Centro Infantil San Pablo dedicates new school
By Beverly Russell June 20, 2008 San Miguel de Allende

Children’s Art Exhibition
Fri, June 27, 5–8pm
William Martin Gallery
Fábrica la Aurora

Dedication ceremony
Sat, June 28
Centro Infantil San Pablo school
colonia Independencia

After starting out as a preschool for underprivileged children in colonia Independencia in a private house, Centro Infantil San Pablo, an outreach program of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, is graduating to its own, brand-new, stand-alone building this month.

The Venerable Michael Long, Rector of St. Paul’s, will officiate at the dedication ceremony. The school’s 38 preschoolers, along with their parents, will be on hand for the celebration.

A fundraising event June 27 at the William Martin Gallery features an exhibition and sale of hands-on artwork made by the children with guidance from “Naif” painter Mario Oliva. Proceeds go to Centro Infantil San Pablo, so patrons can satisfy philanthropy, aesthetics and appetite simultaneously, since Martin’s wine and cheese receptions are notably generous.

Centro Infantil San Pablo is a nonprofit volunteer organization that relies on the generosity of church members and other philanthropists in the San Miguel community. So far US$50,000 has been raised to cover costs of the construction project, which was overseen by architect Alejandra Vallejo, engineer Miguel Angel Rodriguez and contractor Carmelo Ugalde. The building has three classrooms, a dining room and kitchen (operated by Feed the Hungry to provide lunches for children here and at another local school), principal’s office, bathrooms, patio and a mezzanine multipurpose room for parents’ meetings and other group activities.

A group of volunteers from St. George’s Episcopal Church, Germantown, Tennessee, which raised US$2,800 for furnishing the school, will be visiting to paint walls and finish the interiors in time for the official opening at the end of August.

To cover operating costs, ongoing financial assistance is required, said Claudia Vilchis, the volunteer CEO for policy and procedures and long-term planning.

She was appointed by St. Paul’s Vestry and has been in charge of the building project for the past 18 months. Part of her responsibility has been to ensure that the facility complies with all the regulations established by the Mexican educational system.

Born in Mexico City, Vilchis has lived in San Miguel for 11 years and knows how to navigate the protocols. Bookcases, screens, furniture, books, learning materials and playground equipment are on the wanted list. When the school opens, it will add a new class of preschoolers, age 3, who will need three teachers and an assistant.

The teaching staff is presently headed by Administrative Director Martha Patricia Palacios Cortes, along with Luz Maria Morales and Cecilia Pina.

All have strong academic backgrounds and a gift for motivating youngsters. On one recent field trip to celebrate Children’s Day, the teachers dressed imaginatively in handmade, green and white costumes with short skirts and frilly bloomers, matching the spirit of this outing to Parque Juárez for games and an ice cream parlor for treats.

“Just seeing the faces of these children, you believe in the value of this project,” added Vilchis, a mother of two children, ages 8 and 11. “Their lives are not easy, but with this experience I do believe that some of them will be able to change the world later on.”

Donations to Centro Infantil San Pablo

Sponsor a pre-schooler for US$50 a month (for one month or as long as three years).

Contributions are tax deductible in Mexico and the US.

You will receive a Sponsor Certificate and constant news of the child’s progress until he or she leaves school.

Contact: info@centroinfantilsanpablo.org 

Phone: Claudia Vilchis 044 (415) 105-4719

Muchas Gracias

Claudia Vilchis gives special thanks to the following for their help:

-Jesús Correa, Mayor of San Miguel de Allende, and his colleagues at City Hall, Rodolfo Jurado, Gerardo Arteaga and Rosario Licea

-Antonio Loyola, Legal Counsel

-The Germantown contingent: Rev. Gary Sturni, Cindy and Jon Rindin, Patricia Cowan and their crew of students

-Centro Infantil San Pablo Executive Committee

Beverly Russell is the author of several books on design and the arts. She has written articles for numerous publications including The New York Times.

Graduation this weekend for new midwives
By Mary Murrell

CASA Graduation
Sat, June 21, 10am
CASA campus
Santa Julia 15
Colonia Santa Julia

Soon-to-be midwifery graduate Gloria Gaspar Felipe preparing for a client.

