New rules for dogs in El Charco & Parque Landeta, 
Dec 1, 2006

The Board of El Charco del Ingenio has new rules for dogs in both the botanical garden and Parque Landeta. The reasons are simple and understandable. This area has acquired importance over more than 15 years as a refuge for plants and animals whose habitats have been reduced, fragmented, destroyed or affected by accelerated development. A surprising number of bird, mammal and reptile species have found in El Charco an ideal place to live and reproduce. Also, the diversity of spontaneous flowering has tripled in 10 years. The most recent study, done this year by W. Meagher and W. Colony, registered more than 550 species belonging to 90 botanical families as diverse as cacti, orchids, and ferns. 

The protection of this rich and growing diversity is a priority for the botanical garden, as well as the maintenance of the new botanical areas and the plants therein, many of which are valuable to the collection of the garden. All activities that take place in El Charco are subordinate to the primary mission of conservation. Such is the case concerning dogs. 

There is currently a major problem with dogs without owners entering the reserve, some from neighboring houses and others wild, sometimes in packs. These dogs are a major risk for the wildlife since they hunt birds, mammals and reptiles and their control and removal is difficult. The botanical garden has already initiated a program for their humane capture and immediate release to the Department of Ecology. 

Dogs with owners in the reserve would have been a minor problem if the current rules had been respected. Unfortunately, this has not been the case. Almost daily, people allow their dogs to run free, without a leash, even in the areas clearly marked as prohibited, and they don’t remove the excrement from the trails. Staff members have continuously commented on these problems. 

The new rules, effective December 10, are intended to avoid this situation by restricting access in areas and trails where plants have been arranged for exhibition and where intensive landscaping has been done. This is the case in the rescued plant area in the west section of the garden and on the trail to the conservatory where the new agave garden has been established. We are also trying to protect the areas where waterfowl reside and nest along the edges and on the islands of the reservoir, including in Parque Landeta. 

We are aware of the inconvenience and disapproval these restrictions may provoke among some members who currently walk their dogs in El Charco, particularly those who have respected the rules over the years. We have tried to be flexible and at all times have listened to the viewpoints of members and users of the garden. We believe these rules are a good compromise and option. We ask for your understanding and support of our efforts to accommodate the various services we give to the community. 

The Board of El Charco del Ingenio


Rules for entering El Charco and Parque Landeta with dogs (starting December 10, 2006)

1. Only current members will be allowed to enter with dogs after having signed an agreement with the management of the garden. 

2. Dogs must be on a short leash at all times and are allowed only in the designated areas and trails. Reel leashes are not allowed. 

3. The trails where dogs may be walked are restricted to the southwestern zone of the botanical garden and along the walkway that follows the fence from the lower door in Balcones to the reception area. All other areas are strictly prohibited for dog walking. 

4. Owners must immediately remove excrement from the trails. 

5. One need not be a member of El Charco to take dogs into Parque Landeta, and dogs may be without a leash but should be constantly under the supervision of the owner. All sections of the park are open except the northern section and the area around the presa. 

6. Staff from both the botanical garden and Parque Landeta will humanely capture dogs that are without owners and they will be immediately turned over to the Department of Ecology. 

7. Non-compliance with these rules in El Charco on the part of members may result in the cancellation of membership. In Parque Landeta, non-compliance on the part of all users will result in immediate expulsion from the park. Assistance from the police will be used in the case of resistance or re-entry.

Sneak Preview weekend at La Tienda

The four-day Sneak Preview of the Biblioteca Pública’s shop continues throughout this weekend with more great buys and surprises in store.

Today, Friday December 1, you’ll find the best of San Miguel’s writing and rhythms on sale. Local authors and musicians will be on hand to autograph your purchases, accompanied by live music from jazz saxophonist Claude Lawrence, harpist Sergio Basurto, and Gyspy guitarist Javier Estrada. 

Saturday is Kid’s Day, so bring the little ones in for fun, activities and prizes. There will be activities for all ages: a coloring contest, a giant chess game, hands-on drumming session complete with pre-Hispanic tambores, storytelling and a performance by the ANYÉL children’s choir. 

The Sunday morning treat for the House & Garden Tour early birds is a raffle of a fabulous gift basket with samples of some of the items from La Tienda, including books, CDs and posters. The winner will be drawn at 11:30am. Local jewelers will sell their one-of-a-kind designs, and the traditional Estudiantina group will entertain.

