Garden Club selects 2008 calendar photos

Calendar cover, Alex, Cretcher, In the afternoon, McCarthy, Jenya

The Club de Jardinerias de San Miguel de Allende A.C. is pleased to announce the winners of the annual photo contest for the 2008 calendar. They are Fran Schiavo, whose stunning photo entitled “Rooftops” was chosen for the cover, Jennifer Butz, Kathy Simandl, Carmen Riojas, Murray Friedman, Sallie Kravitz, Ivan McCartney, Alex Wypyszinski, Judith Jenya and Richard Cretcher. 

The club also wishes to express its gratitude to all those talented photographers who participated in the competition. The theme for the 2008 calendar (“less frequented, magical places”) and expanded contest parameters allowing technical enhancing, led to a wonderful and varied response to the contest. The diversity and quality of photographs were so impressive that selecting only 13 photographs to be included was extremely difficult, but those chosen present a beautiful and less traditional vision of San Miguel and its environs. 

Now a local tradition, the calendar is produced by the Garden Club of San Miguel de Allende, which began in 1968 and has developed into an organization whose purpose is to promote interest in flowers, plants, gardens and floral arranging, and to support civic, beautification and educational projects to benefit the city of San Miguel and surrounding areas. The idea of producing a Garden Club calendar was conceived in 2001 by long-time resident and club member Louise McGann, recently deceased but fondly remembered. All profits from the calendar become investments in the city’s future through donations to worthwhile civic projects.

The Garden Club 2008 Calendar, which makes a great remembrance of our lovely city for tourists as well as holiday gifts, will be available for sale in September by club members and in local shops and bookstores. The on-sale announcement will include many more details about the photographs, other attributes of the calendar and where it may be purchased. 

Death of Two Sons in San Miguel
By Alexis White


Film
Death of Two Sons: A Benefit Evening with the Filmmaker
Thurs, Aug 23, 5:30pm
Teatro Santa Ana
Biblioteca Pública
Insurgentes 25
200 pesos

Two young men, born a month and two continents apart and killed almost a year to the day of each other, are the subjects of an award-winning documentary and program in support of journalism in Mexico.

Death of Two Sons: A Benefit Evening with the Filmmaker will be presented by CEPET (Centro de Periodismo y Ética/Center for Journalism and Public Ethics) on Thursday, August 23. The program will feature the San Miguel premiere of the film. A Meet-the-Filmmaker reception honoring Micah Schaffer will follow at the Biblioteca’s Café Santa Ana.

“We are greatly honored that Micah Schaffer has agreed to attend this event,” said Leonarda Reyes, founder and director of CEPET and a resident of San Miguel. “The film is extremely absorbing and thought-provoking. We believe that the audience will have more questions than can be answered in a brief Q&A, which is why we decideded to hold a reception.”

Death of Two Sons focuses on the aftermath of the killing of Guinea native Amadou Diallo, who lived in the Bronx, New York, and the killing of California native Jesse Thyne, who lived in Diallo’s village home in Guinea, West Africa.

Diallo, the son of a prominent West African family who decided to come to the United States to work and study, was gunned down in the hallway of his apartment building. His killers were members of a special New York City police unit who wore street clothes in their work. They misidentified the unarmed Diallo as a serial rapist, who was later caught. They further believed that Diallo was reaching for a gun, which turned out to be a wallet. Diallo either thought he needed to show ID or believed that he was being robbed. He died in a hail of 41 bullets. The four officers were acquitted. Hundreds of people protested and many were arrested, including a former NYC mayor and a US congressman. Diallo’s family eventually won a US$3 million civil suit against the City of New York. The money helped establish the Amadou Diallo Education, Humanitarian and Charitable Foundation.

Thyne was an American Peace Corps volunteer serving in Guinea and living with Diallo’s uncle. This was a coincidence, as Diallo and Thyne never met. (He did accompany Diallo’s mother to New York for a memorial service.) Thyne was killed when a reckless, out-of-control taxi driver hit the car in which he was riding. Accidents like this were common and not given much thought in Guinea, but as a result of this tragedy and the protests that ensued, the government began addressing traffic and safety issues. The taxi driver received a three-year prison term. It was considered a harsh sentence for a vehicular fatality and was one that had never before occurred in Guinea.

Diallo and Thyne both held humanitarian beliefs and the desire to contribute meaningfully to the world. Their similarities, the sad irony of how their somewhat parallel lives should have brought them together in the flesh, the circumstances surrounding their untimely deaths and the justice that was meted out in each case became an obsession for filmmaker Micah Schaffer, who served in the Peace Corps with Thyne and was a friend. 

Death of Two Sons is the result of Schaffer’s need to tell this story. His film, which won an Audience Award at the Denver Pan-African Film Festival, has been seen at film festivals in the United States, Great Britain and Africa. Variety called it a “moving, stunningly shot film that never allows the exposition of the interviewees to overwhelm the visual aspects of the storytelling.” HBO awarded Schaffer its Life Through Your Lens Award.

CEPET is a nonpartisan and nonprofit organization which promotes independent investigative and public interest journalism that will contribute to a more informed society in Mexico. It sponsors training workshops in partnership with IFAI, (El Instituto Federal de Acceso a la Información Pública), an independent agency charged with implementing and overseeing all aspects of Mexico’s freedom of information law. These workshops bring together experienced journalists to train in investigative journalism. CEPET also issues alerts to national and international organizations about threats to freedom of expression. It was a 2007 nominee for a “Defender of Press Freedom” award from Reporters without Borders.