Ten young women will graduate Saturday from CASA’s School of Professional Midwifery, the only accredited school of midwifery in Mexico. The general public is encouraged to attend the very moving graduation ceremony. The campus is a seven-minute taxi or bus ride from the Jardín and close to the San Jose de Dios market. Traditional midwives will participate in the ceremony together with the teaching staff at the school, government officials, family members, CASA contributors and others.

The soon-to-be midwifery graduates are pioneers who have worked hard to complete three years of course work in the sciences, psychology, educational techniques, problem-solving skills, nutrition, public health, gynecology and obstetrics. They have worked in the CASA Maternity Hospital assisting in births and seeing patients, plus they have completed clinical rotations in rural villages each year.

The class of 2008 includes students from six different areas of Mexico (Chiapas, Dolores Hidalgo, Mexico City, Querétaro, San Luis Potosi, Veracruz) and from Guatemala. For many of the students it was hard to leave their communities, move to San Miguel and live in the Midwifery School’s dormitories. Some have parents who never traveled very far from their own villages and did not want their daughters going to a strange place in another state, or in another country.

Gloria Gaspar Felipe graduates this year and plans to return to Ejido La Gloria in Chiapas. There she will provide health services to women in isolated villages who have little if any access to health care, birth control counseling or prenatal care. Gloria’s parents were refugees in the eighties and moved to the ejido because of the political problems in Guatemala. Her father rents land where he grows corn and beans. Her mother cares for a large family of children. At first her father did not want her to attend school in Guanajuato because it is so far from the village and he did not want a young daughter going out into the world. But now he is proud she will graduate and be a professional midwife.

Gloria is the first person in her family to go beyond elementary school. Spanish is her second language and she learned it at the bilingual school in her village. After completing secondary school, she worked to earn money to continue her education and ultimately won a scholarship to CASA from a Swiss organization operating in Chiapas. She is eager to return to help people in the villages like her own, where there is little medical care and where many people do not speak Spanish.

All CASA students must complete a year of social service after receiving their diplomas. They work in government agencies in Mexico under the Secretaria de Salud or in programs like IMSS Oportunidades, an antipoverty program that stresses education and preventive health care for women and children. After the year of social service is completed, the CASA graduates are awarded their cédula profesional or professional license.

These young women will have many work opportunities in government health care agencies, nonprofit organizations and private hospitals. Some will set up independent birthing clinics. The health department of San Luis Potosi began hiring CASA graduates in 2004 to work in its rural clinics. In 2005, the state won a national prize for lowering maternal mortality rates in indigenous women due to the assistance of the CASA midwives.

CASA is a seasoned and effective NGO whose track record speaks to the organization’s vision, commitment and tenacity in reaching its goals. A central part of the CASA model is “teaching others to teach.” In 1993, CASA opened Mexico’s first family health facility and maternity hospital, run by an interdisciplinary team that includes midwives. In 1996. CASA launched Mexico’s first government-accredited midwifery school. Midwives provide prenatal care for women and assistance in natural childbirth. They encourage women to breastfeed, offer birth control counseling and family planning services.

Mexico’s National Institute of Public Health and the University of California’s Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics at San Francisco most recently acted as independent evaluators of the work of the teams at the CASA midwifery school and teaching hospital over a two-year period (2005-2006). Successes include superior clinical outcomes as compared to state and national statistics and a first-class curriculum that complies with international standards (Cragin, et al., Reproductive Health Matters, 2007, pp. 50-60).

They have documented phenomenal results in birth weight, with the CASA levels of low birth weight half the national rate and a cesarean rate that is one quarter of the national rate. It is much more probable that a newborn will not only survive but thrive and grow into a healthy child when he or she is born vaginally and of normal weight. Another advantage for these babies is the critical role midwives have in promoting good nutrition during and after pregnancy.

CASA midwives are working in many settings and, most important, they are providing the first line of medical care in the most isolated communities, where a majority of the indigenous populations in Mexico live.

Each midwife can provide services to 2,500 people a year. CASA graduates have provided services to almost 100,000 people to date.

The midwifery model is being scaled up and the government of Chiapas will open a school in August 2008 with technical assistance from CASA. This school will be binational (with Guatemala) and the Guatemalan government will open a second school in the country’s interior in January 2010.

