Helping poor children in Mexico
Offering international volunteer opportunities
Fostering fellowship among Rotarians
Volunteer Opportunities
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Work Week Details
Please write or e-mail us for further information about any of our Work Weeks. We will be glad to send you more details, lists of items to bring, and answers to all your questions.
Donation
The requested donation of $1200 per person includes double-occupancy accommodations, breakfasts and comidas (large mid-afternoon dinner), cena (light late evening meal), all transportation within Mexico, entertainment, and cultural activities. Add $125 for a single room. The donation does not include transportation between the U.S. and Guadalajara, laundry service, tips, or long-distance phone calls.
Transportation
You (or your group) will make your
own air travel arrangements into and out of Guadalajara or Manzanillo.
Project Amigo will pick you up at the airport the afternoon of the first
day of the Work Week and deliver you back the morning of the last day.
We advise you to make airline reservations early as there is limited air
service at convenient hours. If your travel plans are different from this
schedule, please contact us and we can help you make other arrangements.
Extra fees may apply.
Project Amigo will provide transportation for
all group activities while you are in Colima.
Accommodations
All Work Week volunteers will stay at the Project Amigo Hacienda, a cluster of buildings which house the guest facility and offices. It is located in Cofradía de Suchitlán, a small pueblo about 12 miles north of the city of Colima. This gives our volunteers the added treat of experiencing authentic Mexican village life.
Reservations
As soon as you know when you would like to come, write to us or e-mail us at volunteercoordinator@projectamigo.org. Or you can fill out the on-line registration form. A deposit of one-half the total cost for your group is requested to save your place.
Sausalito Rotarian Peter Bjorkland finds a way to mix work with play at the Quesería labor camp for sugar cane cutters and their families.
Ninth consecutive December work week volunteer, Susanville (CA) Rotarian Boyd Taylor, helps Jake, son of Cedar Rapids Daybreak (IA) Rotarians Bret and Michelle Boyer, wrap more than 300 gifts.
Mexican and American Rotarians enjoy fellowship during a reception for Work Week Volunteers at the Project Amigo Hacienda guest facility.
Kathie Mayhew, of the Rotary Club of Sebastopol, California, is a frequent volunteer in Colima. Here she reads to a group of children in Colonia Rotaria.
Not only do we get the "feel good" experience of being able to help a few kids, you pamper us in our free time!
Rebecca Welter,
Volunteer from Arcata, California
Alaska-Utah Literacy Work Week 2009
Juneau Glacier Valley (AK) Rotarians joined forces with Centerville-Farmington (UT) Rotarians and their families for a special literacy work week dedicated to delivering mini-libraries to poor rural and urban schools. The mini-libraries were purchased with funds resulting from the partnership of the JGV Rotary Club with the Club Rotario de Villa de Alvarez and The Rotary Foundation.
All week at different schools, children crowded around to get their little hands on books as if they were candy spilling from piñatas. Visitors listened to the kids show off their reading skills and offered warm hugs and encouragement to enhance the reading-for-fun experience.
Helping children find joy in reading is one of the most valuable contributions volunteers can make during their work week. Good reading skills lead to better communications skills – all of which lead to better opportunities in their futures!
A special “bonus” for this work week team was taking about 200 children on Project Amigo’s annual outing to Colima’s sea turtle preserve. The work weekers headed up small groups of children and helped them through the various education stops guided by the docents at the preserve, followed by boat rides into the estuary.
And, it was a very special day, indeed. There had been a turtle hatch that morning - 85 little turtles to be exact. The docents allowed the children and visitors to release the little turtles to the sea.
You’d be amazed at how quickly the children “bonded” to their turtle in the few minutes they had to hold it before they set it down on the sand to begin its journey. While the beach day was filled with fun activities and learning experiences, it was the turtle release that truly captured their hearts and connected their awareness that they share our planet with other creatures.
You’d be amazed at how quickly the children “bonded” to their turtle in the few minutes they had to hold it before they set it down on the sand to begin its journey.
The docents allowed the children and visitors to release the little turtles to the sea.
Vision Work Week 2009
In January, 25 volunteers from the US and Canada joined with Rotarians from three Colima area Rotary Clubs and Project Amigo’s scholarship recipients to carry out the annual Vision Clinic.
Those visiting the clinic received diabetes and high blood pressure screening, vision tests, and eye exams. Glasses, donated by Lions International, were provided gratis on the spot to those who needed them.
