 |
¡Milagro en Mancora - Miracle in Mancora! 2008
A Letter from Volunteers Michelle Benjamin, Maggie Mooney & Caitlin Mooney-Fu
25 November 2008
Vancouver, BC
Saludos amigos,
As many of you know, we spent five months last year doing volunteer work in Máncora, a small fishing
village on the north coast of Peru. We were involved in a number of programs and activities, including a
summer camp for kids, developing and delivering a "Tree of Life" workshop for teenagers (which we then revised for teachers), teaching English to adults, helping out with the recycling program and playing with
the children at El Centro para Niños Especiales, and more. It was an invigorating, moving and enlightening
time for all of us.
We have been home from Máncora for eight months, and still the people there, the community, and the
good friends we made are close in our hearts. (We've stopped dreaming about the bugs, and every hot
shower is still a treat, but we miss the mangos fresh off the trees.) We're in regular contact with families
there, as well as with the organization we were volunteering with, Para el Mundo (PaM).
|  |
One of the most successful enterprises we were involved in last year was the ¡Milagro en Máncora - Miracle in Máncora! fundraising campaign. Through the generous donations of friends like you, we were
able to raise more than $4,000 for the schools in Máncora. With that money, we bought pumps for schools
that had no running water, as well as a variety of basic supplies, computer equipment, a projector, sports
uniforms, books for the public library, and more. The schools were enormously grateful, and the students at
Escuelas Micaela Bastidas and Alberto Pallete have been enjoying a healthier, more complete experience
this year.
We are launching the Milagro 2008 campaign. Once again, we hope to support the schools in Máncora,
and this year we would like to help our friends at El Centro para Niños Especiales, as well as support some
of the other community programs run by Para el Mundo. El Centro is an amazing place where children of
all ages and with a range of disabilities are given opportunities to learn life skills and encouraged to
contribute to the community. The founder and director, a heroic woman named Maria, provides
physiotherapy for the children with physical disabilities, and she spends a great deal of her precious time
raising money to keep the centre open. PaM volunteers are involved in a variety of important projects,
including a range of programming at their new community centre, supporting the dengue fever prevention
campaign, and Robin Hood, an after-school program for 9 to 11 year-olds who are struggling in the regular
school system.
 | |
We appreciate the support that so many of you offered last year. We are aware of the need in towns
and villages like Máncora around the world, and also in our own backyard. Our families and friends are
generous people, we know, and we understand the commitment that many of you have made to other
important organizations and worthy causes. But Máncora is close to our hearts, and we know how far a
small amount of our money there can go. We also know how people there have been affected by forces out
of their control. The price of basic food — rice, fruit, vegetables — has risen sharply in the past six months,
and the town's economy has not recovered from earlier problems caused by multinational over-fishing.
Please download this year's Miracle Wish List — La Lista del Deseo. If you would like to contribute to this
campaign, print out the list, check off the items you would like to provide for the schools and programs,
and we will ensure that every cent will be used for this purpose. Cheques can be sent directly to the Para el
Mundo office in Toronto (address below). Alternatively, you can make a secure credit card donation via CanadaHelps. In this case,
please email a separate note to direct your funds. Donations of $25 or more are eligible for a tax receipt.
Last year, the good people at University of British Columbia Press donated to the Milagro en Máncora
campaign in lieu of exchanging staff presents or sending out cards. The $1,000 that they generously
provided allowed us to purchase new water pumps for two schools, as well as pay for their installation. We
encourage you to engage in similar campaigns in your own workplace, or with friends and family.
Unfortunately, PaM is not able to accept donations of actual items. The cost of shipping materials to
Peru is prohibitive and generally exceeds the value of the material being sent. The exception to this rule is
Spanish-English dictionaries or other Spanish books, which can easily be tucked into the suitcases of
volunteers travelling to Máncora. If you have dictionaries or Spanish books to share, feel free to send them
to the PaM office and we'll be sure to get them to the library or community centre.
We wish you all the best and much love throughout this holiday season.
Abrazos,
Michelle Benjamin, Maggie Mooney, Caitlin Mooney-Fu
Cheque Information
Made out to: Para el Mundo Canada
Mailing Address: 217 St. George St. #44
Toronto, ON, Canada, M5R 3S7
PS. If you would like to see more photographs of our time and work in Máncora, including the ceremonies
at which we delivered the Milagro en Máncora supplies to the schools, you can look at our online photo
album here:
http://picasaweb.google.ca/michbenj/MilagroEnMNcora#
and here, for photos of the Robin Hood Summer Camp:
http://picasaweb.google.ca/michbenj/MoreSummerCamp#
Download and print this year's Miracle Wish List — La Lista del Deseo
Top of the page
Table of Contents
Sections: About PaM | Programs | Support Us | News & Events | Photos
| |
|
