November 23, 2007, US officials return for Town Hall meeting, By Atención staff, Hospice San Miguel opens its doors to the public, By Dorie Beach, Thank you: Arte for Tabasco hits the mark, 25,000 dollars, Fifth Annual San Miguel Walk, By Amanda Jones, Amigos sterilization blitz to honor beloved son, By Lisa Wandler-Eckrote, The sportin’ life, By Judy McKay, Bilingual Kids Art Calendars available now, Fiesta of the Three Kings, By Jane Evans

US officials return for Town Hall meeting
By Atención staff

On November 15, US embassy officials Scott Cecil, David Schnorbus and Beth Herbolich, along with Lynn Roche from the Guadalajara consulate, visited San Miguel for the second in a series of Town Hall meetings. Voting, passports and security were the main topics of interest.

Scott Cecil of the Citizen’s Service Bureau spoke on passport applications and voting preparations. The US embassy in Mexico City has opened an online appointment system for first-time passport applicants. Applications in the area of Central America have increased. With less than 350 days to the federal election, Cecil reminded the audience that voting requires pre-registration, according to the state of residence. Information on absentee overseas voting can be obtained at www.fvap.gov. US Consul Ed Clancy has the Federal Voting Assistance Program reference guide. He also handed out voter registration cards.

David Schnorbus of the Regional Security Office and special agent with the diplomatic services discussed the main security concerns for US citizens in Mexico. Topping his list of recommendations is to select homes in “desirable” areas, choosing apartments over houses which require security walls. “The most effective policing is through community involvement,” he said. “During my travels in Europe, my experience in New York served as a model. I recommend partnership and dialog with the police department, community and the mayor’s office.”

One tip from Schnorbus’s experience in New York is the “broken window” theory. All broken windows and graffiti are immediately repaired and repainted—the quick fix signals a sense of order. Criminals always look for the soft target or vulnerable mark.

“We are all in this together and cannot rely solely on police intervention.”

He recommends that you walk with confidence and always walk in a group at night. Do not flash your cash or jewelry and be cautious with your credit card. He said that crimes in Mexico tend to be pickpockets, theft and burglaries, rape, “virtual” or “express” kidnapping and “skimming” or other credit card fraud.

Virtual kidnapping occurs with a phone call claiming that a member of your family has been kidnapped and the caller instructs the victim to deposit money in a specific account. However, no kidnapping has occurred.

Express kidnapping occurs when a person is kidnapped for a brief period of time and forced to provide Pin numbers for accounts, cash and credit cards. The victim is released.

Skimming refers to copies made of customer credit cards by workers in service industries, usually restaurants. The victim’s credit card is copied when the waiter takes the card to be processed. Schnorbus recommends going with the waiter to the reception to supervise the transaction and sign.

The Town Hall meetings will continue on a regular basis. US Consul Ed Clancy also holds an informal meeting the first Thursday of every month.

Voting information for the 2008 primary and general elections

The United States Embassy in Mexico City reminds citizens that in just a few months we will be entering the US presidential and state primary season. Five primaries are currently slated for January, another 20 are scheduled for February, and the rest take place from early March through early October. Registration for the first primary (the District of Columbia) closes December 10, 2007. We encourage you to act now so that your opinion is heard—not only in the November 2008 presidential and general elections, but also in the presidential primary and state primary elections! The official US government website for overseas absentee voting assistance is the Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP) website www.fvap.gov.

Voting eligibility and residency

Generally, all US citizens 18 years or older who are or will be residing outside the United States during an election period are eligible to vote absentee in any election for federal office. This includes primary, run-off, and special elections that occur throughout the year, as well as the general election in November 2008. Some states allow overseas voters to vote in elections for state and local offices, and for state and local referendums.

Voting eligibility and residency requirements are determined by the various US states, and are available online at http://fvap.gov/pubs/vag.html. Your “legal state of residence” for voting purposes is the state where you last resided immediately prior to departure from the United States. Voting rights extend to overseas citizens even though they may no longer own property or have other ties to their last state of residence, and even if their intent to return to that state may be uncertain. For those who have never resided in the US, 16 states, to date, allow eligible US citizens to register where a parent would be eligible to vote.