According to Gerry Wodtli, O.D., one of three optometrists who participated in the clinic, “Our vision affects how we learn, work, and play.” Through the efforts of the volunteers who participated in this year’s clinic, there are 1,139 people who can now see to do the things they want and need to do.
One of the most common complaints among women who came to the clinic was that they were not able to see to thread a needle, and for many of these women sewing is how they earn their living. It is remarkable how a simple pair of reading glasses that we take for granted can be so life-altering for someone.
A child who came to the clinic had never had clear vision. When she got through the clinic stations and received her glasses, she looked at her mother’s face and saw it for the first time. There were a lot of wet faces at the dispensing station!
Vision Clinic team leader, Optometrist Kurt Wilkening (Bear Creek Valley Rotary Club, Medford OR), reviews patient's history card before examining his eyes.
Barbara Browning, Arcata Sunrise Rotary Club, helps Project Amigo university scholarship recipient Norma Araceli (School of Law) prepare to register patients attending the Vision Clinic.
Rotarian Joe Schrijvers (Spruce Grove Rotary Club in Alberta, Canada) at the testing station that helps the optometrists know which eye is dominant.
“My husband and I had such an amazing time last year that we chose to return again this year. Providing glasses to those who need them is rewarding and meaningful.
And having the opportunity to work side by side with the Mexican volunteers gave us a unique opportunity for a true cultural exchange that made the whole experience even better."
- Barbara Browning, Arcata Sunrise Rotary
25th Anniversary of Project Amigo’s Fiesta Navideña
December 6-14, 2008
“What a marvelous experience. This exceeded by far any trip or vacation we have ever taken. We shall remember our time in Cofradia and Colima long after the memories of other adventures have faded.”
- Ron Nicholson, Valley of the Moon Rotary Club, Santa Rosa, CA.
Two hundred children stomped on balloons tied to other children’s ankles, raced for the last chair when the music stopped, and leaped and bounded (and fell) down the relay lanes in their burlap bags. And 27 volunteers helped them have the time of their lives!
The 27 volunteers came from the northeastern and northwestern corners of the US to work together to prepare for and “throw” the 25th annual Fiesta Navideña for 200+ children. This family-oriented work week included a grandmother and two teen-aged granddaughters, parents and their two teen-agers, an aunt and her teen-aged nephew, and a teen from Susanville, CA who was sent by her mother’s Rotary Club (Susanville) under the guardianship of veteran December work week participant Boyd Taylor, DVM. (This was Boyd’s 11th consecutive Fiesta Navideña!)
This service work week, dedicated to preparing for the annual Fiesta, combines work with tradition and culture to give visitors an inside look at Mexico. Volunteers have the opportunity to learn about The Virgin of Guadalupe and her importance in Mexico’s history, to make chocolate from cocoa beans, to visit ruins that pre-date the Spanish influence in Mexico, and – most importantly -- to spend meaningful time with children and higher education scholars who are working hard to do what it takes to move their families out of poverty.
Thanks to all who sponsor children, and to all who contribute their time and effort to make this annual Fiesta possible. We’re already receiving reservations for the December 2009 work week. Please e-mail susan@projectamigo.org or click on Reservations to sign up. This is the first work week to fill up each year.
Ron Nicholson pushes children in swings at migrant labor camp.
Ron and Ro Nicholson distribute gifts to a child in the migrant labor camp.
Ro Nicholson helps a child write his name in his new book.
Some kids get the knack of how to “run” in a gunny sack.
And some don’t. It’s all part of the fun at the annual Fiesta Navideña.
Volunteers on the December work week made chocolate from scratch – directly from cocoa beans.
“I don't have words - in English or Spanish - to tell you how profoundly grateful I am for the opportunity the four of us had to briefly be a part of [Project Amigo]. I have told several people since our return that our week in Cofradia was the happiest I can remember ... and I mean that sincerely.”
- Diana Crane, Seattle, WA
Special Work Week for Juneau Rotary Clubs
Rotarians from the Rotary Club of Juneau Glacier Valley, along with Rotarians from the Rotary Club of Juneau Gastineau created their own custom-made Project Amigo Winter Work Week the end of January, 2008. Leaving behind their world of ice and snow, they let the warmth of Colima and her people seep into their bodies and hearts.
It was an extraordinary time – they built shade structures over the public washing areas used by the women at the labor camp in Quesería. They distributed books and used clothing to poor rural primary schools. And they savored their week in the sun until the very last minute.
“I thought I might make a small difference in a child’s life, but found they have made a big difference in mine. I hope this experience dances in my Alaska dreaming forever. When all else fails, just touch a child...”
