Greetings to all our wonderful volunteers, supporters and friends!

It’s been quite a while since we’ve updated you, and there is a  whole lot at FINO to tell you about.


4TH ANNUAL BURRO FESTIVAL

At the top of the agenda is the 4th ANNUAL BURRO FESTIVAL that is just around the corner. Thank you to those who came to our first planning meeting/tea 2 weeks back and contributed great ideas and committed to roles for the event. This is FINO’s biggest fundraiser of the year, not to mention an income-generating community affair in Jalpa. We need all the support we can get in order to make this year’s Burro Festival another hit (so please extend a hand in the form of a cash donation or a commitment to volunteer, and encourage others to do so as well!) A BIG THANK YOU goes out to the Tabor Family who has just contributed $1000 towards the Burro Festival.

We will be holding a PRE BURRO FESTIVAL PARTY on Saturday, February 27th with music, dancing and the works. Margaritas and snacks will be served. If you are interested in volunteering and/or helping on the day of the Burro Festival – and paying less than HALF PRICE for the entrance ticket – please come out and bring a dish to contribute to the party. RSVP by Feb 22nd to finoac@gmail.com.


BI-LINGUAL LIBRARY:

As of mid-January, the Bilingual Library has been up and running beautiful at the Primaria (primary school) in Jalpa. Big thanks go to our librarians Dan Michaels and Sonia Vazquez (a mom from Jalpa with two children in the FINO program) for their efforts at making the re-opening of this library a huge success!  Each Wednesday between 10am and 2pm, children in grades 2 to 6 circulate through in small groups to select and sign out books for the week. It has been a very rewarding experience seeing the excitement and awe on the children’s faces as they rush into the library towards the shelves to hunt out a good pick. On this note, we still are in need of SPANISH or BILINGUAL children’s books, so if you are one to prefer making donations-in-kind; if you know of any used Spanish bookstores in Mexico or the US; or if you have any connections with publishing companies, please shout!


CREDENCIALES-PHOTO I.D. CARDS

In addition to the library opening, we at last completed the Credenciales (photo ID cards) for all of the 130 children of the Jalpa Primaria and handed them over to their proud new owners just before the opening of the library. These cards are likely the only form identification that most or all of kids have, aside from their birth certificate. They can be used in and out of school, for whatever ID needs the kids might encounter – such as signing out books from the library and discounts for bus rides.


LEADERSHIP THROUGH LANGUAGE (LTL)

Classes have been going great thanks to our energetic, dedicated volunteers and their invaluable feedback. Last week’s class was themed for Valentine’s Day, and it really touched our hearts to see the kids making cards for their moms (their choice) out of construction paper with little messages in English; i.e.:  “I love my mom because she is kind and affectionate.”  All of their pronunciation is coming along amazingly with help from a basic phonics chart and clapping out the syllables to new words. (I think I’m learning more than they are).


FINO BECAS-FINO SCHOLARSHIPS

Most exciting of all has been the process of selecting 3 students in their final year of Secundaria (middle school) to receive the first ever FINO scholarships to attend Preparatoria (high school, or grades 10, 11 and 12). Many thanks once again to our private anonymous donor and to the San Miguel Community Foundation for providing the funding to these worthy students! The scholarships will include registration and tuition fees, uniform, books, school supplies, and transportation costs between Jalpa and San Miguel. After each academic year, the recipients will re-apply for their scholarships, to ensure that they continue to be motivated to set goals and achieve good grades.

After carefully reviewing the written applications and holding interviews, the difficult decision was made among the 4-person scholarship panel (which included the enthusiastic Secundaria principal, Luis Enrique Acosta).  Of the group of 8 students who initially applied, 5 were former LTL students in their Primaria years – a definite sign of sprouting from early leadership seeds planted several years ago.  The scholarship recipients are Kristal Paz Gutierrez (former LTL student), Eduardo Daniel Olvera Guerrero (former LTL student) and Humberto Gonzalez Landa (a new kid to Jalpa). These 3 youth are all very bright, keen, responsible and highly deserving, and we are elated for them to start Preparatoria in SMA this August. In the meantime, they will be coming to the Wednesday LTL classes to show their leadership skills to the kids in the primaria each week!

PHOTO OF FINO BECA-SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS: Left to right: Cosuelo, Humberto (winner), Kristal (winner), Daniel (winner)

FINO VOLUNTEER PROFILES

To wrap up, below are the profiles of two very valuable, very appreciated, long-time FINO volunteers.

Carolyn Barlow

Carolyn has lived primarily in SMA since she purchased her home here in 2005, and soon after began volunteering with FINO.  In her “past life”, as people around here like to say, Carolyn owned a large property management company based out of Pennsylvania for twenty years and sat on three boards, including the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts’ summer program. Later she moved to South Carolina and helped organize the children’s summer art program, among other things, at the Charleston Gibbes Museum of Art. Through organizing trips with the member artists, she first came to know of SMA. After retiring, Carolyn held three more major positions in Charleston – “the most beautiful city on the East Coast” before moving to Boston in 2004 to be with her family. Just this past October, she moved back to Pennsylvania. Here in SMA, Carolyn paints at L’Escuela Studio with Keith Keller, and sold her first painting last year. Congratulations! … and thanks for all your efforts for FINO.
 

Carolyn. This photo was taken last year in the
Jardín at the Burro Festival ticket selling booth.   

Marti MacInnes

Marti is originally from Northern California, and majored in English at UCLA. She was living in Los Angeles before moving to San Miguel in June 2008 to work as café and hotel manager at the charming Casa Crayola. She discovered SMA as a teen while taking part in a summer camp called MexArt run by Casa Crayola. This past summer she worked as a counselor for MexArt, which welcomes a big group of American and Canadian teens each year to study Art, Dance and Spanish.  Marti became involved with FINO after befriending last year’s intern Elizabeth and volunteering at the 2009 Burro Festival.  She enjoys traveling, yoga, and baking cupcakes. She is also FABULOUS with the kids, and never misses an LTL class or a FINO meeting or event. Nadia (this year’s intern) would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to Marti for all of her friendship and all her help!
 

Marti.