For additional information, call the Biblioteca at 152-0293 and ask for manager Stephanie Hough.

What’s in store at La Tienda

Thursday, November 30–Sunday, December 3 
Biblioteca Pública, Insurgentes 25

Thursday, Nov. 30, 4–6pm Artful Expressions
4pm, Meet local artists, jewelers and photographers 
5:30pm, Book signing with artist Leonard Brooks 


Friday, Dec. 1, 4–6pm* Writings & Rhythms
4pm, Book signings with local authors from the Authors’ Sala 
4:30pm, Café Santa Ana Coffee Sip
5pm, Local musicians play & autograph their CDs

Saturday, Dec. 2 10am–12pm, Kids’ Stuff 
10am, Yolanda Lacarieri reads a children’s Christmas story in Spanish
10:15am, Giant chess game for beginners
10:30am, Color Me Logo Contest
11am, SMA children’s choir, led by Elsmarie Norby 
11:30am, Tumbao demonstration & sale of pre-Hispanic instruments


Sunday, Dec. 3, 9:30–11:30am 
9:30am, Gift basket raffle before the House & Garden Tour
11am, Estudiantina performs traditional music
11:30am, Gift basket raffle winner will be drawn

*Biblioteca is closed on Friday but opens from 4 to 6pm for this event.

From campo to university grad

San Marcos de Begoña, a rural community near Presa Allende, is part of the municipality of Allende. According to the Social and Human Development Department, the community has 839 inhabitants, most of whom derive their incomes from agriculture. The sisters of the Aldama López family—Marisa, Bertha Karina, and Hilda—were born in San Marcos de Begoña. The three, ranging in age from 16 to 21, are among the few girls from their community who have gone past elementary school. “Besides my sisters and I, there are only two others,” said Marisa. 

“Since I was a little girl, I wanted to study. My parents always supported us,” said Marisa, who added that, thanks to the support of the Biblioteca Pública and Mujeres en Cambio, she finished her university studies. 

Marisa studied in the elementary school in San Marcos de Begoña and maintained an average grade of 9, out of a possible 10. “When I finished elementary school, I heard on the radio that the public library offered scholarships for junior high, so I decided to apply. I was asked to bring my elementary school certificate, my grades and proof that I was going to go on to junior high school in my community.” The Biblioteca granted Marisa a scholarship of 700 pesos every six months, which she used to buy books.

While Marisa was still in junior high, representatives of Mujeres en Cambio, a nonprofit organization committed to nurturing economic sustainability and education for women living in rural communities, came to her school to offer scholarships for girls. Marisa applied and obtained a scholarship. 

With the Biblioteca scholarship, which had increased to 1,000 pesos, along with 150 pesos a month from Mujeres en Cambio, Marisa enrolled in the technical high school CBTIS (Centro de Bachillerato Tecnológico Industrial y de Servicios) to study chemistry. She also worked in an arts and crafts store in San Miguel to supplement the scholarship money. 

After completing her courses at CBTIS, she enrolled in the University of Northern Guanajuato, in Dolores Hidalgo. The university also granted her an academic scholarship based on her grades. 

Since finishing her university career a few months ago, Marisa has worked at La Esmeralda, a local dairy products manufacturer, in quality control. 

Marisa’s sisters have also received scholarships from the Biblioteca and Mujeres en Cambio. Bertha Karina studies law at the University of León, and Hilda is pursuing the same course of study at CBTIS that Marisa undertook.

Marisa feels great satisfaction in achieving her goals, despite the effort required. Currently, she helps with her family’s expenses and the costs of her sisters’ education. “I’m very grateful to Mujeres en Cambio and the Biblioteca Pública for supporting me. It is wonderful that they give scholarships to students whose families cannot afford to send them to school.”

Mujeres en Cambio lunch at Patsy’s Place a huge success
By Roger Hind

Mujeres en Cambio  Holiday Luncheon Thursday, December 14, 2pm Hacienda de las Flores,  Hospicio 16 150 pesos, advance ticket sales only

The objective of Mujeres en Cambio is to foster self-sufficiency, self-esteem and self-respect in Mexican women in the rural villages around San Miguel. For older women, we provide seed money to develop self-supporting enterprises. For younger women, we operate a scholarship program that provides access to education. We also support the midwives’ program at CASA. The all-volunteer group raises nearly US$60,000 annually through donations, mail-outs and monthly fund-raising events.