-- Virginia Smiley, Juneau Glacier Valley Rotary
"As many who have gone before us know, it is not easy to state our feelings in a simple sentence or two, but I'll try. I have been in Rotary for shy of 29 years and have always been very active, but Project Amigo is clearly the highlight of my Rotary experience.
Meeting the children, seeing their faces and knowing that there has been tremendous progress in education because of your work simply goes to the heart in all ways. It would be easy to get overwhelmed with all the things that "could or should" be done, but more important is what has been accomplished. Seeing the children who have advanced their education and learned other ways that they can give back and help in their own community while moving forward themselves.... well, it's very impactful on us as individuals.
I also am one to look for important "forks in the road" of life ...... chance meetings that are not chance. When Leslie and I walked into the "Hall of Friendship" in San Antonio at the Rotary International Conference, we could have gone any one a hundred different directions, but our decision to have lunch, Leslie's decision to go look for a table to sit while I got the food, and Ted's offer to her to join him at his table.....was it all “chance”..? That simple set of actions opened the door for many Juneau Rotarians to share the experience of Project Amigo. Leslie and I only regret it has taken us this long to be among those who traveled to help."
-- Craig and Leslie Dahl, Juneau Glacier Valley Rotary
Completed shade structure over washing area at Queseria labor camp.
Virginia Smiley with new friend.
Happy children with new books.
I have been in Rotary for shy of 29 years and have always been very active, but Project Amigo is clearly the highlight of my Rotary experience.
Craig Dahl, Juneau Glacier Valley Rotary
Vision Work Week 2008
Twenty-five volunteers from the US and Canada, working with local Rotarians and Project Amigo scholarship recipients, helped 1,159 poor children and adults in four rural communities to a life with better vision. The clients received thorough vision tests and examinations by volunteer optometrists from Oregon, Kentucky and California, before being fitted with appropriate correctional glasses donated by Lions International.
The jubilation expressed at the distribution station, as a clearer world came into view, energized the whole team over and over again. Fitters went into bouts of laughter as older gentlemen expressed their wonder and joy at being able to see the pretty volunteers at the other side of the room.
"This was one of the most gratifying and wonderful weeks of my life. What a gift to meet and serve the great people in this area of Mexico."
-- Catherine Fleshman, Bear Creek Valley Rotary
This happy patient rejoices because he can see the pretty girls across the room.
Rotarians from Oregon (USA) and Coquimatlan (Mexico) review and compare data before sending patient to next station.
This was one of the most gratifying and wonderful weeks of my life. What a gift to meet and serve the great people in this area of Mexico.
Catherine Fleshman, Bear Creek Valley Rotary
December 2007 Work Week
The event that launched Project Amigo in 1984 (a Christmas party for 45 children in a poor rural village) enjoyed its 24th annual repetition with more than 200 children in attendance this year. The volunteers who helped make the party happen included Rotarians and non-Rotarians and their families from California, Nevada, Arizona, Georgia, and Washington, as well as Rotarians and their wives from the Club Rotario de Colima. They wrapped more than 500 gifts, fitted all the kids with new shoes, and served them pozole and cake at the Fiesta.
During the week, the group learned that three migrant labor camps in Colima were facing a crisis. Workers had been brought in from southern Mexican states to cut sugar cane; but the sugar processing mill was on strike. Therefore, the workers were without work or wages --- and food. Passing the hat among the volunteers and the Colima Rotarians brought enough income to supply all three labor camps with rice, beans, cooking oil, cereal and sugar to tide them over until the strike ended and they were able to work.
“This was my first adventure into the heart of Mexico and it has been amazing. We fed the hungry, clothed the needy, and loved everybody (everything a vacation and service are all about).”
-- Liz Taylor, former Rotary Youth Exchange student (to France) from Susanville Rotary
“This is our fifth year with Project Amigo. We do a lot of volunteer work, and Project Amigo is the most rewarding experience of all. We strongly believe that education is the key out of poverty – and we so appreciate being with Project Amigo’s staff and other volunteers who are working toward the goal.”
-- John and Margery Cox, Casa Adobes Rotary
“Project Amigo lights the way to success for so many children who will make a difference in the world tomorrow.”
-- Carolyn Anderson, Valley of the Moon Rotary
Volunteers on December's work week sort and package the emergency food for distribution. And then enjoy the smiles from the recipients!
Games are just part of the fun at the annual Christmas Fiesta.