Federal Post Card Application

To register to vote and/or apply for an absentee ballot, you can use the Federal Post Card Application (FPCA). The online version, the OFPCA, is accepted by all states and territories except American Samoa and Guam. Voters from American Samoa and Guam must use the standard form of the FPCA, available at the Consulate General or through many American civic groups. The online OFPCA form must be completed legibly, printed, signed, dated and mailed to your local election officials. Your state may allow faxing to speed the process, but you will still need to send in the original by mail. Use an envelope and affix proper postage. The official US government website for overseas absentee voting assistance, www.fvap.gov, has a wealth of information about absentee voting, including the state-specific instructions for completing the FPCA form, links to state and local officials, and a downloadable emergency ballot for use by those who register in time but fail to receive an official ballot.

As a general rule, you should try to send in the FPCA so that it reaches your local election officials at least 45 days before the first election in which you are eligible to vote—ample time for them to process the request and send you a blank ballot. If applying for both registration and an absentee ballot, you may want to mail the FPCA earlier. One FPCA will qualify you to receive all ballots for federal offices for the next two regular federal elections (through 2010). However, we recommend that you submit a new FPCA in January of every year, and whenever you move, to ensure that your most recent mailing and email addresses are on file with your local election officials.

Federal Write-in Absentee Ballot

Under normal circumstances, most states and territories begin sending ballots to overseas citizens 30–45 days before an election. However, if you haven’t received your ballot within three weeks of your state’s ballot receipt deadline, and you are required to return your voted ballot by mail, you should download, complete, sign, date and send in a Federal Write-in Absentee Ballot (FWAB), available at http://www.fvap.gov/pubs/onlinefwab.html. Make sure it is witnessed if required by your state. If you subsequently receive your regular absentee ballot, execute it and return it regardless of when you receive it. Court decisions sometimes require late counting of ballots voted by Election Day, but received by local election officials for a specified period of time following Election Day.

Be an educated voter

Nonpartisan information about candidates, their voting records, and their positions on issues is widely available and easy to obtain via the internet. Use the links appearing on the FVAP website at http://www.fvap.gov/links/otherlinks.html , read your hometown newspaper online, or search the internet to locate articles and information.

The Voting Assistance Officer at the United States Embassy in Mexico City (Paseo de la Reforma 305, Colonia Cuauhtemoc) is also always available to answer questions about absentee voting. To contact the officer, call 55-5080-2000, ext. 4131, or send an email to VoteMexicoCity@state.gov.

Hospice San Miguel opens its doors to the public
By Dorie Beach

After a year of planning, training and organizing, including 3,500 hours of volunteer work, Hospice San Miguel, an Asociación Civil (nonprofit agency), has begun to serve both the Mexican and foreign communities of this city. The purpose of Hospice San Miguel is to provide physical, emotional, social and spiritual care, and support to individuals who have been diagnosed with a life-limiting illness for which cure is no longer a viable goal.

Hospice San Miguel is modeled after hospices in the US, Canada and England that provide multiple services in the home to persons who have been diagnosed with a terminal illness, and to their family members and caregivers. Hospice is dedicated to meeting all of the patient’s needs, as well as the needs of the family and caregivers. The patient’s personal physician is part of the hospice team. Services to the patient and family include professional nursing and medical supervision plus assistance and training, if needed, to the primary caregiver. Providing adequate pain control and symptom management is an essential part of Hospice San Miguel’s plan of care. In the recent past, narcotic pain medications were not available to patients in San Miguel, but Hospice San Miguel has addressed that problem and will have access to these medications when needed.

In addition, our social workers, chaplains and volunteers provide counseling and support to the patient, family and caregiver in the home. Our volunteers can also shop, run errands, provide transportation, and be available to stay with the patient while the caregiver takes a needed “break” from his/her duties. Bereavement counseling and bereavement support groups are offered to the families and caregivers of the patient for up to one year after the patient’s passing. Support groups are open to all members of the community regardless of whether they were involved with hospice.

Hospice San Miguel is the first bicultural hospice in Mexico. All of the services mentioned above will be available in Spanish and in English. We believe that every dying individual should have access to quality, patient-centered hospice care to provide support during terminal illness and the dying process regardless of race, color, creed, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, handicap, disease entity or ability to pay.

In the US, hospice services are paid for by Medicare and other insurance programs. Because insurance reimbursement may not be available here, and since Hospice San Miguel is dedicated to not turning a patient away because of an inability to pay for services, fundraising is an essential component of our community activities. Very generous donations have been received in the past year, which have enabled Hospice San Miguel to open its doors and to offer a generous sliding-fee scale to any client who may need it.

Hospice San Miguel has been designed to meet international standards for hospice care and is a member of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Association (NHPCO) and the International Association of Hospice Care Providers (IAHCP).