For further information, visit CEPET’s website cepet.org/engintro.htm or contact Leonarda Reyes at leonare@cepet.org. 

Botanas, margaritas and other drinks will be served at the Café Santa Ana reception. Tickets are 200 pesos and proceeds will help support CEPET. They can only be purchased at Border Crossings (Mesones 57), La Conexión (Aldama 3) and at La Margarita Realty (Correo 6, next to the Jardín). They will not be available at the Santa Ana box office.

Donors support Amigos 
By Lisa Wandler

PHOTO CAPTION: Amigos Board Members survey the site of the new Canine Control Center. From left to right: Cathy Eignus, Nancy Sylvor, Arno Naumann and consultant Lisa Wandler

Amigos de Animales is pleased to announce that, thanks to the generous support of several donors, they have raised more than US$10,000 and will begin construction of the new Canine Control Center immediately.

“We are all delighted with the public interest in this project,” said Arno Naumann, president of Amigos. “We have a long way to go, but it’s a great start and we’re very thankful for people’s support.”

The donation, matched by US$10,000 from the city of San Miguel, will be used to build holding pens and fence in more than 8,000 square meters of property.

The current facility used by Ecologia to house captured dogs is slated for closure, and the organization has no plans to build a new one. Without the help of Amigos de Animales and its supporters, these dogs would have no place to go and the problem of animal overpopulation would worsen.


The new Canine Control Center will include 40 cages, a surgical facility, clinic, office, reception area and bathroom. The cost of construction is estimated at US$350,000, with the city matching Amigos dollar for dollar until the center is completed.

For more information about the center or to make a donation, contact Lisa Wandler at lisa@amigos-sma.org or 044-415-111-4723.

Teach to meet
By Fran Rowe Robbins

This morning, Antonio, the plumber, came to repair a leak in the bathroom sink. Then I went to visit Soria, my dentist, to have my teeth cleaned. I hailed a taxi and Tom, the taxi driver, took me out to the cablevision office to pay the bill. From there, it was another cab ride to the new Office Depot where I saw Belen and bought a new ink cartridge for my computer. At 5:30pm I’m going to sign some papers in a law office. Patricia, the secretary there, called yesterday to arrange the time. Today was not an unusual day for me or, I guess, any of us here in San Miguel. The only difference is that Antonio, Soria, Tom, Belen and Patricia are former students of mine from the San Miguel School of English.

How often do I hear expats say that they find it difficult to meet and get to know Mexicans. One of the best ways to do this is to teach English to Mexicans. I’ve been teaching at the San Miguel School of English for 18 years now. The first day I arrived in 1989 I substituted a class and haven’t stopped since.

The San Miguel School of English is 54 years old. It was started by a dynamic teacher from Brooklyn, New York, Augusta Irving, who began teaching the children of gringos because there was no school for them here. Soon the school grew to include Mexican children, then there was a need for the Mexican children and adults to learn English.

Gradually, the school became a learning center for Mexican adults. Today, the school serves adults and teens over the age of 16. We register approximately 300 students at six levels of proficiency, with three classes for beginners and level two, two classes of level three, a level four and five class and a conversation class at level six. Unfortunately, we have to turn away at least 100 students every year. 

Classes are held from 6–(N)7:30pm Monday, Wednesday and Thursday at the Jose Vasconselos School in Colonia Obraje from the last week in August through mid-December and from January through the end of April. All of the teachers are unpaid. Students pay for their books and a nominal fee of 250 pesos each semester.

Most gringos tell me that a volunteer commitment of three times a week is too much for them. Yes, it really is! For the last few years many teachers “co-teach.” Some classes even have three teachers. It works well for both the teachers and students. Teachers have the freedom to travel and join the San Miguel social whirl, and students have the benefit of hearing another voice in the classroom. 

The books used in the first four levels are communication-based rather than grammar-based. This method of teaching is simple for both teachers and students since the emphasis is on the oral language. Grammatical rules are not taught. The Side by Side program is basically question and answer for two students. There are two books—(M)a text and a workbook. The teacher’s guide is excellent. Side by Side was chosen not only because it is a fine text, but also because it is simple for substitute teachers to use.

If you want to make a contribution to the community and develop friendships with your Mexican neighbors, consider signing up as a full-time or substitute teacher at the San Miguel School of English. Contact: president Carol Whitney at 152-3050 (email: whitney@cybermatsa.com.mx ) or Jean Yeager at 154-5072 (email: mexgenyus@hotmail.com ).

San Miguel Community Foundation donates to flood relief
By Donna Foudray

The board of the San Miguel Community Foundation has donated US$1,000 in flood relief to help the 20 families (about 100 people) in the campo in the Los Rodriquez area who were totally wiped out by recent rains.

The Red Cross made arrangements to move the families to an area church, but the Red Cross doesn’t have the support system in place for this kind of emergency, so asked the community for their support through St. Paul’s Church and the local Mexican radio station.

The San Miguel Community Foundation is at Prolongacion Pila Seca 91A, 152-7447