This is our fifth year with Project Amigo. We do a lot of volunteer work, and Project Amigo is the most rewarding experience of all. We strongly believe that education is the key out of poverty – and we so appreciate being with Project Amigo’s staff and other volunteers who are working toward the goal.
John and Margery Cox, Casa Adobes Rotary
Vision Work Week - January 6-14, 2007
A NEW VIEW OF THE WORLD
Rio Rico Rotary Club member Jan Collins spent Jan. 6-14 working with a group of 25 Rotarians from Connecticut, Utah, Oregon, and Washington -- providing prescription glasses to nearly1,550 people in Mexico. The group, led by Doctor Kurt Wilkening from Bear Creek Valley Rotary Club in Medford, OR, dispensed glasses to residents in the states of Colima, Jalisco, and Michoacan. Local Rotarians from the Colima, Villa de Alvarez, Coquimatlan and Coalcoman Rotary Clubs pitched in, too.
Each of the patients went through nine testing stations that included taking a patient history, measuring blood pressure and blood sugar, extensive eye exams that determined the prescription that would be needed, and each was checked for eye diseases. Every person found to have diabetes, cataracts, or high blood pressure received counseling from a health worker.
Those with eye problems that could not be handled at the vision clinic were referred to a local doctor for follow up. Most days started around 9:30 am with set-up and ended 10 hours later after helping as many as 300 patients.
Then there was the ride on the AmigoBus back to the day's starting point.
The volunteers that fitted patients with glasses were rewarded with smiles, laughter, and prayers of thanks. One grandfather shouted with joy when he was fitted with his glasses. He told the person fitting him that until this minute he had not been able see well enough to read for more than 40 years and that he could not wait to get home and take a close look at his grandchildren.
One eight-year-old boy's eyes were so "crossed" that is was difficult to look him in the face without wincing. He was fitted with very strong glasses that corrected the focus problem and his eyes literally popped into the correct alignment. We were all amazed and his father hugged everyone who helped his son. The boy cried when he saw himself in a mirror and said that now the kids in school would finally stop laughing at him.
One little girl was found to have a growth in her eye, possibly a tumor. She and her father were told of the problem, both cried along with the doctor. The girl was referred to a local doctor who did more extensive tests the next day and determined that the growth may impede vision in the future and it would have to be removed, but that it was not cancerous. We were all delighted when we heard the results.
This is the eighth year for the Project Amigo Vision Clinic. Project Amigo directors Ted Rose and Susan Hill say that the 2007 vision clinic was the best yet.
-- Jan Collins
Rio Rico Rotary
District 5500
Cedar Wilkening, daughter of team leader Dr. Kurt Wilkening, fits glasses to a patient.
Lynda Hammond, Hamden Rotary Club, checks blood pressures on all patients over 60 years of age.
Shirley Wodtli, wife of Rotarian and optometrist Gerald Wodtli, measures blood sugar levels.
John Hanson of Bear Creek Rotary Club uses the auto-refractor to fine-tune the patient’s needs before the patient is passed to the optometrists.
Jan Collins, Rio Rico Rotarian, and author of this article – with happy patient.
Dental Clinic Report
Project Amigo
received this letter from Bruce Powell of Centerville-Farmington Rotary
Club:
Dear Friends at Project Amigo,
It is with gratitude that I share this story with you, with my thanks
to you for providing the means to bring about a true miracle. I hope it
can be used to help others see that what they do at Project Amigo changes
lives.
In October of 2003 Dr. David Hinkson of Logan, Utah, accompanied me to
Project Amigo for a week of volunteer dental service. We reviewed the
teeth of nearly 600 children and provided dental treatment for many of
the severe cases.
Among the young people that visited the Project Amigo dental clinic was a lanky kid who came to the clinic late in the afternoon. He came in by himself. He spoke to no one. Though I speak Spanish and made great efforts to make him smile, he was closed-mouthed and stoic. It was near the end of our week of work, and I had perfected my banter with the kids. Yet, this one did not respond to anything I said.
Once in the dental chair, Dr. Hinkson asked him to open his mouth. As he did so, my understanding of the cause of his silence was immediate. His teeth were well developed, with no obvious problem except one. Actually, two rather large ones! Oddly, this young man had not two large front teeth, but four. Not four in a row, but two sets of front teeth, one in front of the other. I thought of a shark with its rows of teeth as I stared at him.
This was not an orthodontic
problem. It was a freak of nature. An extra row of teeth growing behind
perfectly fine teeth. No wonder he refused to speak or open his mouth.