For more information, call 154-4287 to speak with Mark Baker, administrative director, or email us at mail@hospicesma.org. Please visit our web page at www.hospicesma.org to learn more about us. Our offices are located off Vicente Araiza at Manuel Rocha 35 in Colonia la Lejona.

The generous spirit of sanmiguelenses could not be dampened despite a sudden hailstorm late afternoon November 18. Although the downpour kept some at home, more than 100 art enthusiasts with big hearts and deep pockets turned up at the Biblioteca Pública for the benefit for Tabasco flood victims.

More than 130 art works by the best of local artists and art objects from specialty local stores were auctioned at the Santa Ana theater after the storm forced the event indoors.

The organizers wish a heartfelt thanks to all the people who contributed, participated and supported the event. The total of payments and pledges met the target, 25,000 dollars for the flood victims in Tabasco and Chiapas.

Thank you to the artists & store owners

Margarita Failoni	Patricia González	Andrés Ramón Lucano

Ángel Solis Torres	Leonard Brooks	Alejandro Rivera Leal

Rio Casey	Jesús Real	Rochelle Wald

Donna Drinnon	Rebecca Fass	Manuel Chacon

Merry Calderóni	Edward Swift	Marilo Carral

Brian Care	Marion Perlet	José Ignacio Maldonado

Rosemary Swan	Alejandra Colunga	Edgar Soberon

Laumuq	Rachel & Thomas Horne	Ilse Sheffield

Jessica Patterson	Anne Marie Slipper	Gerry Gill

Juan Ezcurdia	Kelley Vandiver	David Leonardo

Edina Sagert	Pepe Cerroblanco	Andrea Flores

Magdiel Perez	Mai Onno	Pedro Friedeberg

David Kastenbaum	Lavinia Ruiz	Diego Larrain

Cyr Casas	Jef Le Fauvre	José Luís Arias

Raymundo González	Marcela André	Gabriela

Carmen Gutiérrez	Alan Clark	Keith Miller

Romeo Tabuena	Beryl Silverthorne	Marcia Dwork

Irineo Muñoz	John Sherber	Judith Jenya

Christina Sol	Delphine Scott	Hanna & Kelley Jarmain

Alfredo Arzola	Anne Harte	Masako Takahashi

Eduardo Silva	Gary Slipper	Margaret Dawitt

Leticia & Carlos Loyola	Miguel Ángel Morales	Mary Rapp

Mario Cabrera	Cristobal Doolin	Susan Plum

Ángel Solis Torres	Willa Mina Kligerman	Anne Harte

Isaac Uribe	Greta Waldas	Jacky Parsley

Julio Chico	Dick Heimbold	Michelle Browde

Karen Peterson Harding	Cati Demme	Marlene Johansing

Valerie Sirgo	Ma. Eugenia Riba	Mercedes Arteaga

Juan Carlos Escalante	Arturo Regalado	Genoveva Limon

Juan Villaseñor	Marcela Ramirez & Concepción Trejo	Sergio Jiménez

Michelle Vallon	Donato Ortega & Claudia Escalante	Paolo Bisotto

Donnie Masterson

Narciso Cabrera Carreón	Kennedy Poyser	Sandra Ramírez Jiménez

Fernando Bautista González	Rafael Bautista	Eduardo Sánchez Vázquez

Susana Ramírez	Noel Soria	Isis Cervantes

Larizza Osorio	Octavio López	Rosa Elena Hernández Mancilla

Mercedes Hart	Rodrigo Pacheco Cruz	Carlos Rodríguez

Manuel Orduña	Carmelita Ruiz	José Luis Mendoza

León Felipe Mendoza	Paola Carolina	Juan Manuel Fajardo

Leigh Bohne	Gregory Diamant	Irene Diamant

Naomi Zerriffi	Miguel Kegel	Ali Zerriffi

In 1999, the United Nations set November 25 as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. In recognition of that date, two organizers of the upcoming San Miguel Walk will have a table in the Jardín to meet with prospective participants. On hand with information will be Shelley Bull, a hardworking single mother from New York, and Alejandra Saucillo Romero, a trained psychologist from Celaya, Guanajuato.