The CASA model of increasing access to health care through professional, technical training for midwives has won recognition from the Mexican government and international health and social welfare organizations. Mexico’s Inter-Institutional Committee for the Formation of Health Resources granted permission for CASA graduates to work in government facilities throughout Mexico. This has led to career opportunities in the field of health for women who do not have opportunities for traditional higher education.

The World Health Organization, the United Nations and the International Confederation of Midwives have commended CASA for creating a replicable model for international midwifery. Just this week, in response to a request from UNICEF Executive Director Ann M. Veneman, CASA’s founder gave a presentation of the midwifery model to UNICEF’s maternal, newborn and child health team in New York City. UNICEF’s representative to Mexico will be at the June 21 graduation ceremony.

So, when you think about the 10 young women who have worked very hard for three years to earn their diploma from CASA, consider how committed they are to a career helping others. And think about all of the women and children who will have better lives because of the training, clinical experience and dedication of these new, professional midwives.

Many students who attend CASA’s School of Professional Midwifery need scholarships for their tuition and living accommodations. For US$3,500 a year you can make it possible for a young woman to become a professional midwife. If you would like more information, contact Berenice Reyes at 154-6060 or visit www.casa.org.mx. 

Local Democrats are good sports
By Gunnar Erickson

Fourth of July celebration
Democrats Abroad
Fri, July 4, 4–6pm
Milagros Restaurant
Reloj 17
150 pesos

As the 2008 US Presidential race rounds the backstretch, the San Miguel Chapter of Democrats Abroad (DA) is galloping through a series of events. DA is again hosting an old-fashioned Fourth of July celebration complete with hot dogs and hamburgers.

Admission includes both food and a drink. The event also features raffles, prizes and special announcements.

The entire San Miguel community is invited to saddle up and attend, but tickets are limited and the event has sold out in the past. Advance tickets can be purchased at Border Crossings and La Conexión.

Switching metaphors, the Fourth of July event will be the kick-off for the DA-sponsored voter registration drive that will run through the end of August. DA members will lead the charge to provide assistance to US citizens living abroad in registering to vote and getting their ballots. Locations and dates for this free nonpartisan service will be announced at the Fourth of July event and in upcoming notices in Atención. The final two-minute drill of that program will be at the end of August.

In September, Democrats Abroad in conjunction with the Authors’ Sala, will be bringing bestselling author Jim Hightower to San Miguel to talk about politics and his new book Swim Against the Current: Even a Dead Fish Can Go with the Flow. Hightower is a contemporary Will Rogers, known for his wry populist observations. His daily radio show is carried on 150 channels and his internet newsletter “The Hightower Lowdown” has over 135,000 subscribers. He is a funny and fiery speaker, known for swinging for the fences. Please check Atención for date, location and time.

September also will be the tip-off of an effort to raise donations for Democrats involved in key races in the US. Details of that fast-break program will be announced later.

Gunnar Erickson is an attorney and parliamentarian of San Miguel Democrats Abroad.

Warren Hardy to make a difference in Brownsville
By Tuli Hardy

The University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College (UTB/TSC) will begin teaching the Warren Hardy Spanish Level 1 course in Brownsville on June 14.

In response to the needs of the Brownsville community, where the ability to speak Spanish is an essential skill, UTB/TSC selected the Warren Hardy learning system for its adult education classrooms based on its effectiveness with adult learners and emphasis on Mexican Spanish.

“Our community has been requesting a Spanish course to help them communicate with employees, customers, friends and neighbors. We learned about Warren Hardy Spanish four years ago and have traveled to San Miguel de Allende several times to observe classes,” says Dr. Tony Zavaleta, Vice President for External Affairs. “We were very impressed with Warren Hardy’s method and how quickly and confidently students begin functioning in Spanish. This year we hired and sent a dedicated teacher to San Miguel for Warren Hardy Spanish teacher certification. We are happy to be offering our first classes, and already community feedback has been extremely positive.”

For additional information, visit www.warrenhardy.com. The publishing group sells 25 titles through its online bookstore at the same site. To learn more about UTB/TSC, visit their website at www.utb.edu.

Tuli Hardy is director of operations at Warren Hardy Spanish. Contact: (415) 154-4017 or info@warrenhardy.com.