This child had learned long ago that doing so would cause embarrassment
and emotional pain. Not only was it tremendously odd looking, but it clearly
it would be difficult for him to speak with those added teeth confusing
the tongue and distorting his words.
The young man was in the dental chair less than twenty minutes. He left
the office as he came in. In silence. No thank you. No comment or smile,
though if he had opened his mouth the two odd teeth would have been missing.
As he left, I spoke to a lady from Cofradia who was seated waiting for
treatment. She commented that he had always been very shy and introverted.
I think I understood the root of his problems.
I returned to Cofradia in February of 2004. While visiting the elementary
school in town I was delighted to see this same young man. I went up to
him and again spoke to him. "How are you?" He looked at me with
an eye of recognition and replied that he was fine. I asked him what grade
he was in and he happily said, "Sixth grade." I asked his name.
"Jesús." We spoke briefly about what he liked to do with
his free time. He spoke with a slight lisp, but he spoke directly to me
without hesitancy. He was clearly pleased with himself.
As tears came to my eyes, I turned away from him to speak to another child. Jesús was changed. He was different, and the difference had to do with the mission of Project Amigo. Certainly, Jesús is not alone. So many lives have been changed by what Project Amigo and its volunteers do. Some lives change more quickly than others.
Thank you for letting me be a small part of these changes.
Tu amigo,
Bruce
Dr. David Hinkson of Logan, UT with assistant (and author of letter) Bruce Powell of Centerville-Farmington Rotary Club
A letter to the Sunrise Rotary Club from Project Amigo Director Harry Johnson:
Dear Sunrise Rotarians,
On behalf of the Board of Directors, volunteers and children of Project Amigo, I want to thank you all for the generous grant supplying 100,000 fluoride tablets to the children of Cofradia de Suchitlan, Colima, Mexico.
Some of you may not know of Project Amigo, and several of you have been on site and volunteered on projects in the region. Project Amigo started 21 years ago with two Ferndale Rotarians who happened upon the village of Cofradia de Suchitlan. They fell in love with the children at a boarding facility and have totally dedicated their lives to helping those children and thousands of other poor children in the mountains of Colima.
The fundamental concept is to keep the children in school. Project Amigo only serves the poor and needy, mostly children of families that survive on a few pesos a day for cutting sugar cane, picking coffee or other low-wage labor. Most children in the villages never go past the 6th grade. Project Amigo is supporting 70 students to attend junior high, high school and the University of Colima.
A big part of keeping these young minds growing is providing dental healthcare. Your Rotary club, along with individual Rotarians, provided the funding for a two-chair dental clinic. This clinic allows volunteer dentists from the United States, Canada, and even Brazil to change the lives of children. The thirteen year old girl who refused to go to school because she had no front teeth was one of my favorite projects.
Every dentist who has worked at Project Amigo more than once will tell you of the significant improvement he has seen in the condition of the teeth of the children who have received fluoride treatments or tablets over the years.
With the funds you have provided, Project Amigo is now dispensing 500 chewable flavored fluoride tablets every school day. This 2.2 mg tablet of prevention is better than a ton of cure. It works wonders. Thank you.
Harry N. Johnson, PDG
Director
So many lives have been changed by what Project Amigo and its volunteers do. Some lives change more quickly than others.
Thank you for letting me be a small part of these changes.
Other Volunteer Opportunities
People with skills needed in Project Amigo programs - dentists, dental hygienists, audiologists, optometrists, plumbers, electricians, teachers - are invited to inquire about longer-term volunteer opportunities. Project Amigo is a registered Rotary International volunteer site, and volunteers who commit to one or two months may qualify for a Rotary International Volunteer grant. For more information on RI Volunteer grants, see the links to Rotary International website below.
Interested in Volunteering?
Right now we have the following
volunteer position open:
Computer Expert. No Spanish required. We are
always in need of someone more technologically-savvy than we are to help
us with the Project Amigo office computers, and various computer labs
which we have installed for student use.
If you are interested in this project,
please contact Ted Rose at ted@projectamigo.org.
Rotary International Volunteer Dr. Cândido Garcia Soler, from Tanabi, Sao Paolo, Brasil, spends a month each winter with Project Amigo providing free dental services to poor children.
Student computer labs such as this one at a local junior high need constant maintenance. Volunteers are needed to maintain and upgrade this and other Project Amigo computers.
I wish you all good times and good health.
Warmly,
Adrienne Hart