The Fifth Annual San Miguel Walk will be January 24, 2008, coinciding with the second largest pilgrimage in Mexico, La Caminata de San Juan de los Lagos. San Miguel walkers join with more than 10,000 pilgrims who gather in front of the Parrochia to walk the centuries-old pilgrimage path to visit the miraculous image of Our Lady of San Juan de Los Lagos (La Virgen de los Lagos.) The saint is particularly famous for miracles helping women and children, which gives a deeper meaning to the San Miguel Walk. Walkers participate for 10 miles of the nine-day journey, walking with the intention of putting an end to domestic violence and spreading awareness to stop the vicious and deadly cycle. All proceeds from the walk go directly to the Violence Prevention Program of the well-known local nonprofit CASA, Casa de Adolescentes de San Miguel de Allende.

Alejandra Saucillo Romero has worked with CASA for the past two years, coordinating the Violence Prevention Program. Her day-to-day activities include providing assistance to women and children in situations of family violence. She provides psychological counseling, accompanies women in the process of denouncing their abuser, and refers her clients to the CASA clinic for medical attention. She also spends a lot of her time visiting the surrounding rural communities of San Miguel, doing home visits and facilitating psycho-educational talks to educate groups of women on the cycle of abuse, available resources, and most importantly, breaking the silence surrounding this taboo issue.

Alejandra became interested in the field of domestic violence during her studies when she had the opportunity to work with survivors of childhood sexual abuse. She believes strongly that “we need to educate people in order to prevent violence. This is a process in which both men and women need to participate. My goal is to make a difference—to prevent, attend to, and sanction violence against women—by educating men, women and children to modify learned behaviours.”

Shelley agrees that the root cause of violence against women is cultural belief systems. Physical violence against women is the manifestation of negative and unequal everyday ideas about women’s place in society. A survivor of domestic violence herself, Shelley feels that she has found her calling as a domestic violence counselor and hopes to obtain her master’s degree in social work upon returning to the US.

Although Shelley is new to town and she is already at work. She arrived in San Miguel with her beautiful three-year-old daughter, Grace, in the beginning of October to volunteer with CASA. Shelley came to San Miguel in part to provide her half-Mexican daughter with the opportunity to be fully immersed in the Spanish language and to experience Mexican culture. Grace attends CASA’s preschool program while Shelley is at work organizing the San Miguel Walk.

Shelley spent five years doing social work in New York City before becoming a mom. She worked as a case manager for immigrant victims of September 11, dealing with issues of racial profiling, post-traumatic stress and economic need. Shelley also worked with “at risk” families on the Lower East Side, mostly single mothers who were involved in the child welfare system and whose children might end up in foster care. “The idea was to empower the clients—to assist them in accessing resources available to them, improve parenting skills, create a support system and ultimately become healthier families able to nurture their children.” Shelley was working as a bilingual counselor at a domestic violence center when she realized that she was, herself, in a dangerous situation of emotional abuse. After doing some soul searching, leaving her partner, and facing the harsh reality of single motherhood, Shelley has been able to fulfil the personal goal of spending time in Mexico with Grace. However, her time in Mexico is no
t an escape from reality. She is here to dedicate her time to two worthy causes: her daughter and the fight against domestic violence via CASA’s San Miguel Walk.

“We invite you to come out and meet us November 25.” Shelley said. “We will have an information table set up in the Jardín for the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women where you can sign up for the walk and learn more about CASA and the situation of women throughout the world.”

The San Miguel Walk is a wonderful opportunity for foreigners and Mexicans alike to create community, see the countryside of Guanajuato, and relate on an issue that affects us all. Domestic violence crosses all racial, ethnic, gender, sexual orientation, religious and economic boundaries.

Amigos de Animales will be conducting a sterilization blitz December 1–2 in San Luis Rey. This is a special event for Amigos because this blitz is being held in memory of Terry, whose loving parents are sponsoring the event in his honor. According to Terry’s mom, who lives in San Miguel, “Animals were his best friends.”

To date, Amigos has sterilized more than 6,400 dogs and cats completely free of charge for those who cannot afford to pay. This has been accomplished through their quarterly “blitz” events held in colonias throughout San Miguel where they operate on more than 150 animals in a two-day period; through “mini-blitzes” of 15-30 animals held each week in outlying ranchos; and through a program whereby a person may bring their dog or cat to Dr. Octavio Capitan to be sterilized without cost.

While the surgeries are free to the pet owners, they are quite costly in fact, averaging 420 pesos per sterilization. And though Amigos maintains no administrative staff, has very little expenditure beyond those medically necessary, and is constantly seeking to limit costs, the required tools are by their very nature expensive—sutures, anesthesia, antibiotics, sterile equipment and veterinary staff. As such, Amigos is always seeking new support and new sources of funding.