The unexpected blossoming of a Provence treasure
By Kate Holmes

Book signing/benefit
Jeannie Ralston
The Unlikely Lavender Queen:
A Memoir of Unexpected Blossoming
Tue, June 24, 6–8pm
The Oasis
Chiquitos 1

Lavender has come to San Miguel de Allende in two forms. First, it is the subject of a new book, The Unlikely Lavender Queen: A Memoir of Unexpected Blossoming by local author Jeannie Ralston. The Doubleday division of Random House published the hardcover in the US in late May.

Second, about one hectare of lavender is now being grown—quite successfully—by a community co-op in the pueblo Rancho La Colorada near Dolores Hidalgo. The co-op harvests and dries its own blooms and uses the crop to make soaps that are often sold in the markets around San Miguel and at La Victoriana on Hernández Macías.

Ralston, a long-time magazine journalist, came to live in San Miguel in early 2006 with her family after many years in the Texas Hill Country. She and her husband, photographer Robb Kendrick, started the first commercial lavender farm in Texas in 1999 and helped establish a new agricultural industry in the state by conducting many seminars for people who wanted to go into lavender farming.

Ralston’s transformation from a New York-centric media type to reluctant farm inhabitant and, finally, into “the state’s chief expert in lavender production and marketing” as the San Antonio Express-News called her, was accompanied by self-doubt, self-discovery and surprising joy.

“Brimming with piquant observations on everything from marriage to motherhood, careers to cappuccino, Ralston’s exuberant memoir showcases the resiliency of the human spirit,” said Booklist. “Vivid and compulsively readable,” said Ladies Home Journal.

Ralston wrote the book while living here, but she also took time to work as an unofficial consultant for the lavender co-op in Rancho La Colorada. “It was amazing that the organizers found me down here,” says Ralston, referring to St. Anthony’s Alliance, out of Albuquerque, NM, that first came up with the idea of using the pueblo’s land for a cash crop like lavender instead of the subsistence farming the community had relied on. “I was thrilled to use my lavender experience for such a worthy cause.” Ralston gave a lavender-growing seminar for co-op members, helped them find a source for their plants and offered some marketing connections for the group.

The co-op, which employs 24 people, grows mainly the Grosso and Provence varieties of lavender, which are not easy to find in San Miguel. Ralston says that the lavender variety most often seen here is Spanish lavender. “It’s lovely and grows well, but it’s not good for commercial purposes,” she says. “The scent isn’t as good as other varieties and the plants aren’t as prolific as Grosso or Provence.” Ralston and Kendrick grew the Provence variety at their Texas farm and are surprised at how well the Provence near Dolores is doing and how quickly the plants reached maturity—much faster than in the States.

“They have a wonderful operation up there and are doing everything right to make lavender a cash crop that will benefit the whole community,” Ralston says, noting that several community leaders have studied lavender farming, oil distillation and soap-making in the US through St. Anthony’s Alliance.

The co-op also receives support and advice through the small business incubator program at Universidad Technologia del Norte de Guanajuato. “There are so many ways to use lavender—in soaps, sachets, body-care products, oils and in cooking. Since the co-op is near a big tourism center, they could possibly start an agritourism program. There’s just incredible potential.”

At the book signing/benefit, representatives from the co-op will be on hand to talk about their lavender fields and to sell their hand-made soaps. Ralston’s book is US$24 or 240 pesos and the co-op will receive one-third of the proceeds (which they can put toward a greenhouse for propagation during the winter). To learn more, visit www.jeannieralston.com. 

Interested in growing lavender?

-Lavender likes well-drained soil with an alkalinity between 7.0 and 8.0. Always plant in full sun and well-drained soil (a slight slope helps drainage).

-The most common mistake gardeners make with lavender is to give it too much water. Lavender does not like to have its feet wet. Err on the side of too little water, rather than too much, and when you water do not give the plants a soaking. Plant near other low-water plants and away from sprinkler systems.

-Lavender needs little fertilizer or maintenance. Cut back lavender bushes by one-third in the late fall. This gives lavender plants their pom-pom shape and helps produce more flowers the following spring.

Kate Holmes is an artist who specializes in animal paintings. See her art at www.kateholmesart.com. She lives in San Miguel with her two children.