Scholarships are offered to students recommended by their school principals. Continued receipt of scholarship funds is dependent upon maintaining good grades. The group is currently helping to educate over 120 young women from the ranchos around San Miguel.

Last month, the group was delighted to receive an invitation from chef Patsy Dubois (see www.patsydubois.com) to hold a lunch at Patsy’s Place. The event was a roaring success. Apart from the conviviality, the beautiful location and the superb food, we raised a record amount for an event outside of our key annual event, the February rancho lunch.

Most of the kudos for this achievement must go to Dubois, who announced during the lunch that she was treating us all as her guests; therefore, the total ticket sale proceeds would go to the scholarship fund. This was an incredibly kind and generous gift, and we are deeply appreciative. Patsy had already told us we’d receive the profits from the bar, but we suspect that she gave us the total bar takings as well. Thank you very much, Patsy!

From ticket sales we raised approximately 13,600 pesos. From bar sales we received 1,660 pesos. From a group of students who attended one of Patsy’s cooking classes (Patsy put in a good word for the scholarship program—thanks again, Patsy), we received about 1,500 pesos. From passing the hat, we received 4,436 pesos.

From the auction of a hooked rug produced by the rug makers of Agustín Gonzales (a project initiated by Mujeres en Cambio) and kindly donated by one of our members, we received approximately 750 pesos. That’s a grand total of approximately 21,946 pesos! (Note: the approximate amounts reflect the fact that some money was in US dollars.)

The December luncheon will be held in the delightful surroundings of Hacienda de las Flores. Mujeres en Cambio core members will serve roast turkey and a mouth-watering selection of holiday fare, including vegetables and dessert.

Please note that attendance at our functions is by pre-sold ticket only and that tickets sell very quickly. Tickets for the December lunch are 150 pesos and are on sale now at Re/Max Colonial, Portal Guadalupe 12; Casa de Papel, Mesones 57-A; and Solutions Mail Service, Recreo 11.

Michele Vallon of The Night Kitchen Caterers has kindly offered to be guest chef for the first 2007 lunch, which will be held at Hacienda de las Flores on January 18. 

Michele provided a superb lunch earlier this year, and we can’t wait to see what delectable delights she whips up for us this time!

Please check our website, www.mujeresencambio.com, for details regarding upcoming events as they become available and to learn more about our organization. We welcome new members to our all volunteer group. For more details, call Roger Hind at 154-6552. Please note that Roger cannot take reservations.

Give something from the heart
By Kathy Frankel

Are you searching for just the right gift to give this holiday season? Do most of your friends and relatives already have everything they need? How about giving something that helps those who cannot ask for help, and honoring your friend at the same time?

Amigos de Animales has a program whereby you can contribute to help end the suffering of cats and dogs in San Miguel through education and free spay and neuter surgery all year round. Help a poor family whose dog has had many litters to stop the cycle and whose kitten need not start the cycle of overpopulation. Support Amigos’ education programs, which teach kindness to and care of animals.

With a donation you can send a card with a holiday or New Year’s greeting and photo in the name of your friend or relative, including the amount you choose to donate if you wish. Go to the website, www.amigosdeanimalessma.org, and click on “Donate,” or call Nancy Sylvor at 152-2037.

Unlike many large volunteer organizations in the United States, Amigos will not follow up the donation card with constant pleas for more money from your recipient.

Please help us carry out our motto to be “the voice of the voiceless” with your gifts.

Patronato pro Niños reaches a milestone
By Gene Crane

How do you measure success for a 36-year-old organization dedicated to caring for poor Mexican children? By the number of children reached who would otherwise never receive medical attention? By the number of children treated? By the number of lives saved? By the amount of money raised over the years? By the size of the volunteer group? Perhaps the answer is: all the above. Or perhaps all of those questions can be answered with a number: more than 10,000.

Patronato Pro Ninos is estimating that in the year 2007 we will be, in many different ways, caring for more than 10,000 children of San Miguel and its environs. That’s quite a difference from its start in 1970. In that year, Maria and George Williams started providing food, clothing, school supplies and some medical attention to the children of Barrio San Antonio. They called themselves Amigos de los Niños del Barrio de San Antonio. Over the next 15 to 20 years, the services of the organization turned more and more to medical treatment. By the mid-1990s, it had grown to a large nonprofit organization under the name Patronato Pro Niños and was treating children by the thousands. In 2007, we will pass the 10,000 mark.