Despite the financial strain, Amigos has recently decided to expand its mission in response to the ongoing humanitarian and public health crisis, going beyond sterilizations to create new partnerships with the city of San Miguel. Most notably, Amigos and the city have determined to build a municipal Canine Control Center at a shared cost of approximately US$350,000, as the funds become available. The center will address the immense problem of pet overpopulation in our community with a more comprehensive and humane approach.

If you would like more information about the Canine Control Center or how to sponsor a blitz in your area to honor or celebrate a loved one, please do not hesitate to contact Lisa Wandler-Eckrote at lisa@amigos-sma.org or 044 (415) 111-4723. Amigos de Animales welcomes all volunteers and donations in their continuing efforts to alleviate the suffering of companion animals in San Miguel.

San Miguel became the first-ever Mexican city to host a national golf-croquet tournament here at the beginning of November. Thanks to Hope Harmon of the San Miguel Croquet Club, the event was organized and played with 16 local participants and visitors from Mexico City. The week-long tournament included singles and doubles croquet matches organized by Jean Crane. It is an annual affair held in memory of international croquet champion Sra. Galinda Medina, Hope Harmon’s mother. Trophies were handed out to first and second place winners in all categories. There was a three-way tie in the golf-croquet tournament. Awards were presented to the teams of Tyler Thomas and Tom McCrea, Siobhan Bryne and Eileen Holbein, and Max Nader and Hope Harmon. Michael Pearl won the singles tournament; runner up was Hope Harmon. Doubles winners were the team of Tyler Thomas and Tom McCrea, and runners up were Jean Crane and Charles Rutherford.

On November 4, the last day of the tournament, a gala luncheon ceremony organized by Maureen Van Dine was held in the croquet clubhouse on Antigua Camino Real, with about 50 people in attendance. Presenting the trophies were Hope Harmon, Gene Crane and Max Neder.

For more information about membership in the San Miguel Croquet Club and upcoming events, please contact Max Neder of the executive committee at 152-1090.

Judy McKay, at 120-0920, handles San Miguel Croquet Club communications.

Paintings for the four-color calendar were created in the Biblioteca’s Art Program. Over 30 children participate in the free classes. Some of the themes represented are the Three Kings in January, Mexican Flag Day for February, and El Dia de los Muertos for November.

The calendars cost US$16 (160 peso) and a portion of your purchase helps provide art instruction and supplies for children who participate in the art program, which is free and available to all children in San Miguel. Look for the calendars in various locations throughout San Miguel. For those wishing to purchase a calendar by credit card or wanting them shipped to the US, go to www.kidsartcalendarsma.com.

Fiesta of the Three Kings
By Jane Evans

I have a bad time at Christmas sometimes…those times when I can’t go back to Canada to visit my children and grandchildren. Christmas for me has always been about family, the people I love, about feeding them, gifting them, having them close. Divorce and distance sometimes exact an exorbitant price for me at this time of year.

However, some of my best Christmases ever have taken place here in San Miguel. When I can’t go north I instead “adopt” a child for the “Fiesta of the Three Kings” with Nelly Lorenzo and the folks from Border Crossings. Nelly and her staff put this fiesta on each year for the orphans. Only my own grandchildren have touched my heart as these children do—a little boy’s face when he suddenly realized that the big red tricycle was his….and it became clear to me at the same moment that not much had ever been his before; an older girl who wore the CD player earphones for the rest of the complete day; a bigger boy who wanted to play basketball with his new ball, on and on and on, and not even eat his pizza. The smiles, the thank you’s, the teary eyes…made sure I didn’t forget what Christmas was originally all about. The impact was so great on me that when my granddaughters came to visit one Christmas, I convinced them to “adopt” a little boy using the money I would have spent on them, a sort of paying it forward to those less fortunate. I believe, in the end, it was a major gift for them.

Please won’t you join us this year. The photos of 80 children, girls and boys varying in age from four months to 18 years, are on display now at Border Crossings, Mesones 57, Local A. The children are from the Santa Julia, Don Bosco and Mexiquito orphanages. Each child has written a letter telling what his/her wishes for Christmas are. The grand fiesta will take place at Mexiquito, Saturday, January 5, 2008 beginning at noon. Please, make like a king, join me, come by and make one of these children yours for the day, show your Christmas spirit. And in turn the Fiesta of the Three Kings will make the season for you, I guarantee it.