Soccer Without Borders

Soccer Without Borders (SWB) is a not for profit organization dedicated to use the sport of soccer as a vehicle for positive change in the lives of marginalized youth around the world. SWB provide programs to youth in disadvantaged communities through sport-based and extracurricular activities. One of the countries that SWB has completed their work is Nicaragua. Upon learning that SWB staff and volunteers will be travelling to the city of Granada in May 2011, Isa Mundo contacted the organization to request their help to deliver our netbooks that will be used to create the first Isa Mundo Education Centre in Nicaragua.

Isa Mundo partnered with SWB and was able to deliver the netbooks successfully to our volunteer in Nicaragua to set up the IMEC at Empowerment International. We would like to thank SWB for their support and we hope to find a way to work together to complete a future project in Nicaragua.

To learn more about SWB, please visit their website at SoccerWithoutBorders.org.

A special thank you!

Since having launched Isa Mundo in 2007, we have been blessed with supportive colleagues and friends who have made significant impacts and contributions toward the success of the foundation. It is amazing how one person, one team, one group of people can make a difference in the lives of so many children and youth! Our colleagues and friends have also spent many hours listening to us talk about the foundation, our site visits, and our projects and have helped us grow the foundation.

This blog goes out to everyone who has listened, contributed, donated and gave us the opportunity to share our passion with you!

A great big thank you! merci! salamat! and gracias to you!

Introducing Café Roma's Kids Program

Isa Mundo Foundation has found new friends and partners in Mexico. We would like to introduce the Café Roma's Kids Program to our supporters and we happy to also announce that we will be partnering to complete our 3rd Isa Mundo Education Centre (IMEC) project in the Volcanes School outside of Puerto Vallarta. Isa Mundo recently completed a site visit at the school and decided that we have the capacity to contribute to improving the education facilities in this school.

Café Roma's Kids has been involved in supporting education and social programs in the Puerto Vallarta region by providing school supplies, funding teacher's wages, hosting fundraising efforts and even creating Pizza Party days to help feed less fortunate children in the area. The organization decided that they wanted to get involved with another school in the poor Colonia of Volcanes and immediately began supplying teacher assistants and school supplies to students. The organization also envisioned starting a computer centre as part of the students' curriculum and this idea fits well with Isa Mundo's IMEC concept.

We are looking forward to this partnership and we hope to finish our 3rd IMEC project (and the first) in Mexico with the help of the Café Roma's Kids Program. Stay tuned for updates!

To learn more about our new partner, visit their website at Café Roma's Kids Program.

Project Site Visit - Volcanes Primary School

Isa Mundo Foundation visited the new Volcanes Primary School located 5 kilometres inland in a Colonia called Volcanes just outside of Puerto Vallarta. Volcanes is also one of the barrios (neighborhoods) that Feed the Children organization targets with their feeding, education, day care and other programs. Isa Mundo has been working with Feed the Children since 2006.

The Volcanes School is a public funded school and has recently built a new addition to expand their existing rooms. The school focuses on math and English with hopes of starting a computer learning program in the near future. Mundoers visited the school to assess the location for a future Isa Mundo Education Centre (IMEC). Isa Mundo will focus its efforts in partnering with the school as part of the grant from MacEwen College's Global Education Fund. In addition, Mundoers also donated 4 boxes of books donated to help expand the limited supply of books at the school. We are grateful for the support and donation of books from the Vancouver Public Library.

We would also like to extend a big 'muchas gracias' to Art Fumerton for once again giving Isa Mundo a tour of the school and other projects in the area, his knowledge and experience in Mexico have been valuable to our work and project assessments both past and present

We hope to work in partnership with both the school and local organizations in the region to help build our first IMEC in Mexico. Stay tuned

What about teenage orphans?

Mundoers took the opportunity to visit the Refugio Infantil Santa Esperanza (RISE) during their trip to Puerto Vallarta. RISE is a non-profit shelter for babies and children under the age of 18 who have been turned over by the National Agency of Family Development (DIF), a Mexican government social services organization that protects the rights of children. Many of the children brought to RISE are not available for adoption; however, they spend their lifetime living at RISE. Numerous children come from unbearable situations having been abused, neglected, or simply abandoned by their families.

Currently, there are seven teenage girls living at RISE who feel a little out of place since they do not want to be grouped with the children, with the same rules, yet they are still young enough to live at RISE and not ready to live on their own. RISE is faced with the challenge of trying to keep the teenagers living at the Refugio, while supporting them through the crucial transition from childhood to adulthood.

The Refugio is striving to support and look after the teenagers, to surround them with love, while teaching them the necessary life skills to live independently as future adults. In order to do so, they have decided to build an onsite transition home for the teenagers. The outside of the building is built, they are now moving into the next phase of building the inside.

With this new transition home, they will instill values and skills to help them face life and make the right decisions while converting them into self-confident mature and responsible women.

Isa Mundo is looking into the possibility of working with RISE to help build a successful transition home.

The Hackery

Isa Mundo is proud to introduce The Hackery - a computer business that repairs and recycles laptops, computers and flat screen monitors. They have volunteered their time to do a diagnostic of our donated computers and laptops to ensure they are in optimal working condition. These computers and laptops will eventually be used to create future Isa Mundo Education Centres in Ghana and the Philippines.

To learn more about The Hackery, visit their website at www.thehackery.ca.

Businesses such as The Hackery play an integral role in ensuring that our Foundation has the technological expertise necessary to provide the highest quality technology based education tools for our education centre. In keeping with our misison to minimize impact on the environment, the Hackery is a great partner due their ethical recycling approach. They do not ship any laptops or computer systems and parts overseas and is a member of the Recycling Council of British Columbia.

We are grateful for the support of The Hackery - thank you guys!

If you need need computer/laptop: diagnostics; parts, repairs or recycle them, please visit them at 304 Victoria Drive in Vancouver, BC.

Isa Mundo and Staples Canada - THAT WAS EASY!

Isa Mundo has partnered with Staples Business Depot Store # 254 in Vancouver, BC. Staples provided discounts to purchase Acer Aspire 10' Netbooks to support our Isa Mundo Education Centre (IMEC) in Granada, Nicaragua. Staples provided additional sleeve protectors and help print our IMEC banners for the project.

n 1991, Staples founded its Canadian subsidiary, The Business Depot, and began opening stores under that name, though over a decade later, all stores were renamed as "Staples."

Staples has become the world’s largest office products company, is committed to making it easy for customers to buy a wide range of office products, including supplies, technology, furniture, and business services. The company’s goal: Give every customer a reason to believe…STAPLES Business Depot—That was easy!

Staples Store #254 is located on 200-1055 West Georgia St in Vancouver, BC.

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