How do we achieve these astonishing numbers? Our focus is threefold: medical care, dental care and prevention. Each of those is broken down into different categories. Medical care is, of course, paramount. Patronato Pro Niños now has 34 field volunteers who venture out into the ranchos, sometimes having to ford streams or walk the last mile because the roads are impassible. They seek out the teachers at the schools who are able to report which of the children are in need of medical attention. 

The report of this one team member indicates the seriousness of the need for care: “Since I have been a volunteer, we have found and referred five children to our office. The first was a boy who had a birth defect that was affecting his heart. The next was a little boy with a brain tumor. Then came a child with spinabifida. The last two were a boy with a tumor on his liver and a three-year-old with lupus. I feel proud and relieved to know that Patronato Pro Niños was able to help all these children.”

When children in need of care are found, they are sent to our office in San Miguel. An assessment is made of the case, and determination is made as to which doctor, specialist or hospital the child should be sent. Now comes the first number. At the end of 2006, we will have examined, treated, sent for care, or prescribed for 1,500 children in this manner. The state of Guanajuato participates in 50 percent of the cost of our serious surgeries.

Less than a year ago, for the first time, a doctor was placed under contract with Niños. His function is also to go out into the ranchos in a refurbished van (which used to be our dental van), seeking children in need of his attention. He carries with him the necessities for triage and a basic supply of prescriptions and medications to treat the children on-site. Children that require more extended care or reference to a specialist are then brought into his office in San Miguel, located at the Patronato Pro Niños offices. 

The doctor is now caring for, in triage in the field and in his office, 350 children a month. In the five months since we acquired his services, he has helped 1,750 children. We anticipate he will care for 4,000 children next year. The state of Guanajuato provides 50 percent of the overhead cost of the medical van.

The dental program is a story in itself. The first van was set up four years ago with a full-time dentist, x-ray equipment and all the accessories required for general dental care. It was an instant success. 

A community would be made aware that the van would be coming out at a certain date for a specific period of time, and all the children were invited to come for an examination and, when necessary, treatment. 

Colgate furnishes us with toothbrushes and toothpaste for each child, and while they wait in line a dental hygienist coaches the children in dental care. Many of these youngsters had never seen a toothbrush before. 

This extraordinary success led us immediately to consider expanding the program. With the cooperation of the state of Guanajuato, which covered 50 percent of the cost, we purchased a new van, large enough for two chairs. Our dentist, Doctora Argelia Flores, has trained her driver to be her dental assistant. He sterilizes and prepares her instruments and readies the next child in the second chair for treatment. Some children must return for extractions, fillings and other procedures. We are now treating children at the rate of 4,000 a year. 

Four years ago, we asked ourselves what we could do to help prevent the devastating illnesses affecting the poor children of San Miguel. With the cooperation of Salubridad, the official health agency of San Miguel, we selected a nearby community of 1000, La Campana, to start our prevention program. We discovered immediately that the two principal problems affecting the children were diarrhea and malnutrition. The former was brought about principally by the condition of their water supply. 

There were no wells, so the city delivered water regularly that was stored in large barrels that were open to the atmosphere, insects, the weather and all sorts of contamination. We immediately installed two huge water-storage tanks, which the city continued filling, to replace the open barrels. It was then that we discovered that the water being delivered was contaminated, and we set about placing purification filters in both tanks. The water available to the community is now pure. As a result of our efforts, Salubridad tells us the incidence of diarrhea in the youth population has been dramatically reduced.

In an attempt to overcome the nutrition problems, we began furnishing nutritional packets containing folic acid (which is also beneficial to pregnant women) and a multivitamin mix. These packets are delivered directly to the mill where the corn is ground and added to the flour used to make the tortillas that are a mainstay of the Mexican diet. According to Salubridad, the normal consumption of our reinforced tortillas provides a child with 100 percent of his or her daily nutritional requirements.

As a result of our success in La Campana, and with the continuing cooperation of Salubridad, we have now added five more villages to our prevention program: Corralejo, Puerto de Nieto, San Miguelito, La Palmilla and Los Torres. We anticipate including two more, Charco de Sierra and La Palmita, in the near future. We estimate that in the five villages there are at least 1,000 children in our prevention program. 

