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

Andrée Lacasse - Distinguished Alumni Award

We are pleased to announce that our Co-Founder and Chair, Children and Youth Projects, Andrée Lacasse, was recently awarded a Distinguished Alumni Award by the University of Victoria. Andrée's contributions in her career working on Indigenous issues and her volunteer work as a Board Member of the Ottawa Inuit Children's Centre were recognized by co-workers and Indigenous community members. 

Andrée has been instrumental in the success of the Isa Mundo Foundation and we congratulate her on this well deserved acknowledgment and honour.  We are proud to have her in the Isa Mundo family.

Well done, Andrée!

To learn more about her alumnus cohorts, please visit UVIC Distinguished Alumni Awards. 

A Visitor to Pasitos de Luz / Casa Connor

We would like to share a blog written by one of Isa Mundo Foundation's project site visitors. We were able to arrange a visit to Casa Connor for Kiara Scott and family to visit the Pasitos de Luz centre.

As always, we are grateful for Teena and Peter Oudman for their dedication in coordinating visits for volunteers and travelers who are interested in seeing this important facility and space.  Thank you also to Kiara for sharing your story and experience with us.








Blog written by Kiara Scott.

On December 23^rd, 2017, I had the honour to visit Casa Connor and the Pasitos de Luz centre , a facility that provides local children with disabilities with a safe, loving space. With the guidance of Teena Oudman, the cofounder of Pasitos de Luz, I was personally toured around the site. We met at the local grocery store in Puerto Vallarta and her friend drove us about a half hour out of town into an developing suburban region where Casa Connor is located. 

During the scenic drive, she told me about the history of Pasitos, how far it has come, and her visions for the future. She showed me photos of the land that Casa Connor was built on, demonstrating how it started from nothing but has grown with hope and dedication. Now, the building has taken on a beautiful, simple structure with high ceilings and cut-outs that bring life and sun light into the space. There are classrooms, a cafeteria, a kitchen, bathing rooms, physical therapy rooms, playrooms, and bedrooms. Teena spoke about the immense generosity that they have received from donors, offering up big bucks for staples like therapy baths and air conditioning. Despite these contributions, she emphasized that the organization is seeking more sustainability through monthly donations to pay the staff that keeps everything running day in and out. Seeing Casa Connor and learning about how far it has come, and seeing how much more there is to become from it, was a very humbling experience. I am inspired by the intense work and perseverance it has taken Teena and her team to build Casa Connor from the ground-up, yet, it is evident that there is an important role for each individual staff member, supporter, volunteer, and donor for the success and capacity of the organization. 

Goal 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth

Goal 8: Promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment and decent work for all.

Isa Mundo Foundation has focused on education as a way out of poverty and can improve future economic situations of individuals and communities.  The UN estimates that close to half of the world's population currently lives on US$2 a day and in many regions, a sustainable employment may not be enough to get above the poverty line.

Facts and Figures from the UN include:

• Global unemployment increased from 170 million in 2007 to nearly 202 million in 2012, of which about 75 million are young women and men.

• Nearly 2.2 billion people live below the US$2 poverty line and that poverty eradication is only possible through stable and well-paid jobs.

• 470 million jobs are needed globally for new entrants to the labour market between 2016 and 2030. (www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment)

The challenge remains to create quality jobs where people can thrive and countries focus on stimulating the economy while developing safe working conditions for all.  Based on our own capacity as a small non profit organization, Isa Mundo will continue to provide educational opportunities for students in less fortunate communities. By ensuring that children have access to tools and resources to reach their full potential - we hope to contribute to improving their economic situations in the future.

To learn more about Goal #8, click on the poster Decent Work and Economic Growth: Why it Matters.

Free Geek Vancouver

We wanted to also give a huge shout out to Free Geek Vancouver - an awesome non-profit organization, community based and committed to reduce environmental impacts of electronics by recycling and donating technological tools to those who need it most.  They don't just focus on helping other non-profits but also support job skills training, Internet access and provide low cost tech supplies to the general public.

Free Geek supports free and open source software when possible and "promote the open source movement through transparent collaboration with others"

We would like to thank Adrian Wong and his team at Free Geek Vancouver for partnering with us and donating some much needed laptops to our schools in Mexico.  We look forward to partnering with them again in the future.

To learn more about Free Geek Vancouver and its work, please visit their website at:  freegeekvancouver.org

Boca de Tomatlan - Education Project

Isa Mundo Foundation visited Boca de Tomatlan and a start up education project focusing on English literacy and introduction to use of technology (laptops) and education software and tools to improve education attainment.

The objective is to launch the education project in partnership with the elementary school in the village and eventually having local teachers lead and manage the program with resource support from school district and other non profit organizations working in the area.

Isa Mundo is committed to support the school and current project leader (Cynthia Leigh) to deliver this project to the community.  As Cynthia stated " ... the main goal is to afford the children the opportunity to dream of brighter futures and giving them the support they need to continue with their educational goals."

We look forward to working in partnership with Cynthia and her team on this new education project in Mexico.

Happy Holidays

We would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone Happy Holidays and all the best iin 2018!

We had a very successful 2017 and thankful to our supporters, long term volunteers, new partners, friends and families who continue to believe in what we are trying to accomplish.

We wish everyone a peaceful, joyful and prosperous New Year!

Cheers!


 Photo courtesy of  https://twitter.com/unpublications