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Giving Back to our Community...LAKESIDE... courtesy of the Guadalajara Reporter, June 24, 2006 by Jeanne Chaussee Los Cantantes donate Paula McTavish of Los Cantantes del Lago presented Sylvia Flores of El Centro
de Desarollo de Ajijic, A.C. with a sizable donation from the musical group last
week. Flores and the centre provide a wide range of services to women, men and teenagers of Ajijic. Their area of work includes family planning, cancer screening, AIDS education, sex education, and domestic violence counseling. They also take their message to other local villages and school classrooms. Flores is excited about the donation, as she says it will enable her to buy more supplies. She points out that many of the people who utilize the center cannot afford to pay very much. Los Cantantes, a professionally directed choir made up of 40 fine local voices, have also made contributions to Mision San Pablo, Niños Incapacitados (to help with the duplication and distribution of their upcoming DVD) and Niños en Ambiente Familiar in Guadalajara.
THANK YOU LOS CANTANTES DEL LAGO!!! Many thanks to Los Cantantes del Lago who have presented a gift of money to NIA (Niños en Ambiente Familiar, A.C.), an orphanage located at 530 Medrano in Guadalajara. The casa hogar was founded in 1994 by Luis Fernando Gutierrez a man who survived growing up with no home surrounded only by hate, violence, alcoholism, abuse and loneliness. Because he was befriended by a few people who showed him love and care, he was able eventually to even establish a small business of his own. Then his dream to provide a home for boys became a reality. NIA accommodates on the average 20-25 boys, ages 5 to 15 all of whom have come from terrible experiences, most of them living on the streets, abandoned by their parents! Hal and Eddie Brown have worked with this orphanage for the past five years. It has been a real struggle to keep the orphanage going because they depend completely on the generosity of caring people. But thanks to gifts from friends many improvements have been made at the home. The boys who do end up at NIA have a loving home, good, nourishing food as well as encouragement and discipline. Of course, there is still a great need for help just to pay the bills…..gas, electricity, water, clothes, medicine, food, etc., etc. Thanks again!!
Singers pitch in with cash, labor to spruce up women's centerArticle courtesy of the Guadalajara Reporter, April 22, 2006 by Jeanne Chaussee The local choir Los Cantantes del Lago has made another donation to the women's center in San Juan Cosala. Last year, the center was able to purchase tables and chairs thanks to money given by Los Cantantes. This year's donation will be used to repaint a major part of the center and purchase a new table for the sewing room.
The center is ready to expand, now that a group of local artists who shared the building has vacated the premises. Firstly the new rooms available must be converted for use as a library and a sewing room. (In addition, art classes will be taught by Isidro Xiloncochitl twice a week.) The members of Los Cantantes chorus aren't just pitching in with money; they are also helping out with the painting. Nevertheless, there's still lots of work to be done at the center, especially roof repairs before the onset of the rainy season. Thos who would like to help in this important project for families in San Juan Cosala should contact Leticia Colunga at (376) 766-5794.
Los Cantantes Contribute to Three Organizations Courtesy of the Guadalajara Reporter, July 19, 2005 Millicent Brandow, founder of Los Cantantes is surrounded by the chorus at
Primera Marcos Castellanos school in Ajijic. These young singers will soon be
wearing new uniforms for their concerts and competitions thanks to a donation
from Los Cantantes. Also receiving a donation from the proceeds of Los Cantantes' spring concert is the "Teach A Woman to Fish" project run by Los Niños de Chapala y Ajijic. The skill being learned by low-income women to increase their self-sufficiency is the making and selling of quilts rather than fishing, and the choir's contribution went to buy quilting materials. La Asociación Mexicana Para la Integral de la Familia Occidente A.C., or AMSIF, is a Mexico-wide organization devoted to helping women help themselves. AMSIF has opened a new Women's Center in San Juan Cosala, where women are learning home health care, parenting, beautician skills, sewing, embroidery, financial management and more. They used their Cantantes donation to buy much-needed chairs and tables for their classroom. Los Cantantes del Lago is a professionally directed chorus of 35 to 40 singers. They enjoy performing a wide range of music, and support local organizations from the proceeds of their spring and Christmas concerts.
Choir boosts community education project Courtesy of the Guadalajara Reporter, June 18, 2005 by Jeanne Chaussee
The program gets its name from the old Chinese proverb that says "Give a man a fish and he eats for a day... teach a man to fish and he eats for life." The Teach a Woman to Fish program isn't actually teaching women to fish, but teaches low income women a skill that will bring a steady income for them and their families over a period of time. Right now, that program, which is operated by Niños de Chapala y Ajijic, is centered on quilting. The women, all mothers of students sponsored by the
Niños de
Chapala y Ajijic (NCA) scholarship program, work in teams or as individuals
creating quilts sewn by machine and by hand, then sold for about $1,500 pesos or
raffled at the NCA Thrift Shop located at Hidalgo 95-B in Riberas del Pilar.
When the quilt is sold or raffled off the money is divided up according to the
number of hours spent by each individual quilter and tallied by the team
captain. The women are being instructed in the art of quilting by Cheryl Walker (whose husband is building quilting frames), Donna Viitanen and Martha Aceves and the first ten quilts are now up for sale at the Thrift Shop. there is an ongoing raffle for the quilts with a drawing each month. The first winner was Florence Merrifield of Ajijic, who generously donated her prize back to Niños de Chapala y Ajijic. May's winner was Beverley Healey of Toronto. The money they garner from their creativity and labor makes a positive impact on these families whose per capita income averages about 696 pesos per month. Says volunteer Viitanen, "What I foresee in this project is an opportunity that could change some women's lives...Our challenge will be providing the format and the materials. If that happens, and we get more help from the community, the project will bloom." The project needs sewing machines, fabric (new or used), thread, ribbons, scissors, batting and funds. Donations can be left at the NCA Thrift Shop and donors will receive free raffle tickets. For more information contact Beverly Schurr, NCA family liaison officer.
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The
center is operated by La Asociación Mexicana para Superación Integral de la
Familia Occidente (AMSIF), a national organization that focuses on women helping
other women to become more self-sufficient. The San Juan Cosala branch opened in
January 2005, offering classes for local women in home health care, parenting,
business management, sewing embroidery, beautician skills and more.
The
Los Cantantes del Lago community choir recently treated the women involved in
the "Teach a Woman to Fish" program to a shopping spree, buying materials for
their quilting projects, with money taken in during the choir's April concerts.
