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Who are we? - Poco a Poco San Pedro
"Poco a Poco San Pedro" is a small group of volunteer, ex-pat, (mostly) retirees, living around the area of Ajijic, in Jalisco. In late 2016, when we first visited San Pedro Itzicán and Mezcala, we saw that these areas really needed help and we started as a group in 2017.
We saw the work that Anita Torres was trying to do, but she needed support, encouragement, and more resources. Seeing the extreme poverty in the area, lack of education, the many children surviving alone, drew us to help Anita, as she had become the organizer and trusted community spokesperson. Anita was the one who guided and encouraged youth to volunteer in their community, to stay in school and aim higher! She involves the parents and community to help their re-find their pride.
We are a small committee comprising Doris Wakeman, Francisco Nava and Kari Higgins. Anita Torres is also of course part of our team. We pay for our own expenses for gas, etc. to drive out to the villages and provide the office administration and accounting support. We pick up donated items and take them out to Anita to distribute. We do our best to run the website, Facebook and spend time grant writing. We try to connect with other organizations so that they can also help. We enjoy and encourage working with other organizations so it's not "just us".
Patricia Moran worked in 2018 until 2022, and we started the Kids' Kitchens. Anita started that program by getting land lent for this use, using the Poco a Poco truck for picking up the food for cooking, delivering the cooked food to the different locations, etc. Patricia now is a board member of CreSer which is teaching and growing food to supplement the food at the kitchens, and CreSer are running five of the Kids' Kitchens. Poco a Poco continue to run the kitchen east of the town in San Pedro, which eventually will move to the new community center that we are building.
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In 2017 we started many projects aimed at helping the local youth and adults gain skills, give them ideas on how to have careers and be able to support themselves. We encourage and fund education, teach growing food, distribute donated clothing and other items, provide medical assistance, and encourage other organizations to come to help people in these marginalized areas.
From 2017 until early 2022 we worked under the Mexican charity - the Brigada Estatal de Proteccion Civil y Bomberos J. Trinidad Lopez Rivas, A.C. We supported their events and efforts. This was rewarding and fun for the youth (traveling outside their towns, meeting youth from different areas, learning fire fighting, search and rescue techniques, first aid, and becoming respected members of their communities because of their volunteer service).
That charity is now closing down (at the request of the family of Sr Trinidad), and we are trying to become an official Mexican charity ourselves. It just takes a long time and lots of paperwork to do that! So meanwhile we work with Violet Unidad Médico Dental A.C., so that we can continue to pay for items that require a factura (an official Mexican receipt). They are also an organization that helps with dentistry in the San Pedro Itzicán area.
If you want to contact one of us directly, please call Francisco Nava - (52) 333-599-2260 (he is bi-lingual), Doris Wakeman - 332-259-0087 or Kari Higgins - 333-820-4927.
Volunteers from Ajijic and Chapala drive regularly to the San Pedro Itzican, and to various villages nearby. We always are looking for volunteers to help us. Please contact us if you can assist in any way.
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