We look forward to 2007 with great expectations. That we have become so well organized and institutionalized is just part of our success. The administrative budget for Patronato Pro Niños is never more than 10 percent, a figure equaled by very few charities in the United States. 

Also part of this success story is that we have dozens of volunteers working year-round and generous Mexican doctors, hospitals and government agencies. The participation of several Mexican corporations—Colgate, Gerber, Roche and Kelloggs—has also been a factor. Certainly, we can never overlook the generosity of the San Miguel community and our numerous friends on the other side of the border. They have been a big part of making it possible.

The office of the Presidencia tells us there are 65,000 children in San Miguel under the age of 19. This means we are treating close to 15 percent of the youthful population of this city we have adopted. We hope we have enriched the lives of those niños and our community.

Lyalya Edel Herold, 1928-2006

Lyalya Herold, a prolific artist and writer and part-time San Miguel de Allende resident, died on Sunday, November 12, at her home in Northampton, Massachusetts. She was 78. The cause was ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease. She is survived by her sister, Anna Lee Culp; five children, Jordi, Todd, Kiki, Patrick and Danielle; and four grandchildren.

A winter resident here since 1997, Lyalya lived in her San Miguel apartment among her vast collection of Mexican paintings, ceramics and sculptures, including a life-size statue of the archangel Michael. She was a member of both the “Sundays at the Bugambilia” poetry-reading group and of a small collective of local Yiddish speakers. Lyalya was a familiar, beloved figure in the Jardín with her long, snow-white hair, dramatic ethnic jewelry and signature flowing dresses.

She was born Lyalya Edel Filtzer in 1928 in the Bronx borough of New York City—where she was also raised—to Russian-Jewish immigrants. Her mother was Lillian Filtzer, and her father, Hyman Filtzer, was a well-regarded sculptor who, in the latter years of his life, served as chief restorer of sculpture for the Metropolitan Museum of Art. 

Her father’s artistic presence greatly affected Lyalya, who attended the High School of Music and Art in Manhattan and studied visual arts at the City College of New York, where she earned her master’s degree in Art Education in 1950, setting into motion decades of prolific creation that took the form of bright, whimsical paintings inspired by places in which she lived from the Berkshires to Mexico, and sculptures made of clay and welded metals depicting everything from deer and antelopes to acrobats and entwined lovers.

In 1949, she married Donald Herold, of Brooklyn, New York, a teacher of Romance languages, with whom she had five children. They lived abroad in bohemian Paris during the first four years of their marriage before returning to settle in Queens, New York. During the early 1960s, they were active in the civil-rights and anti-war movements, joining in the Martin Luther King, Jr. 1963 March on Washington and frequently hosting folk singing events and political fundraisers in their living room. A committed activist, she served as co-chair of the local chapter of the Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy (SANE), successfully stopping the proposed Con Edison Ravenswood Nuclear Power Plant in New York City in 1965. She began her teaching career in 1967 at Andrew Jackson High School in Cambria Heights. After the family relocated to Hancock, Massachusetts, in 1970 she continued teaching art until her retirement in 1988. 

Summer vacations were spent in Truro, on Cape Cod, from 1965 to 1985, where Lyalya spent afternoons painting the seascapes and sand dunes. 

In 1985, she moved to Northampton, where she soon received a solo show of her painting and sculpture at the Northampton Center for the Arts. Her Northampton home was filled with museum-worthy collections of African sculpture and Early American stoneware in addition to Mexican folk art. 

Lyalya divorced in 1986, bringing about a profound change in focus from visual artist to author with her writing of Death of a Marriage, Birth of a Woman (published by Station Hill Openings) in 1996.

In it she describes learning new skills such as how to ride a horse, weld metal and walk on fire, as well as discovering healing practices from yoga and sounding to rebirthing and relying on the powers of a medium. She practiced as a body-worker and continued to write. She completed a dozen novels, as well as volumes of poetry, plays and essays. 

Lyalya was, according to friends and family, a great appreciator of beauty, nature, laughter, food and introspection. She lived with the following Omar Khayyám quote painted in calligraphy on a wall of her home: “Ah, make the most of what we yet may spend, Before we too into the Dust descend.”