Panago and we hope to continue the partnership in the future.

Thank you to all the health care workers at the Langley Memorial Hospital. Your selfless service to the community is helping us all get through these tough times.

One Door Leads to Another

From time to time, we connect with people who are just as passionate about their work as they are with giving back to communities. We are always grateful when Isa Mundo meets such people and businesses to collaborate on a common goal.

As we look for additional storage for donations and create usable meeting space for volunteers, we need to be innovative in finding solutions during this COVID crisis. As we renovate a small garage space we needed to ensure it is secured and safe. Our volunteer contacted Lions Gate Garage Doors Ltd. (Alfredo) to provide a quote for a new garage door. Upon arriving on-site, Alfredo was able to provide sound advice and found a cost effective solution for our project. Alfredo was also keen on learning more about Isa Mundo and committed to helping us. Alfredo was able to contact North West Door (NWD) and in turn, NWD donated a garage door free of charge. Lions Gate Garage Doors Ltd. (LGGD) matched the in-kind donation by providing free labour to complete the project. 

Isa Mundo Foundation committed to donate to the Boca Education Project in Boca de Tomatlan, Mexico on behalf of LGGD and NWD based on their contributions. Our organization wanted to pay forward this kind gesture and continue to support our projects in communities we serve. We will be focusing on providing food hampers for families in Boca de Tomatlan via the local Food Bank. We will send an update from the community once our support reaches Boca in the coming week.

Thank you to North West Door and Lions Gate Garage Door Ltd, specially Alfredo - for their commitment to support our work and improve the lives of those less fortunate.

Update from Empowerment International

We wanted to highlight the incredible work of Kathy Adams and her team at Empowerment International in Nicaragua. The organization, its staff and volunteers have committed to improve educational opportunities in the country since 2004 and its program has reached an annual school retention rate of over 96% since 2008 in communities they serve.

We still hope to return to Nicaragua in the near future to continue to find a way to collaborate and partner with Empowerment again. For those interested in sponsoring students and supporting Empowerment, please visit their website at www.empowermentinternational.org

For an update, please click on their current INTERNATIONAL NEWSLETTER.

COVID Mundo

We wanted to provide an update on how COVID19 has affected our work at Isa Mundo Foundation. Like many other families, communities, businesses, institutes and non-profits worldwide, the Isa Mundo family and community of members and supporters have been hit by this crisis.

The cancellation of the Mexico trip in March affected the donation of much needed education supplies to Boca school and surrounding areas that we planned. The upgrade of technological supplies to Bambang Elementary School in the Philippines was also affected as fundraising stalled due to economic turmoil, increased unemployment and social distancing. We respect efforts being made by our Isa Mundo members and volunteers to find ways to support each other and community partners we serve.

At this time, we have contacted local organizations in Ottawa and Vancouver to offer our support and engage in a discussion as to how we can divert some of our funds to local charities and projects. In the spirit of partnership, we will work with local organizations and continue providing assistance to less fortunate citizens in our communities.

As part of our Isa Mundo protocol, we want to remind everyone that if you are not feeling well to quarantine, self-isolate and call emergency / visit local hospitals if you are experiencing symptoms related to COVID19. To learn more about COVID19 Symptoms and Treatment - visit the Public Health Agency Canada website.

In addition, we encourage all Mundoers:

1) To practice good hygiene at home and abroad.
2) Wash your hands often with soap and water and use alcohol-based hand sanitizers.
3) For those who will need to travel back to Canada and/or return to their home countries from regions where our projects are located, please keep up to date on screening protocols for airports you are transiting through and have customers service numbers for your airlines ready to call.
4) Be aware of travel insurance ie: trip disruption, medical, trip cancellation and call your personal insurance and travel advisors.
5) Know where your home country's consulate or embassies are located and register on-line before you depart.

Stay safe and healthy and we will get through this together.

Salamat po, Thank you, Merci, Gracias !


Posters courtesy of WHO COVID19 Infographics

MEXICO TRIP UPDATE!!

Sadly and with a heavy heart, we wanted to inform our volunteers, members and local organizations and schools we serve that we have cancelled our trip to Mexico due to the COVID19 crisis. This decision was based on advice from public health agencies, airline partners, sponsors and also our project coordinators on the ground in Mexico.

It was not an easy decision as our flights were booked, donations packed and we had aligned supplies to be purchased upon arrival to support our projects in Mexico. But for the safety of everyone, we must all practice social distancing at the moment and we hope to re-book this trip in the near future.

We will continue to find ways to bring our donated supplies to our partners and we thank everyone and specifically our airline partners and folks who provide discounted accommodations to Mundoers when we visit. We cannot thank you enough for your patience in refunding our costs and fees.


To learn more about the COVID19 and how to remain safe and healthy, please review information available at Public Health Agency of Canada and the Centre for Disease Control (CDC) website at www.cdc.gov.

Take care of yourself and each other!

Hola Mexico!!

We have set our dates for the first trip to Mexico in 2020. We will be arriving the week of March 16th and will visit Boca de Tomatlan school and Casa Connor/Pasitos de Luz.

The main for focus in Boca will be to assess how to launch a feeding program to allow students to have a meal while in school. There are still students in the area that may not have access to food while in school which affects their studies. Isa Mundo is hoping to provide one meal per week (either breakfast or lunch) for as long as funding is available. Our goal is that other organizations will be able to support or sponsor monthly/ yearly to continue the program.

We will also provide additional supplies and funding our IMEC in Boca and meet with education coordinator, Cynthia Leigh, to learn about educational goals and activities for 2020.

As we always do in every visit in the PV area, we are meeting with Teena and Peter, Arturo and the rest of the Pasitos de Luz staff at Casa Connor to visit the children and hear their plans for 2020. We will be learning more about the construction of the outdoor therapeutic pool and begin our own plans on how to contribute to completing this project.

To donate to all these projects and causes, visit the Donate link at www.isamundo.org

Gracias, Merci, Thank you!

Preparation for Mexico Trip

We are in the midst of preparing for the first trip to Mexico in 2020. We are hoping to once again partner with GYLN and provide much needed support for local projects in the state of Jalisco, mostly in Puerto Vallarta, Boca de Tomatlan, Yelapa and Nayarit.

The focus in 2020 will be to improve existing projects in local communities we partnered with in 2019: Boca de Tomatlan Education Projects; Casa Connor / Pasitos de Luz; Yelapa community projects. But we also want to begin expanding in other regions to allow volunteers to experience and learn from other organizations focusing on health, marine conservation and youth leadership.

We will keep everyone up to date and encouraging Mundoers to begin gathering educational, technological and medical supplies to bring to communities we serve. Thank you in advance.

Manigong Bagong Taon - Happy New Year - Feliz Año Nuevo - Bonne Année

Wishing everyone the very best in 2020! We are grateful for our network of individuals, groups and corporations who continue to provide much needed funding to complete our projects.

In 2019, we funded access to technology, improve nutrition of children in day care centre, provided books and school materials, improve water quality and supported teachers in various educational facilities. These would not have happen without the commitment and passion of Mundoers who took their time to travel and visit communities we serve.

Isa Mundo will begin to make a few changes in 2020. Moving towards a stronger focus on education and expansion of the Isa Mundo Education Centre (IMEC) and using the facility to strengthen and improve our objectives.

We intend to deliver a life skills program for children and youth and a community sustainability initiative with a focus on green living and conservation. These objectives will be part of the curriculum within the IMEC thus providing efficiency in reaching as many community members as possible.