Author: Border Partners

Education Center extends Internet access in Puerto Palomas

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students at education center

Middle school students are engrossed by opportunities to learn on an electronic tablet.

The Education Center we constructed last year today offers citizens of Puerto Palomas the opportunity to learn computer technology, to study math, English and do Internet research. Building on the Internet access of the Puerto Palomas library, to which the Education Center is attached, the Education Center extends the Internet to more citizens.

The technology lab is equipped with ten desktop computers, three laptops, 11 tablets and a printer.  Border Partners provides staff to help learners access appropriate online classes via the Internet.

Currently the primary use of the Education Center’s tech lab is to help individuals learning to use computers, to study math, to learn English, to conduct Internet research and to access electronic correspondence.

Middle school students are particularly enthusiastic patrons of the new Education Center. Attendance at the lab averages between 20-25 people every afternoon.

Life ends, but assistance to programming continues–thanks to supporter’s help

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Pat Dingels

Pat Dingels’ positive influence will continue to promote growth and assistance. [Contributed photo]

Our friends on Facebook saw Border Partners’ supporter Pat Dingels’ positive “thumb’s up” frequently. No matter what the status update, we could count on her “liking” our news about Palomas Oilcolth Designs. Her encouragement was unflagging, and she was a good customer of their products, too. When we received word of her death last month, we grieved. But Pat’s support of our programming continues, nevertheless, and in a unique way.

One of our unfulfilled wishes of recent years has been for a golf cart. We can envision so many practical uses for this simple form of transportation in the town of Puerto Palomas, a place where many people don’t own personal cars. When we learned that Pat bequeathed her golf cart to us, we hastened to transport it from it’s storage place in Arizona to its new home, serving residents on the U.S.-Mexico border.

Because this golf cart is electric, it roughly costs only 2 cents per mile to operate. Our truck, in comparison, costs about 20 cents per mile to operate. Although the cart must be recharged after about 80 miles of use, it will still save us money. Moreover, it uses no gas and produces no emissions.

golf cart

Gardening coordinators are eager to use the golf cart to visit home gardens in Palomas.

Our new golf cart will allow Border Partners’ local coordinators to get about town efficiently: be it to visit gardens, get to meetings or assist local residents in need. Since our mission promotes sustainable technology, we plan to equip the cart with solar panels, so it won’t need fossil fuel. Palomas’s bountiful sunshine can power the cart’s trips about town. Then, it will leave no carbon footprint at all!

When people die, their influence to effect good continues nevertheless in the memorial assistance that is contributed in their name. No surprise that people have designated Border Partners as the beneficiary of memorials in Pat’s name. This funding will promote a better standard of living for people on the border who, through no fault of their own, lack many advantages. Additionally, her family donated to us her clothing as well as dishes, pots and pans and garden tools.

The sad occasion of Pat Dingel’s death calls us to thank her and her family for their ongoing support that we so deeply appreciate. Our work, now newly augmented, will continue. And, while it is true that no one can take Pat’s place, we hope that the inspiration of Pat’s example will inspire us all to remember those less fortunate and redouble our efforts to assist them.

 

Border celebration of International Women’s Day featured Palomas Oilcloth Designs

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arte sin fronterasThe artisans of Palomas Oilcloth Designs participated in a celebration of International Women’s Day in Las Cruces, New Mexico earlier this month. The event entitled “Arte Sin Fronteras” featured artists who work in community-based projects that alleviate poverty and violence and help people improve their lives and communities. Seven women participate in the sewing cooperative which was initiated through the instrumentation of Border Partners.

Art is a powerful means of free expression and collective healing as well as a tool for basic economic support. Palomas Oilcloth Designs was founded when Puerto Palomas was suffering from the violent effects of Mexico’s drug war, at a time when northern Chihuahua was under siege.

“We are proud that our beautiful tote bags, aprons and tablecloths are sold in many stores in the United States and at our online store at etsy.com,” the women said in a statement that accompanied the March 8 sale.

The cooperative’s oilcloth products were sold to the public in Las Cruces at the event. All proceeds directly supported the women who communicate with customers, prepare orders for shipping and manage their production and business finances.

The Arte Sin Fronteras exhibit was sponsored by a coalition of Las Cruces-based organizations that support peace and healing in Mexico.

 

80 More Bikes for Palomas

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bicycle helpers

With lots of help from the Unitarian Universalist Church in Silver City along with other Border Partners volunteers we’re outfitting Palomas with 80 bicycles donated by Bikeworks in Silver City, NM.

Bicycling! It’s an efficient, healthy, and inexpensive way to get around town. And Palomas is rapidly becoming a biking community. Bikeworks, a nonprofit community bicycle workshop located in Silver City, NM recently followed up on their generous bicycle donation of last fall with 80 more bicycles this month.

With the help of a wonderful group of volunteers from the Unitarian Universalist Church in Silver City and our weekly volunteer Juan Velasco who helped Border Partners staff load the bikes, we imported this massive donation this month.

Local border residents assisted. Bill Knauss loaned us a truck large enough to transport all of these newly-donated bikes. Don Farber helped us unload them all in the dark, thus making what Border Partners’ Peter Edmunds termed: “the end of a perfect day.” We appreciate all this help!

All needed repairs on the used bicycles will be made by Francisco, a repairman in Palomas. Donations to Border Partners will pay him, thereby providing local employment, and will also supply the necessary bicycle parts.

These bicycles will augment the weekly community bike ride that the local health promoters lead every Saturday afternoon in Palomas.  These promotoras arrange that 20-30 of the donated bikes are available for the weekly ride so that people who do not own bikes can participate.

Palomas community members can “earn” themselves a personal bicycle  by volunteering at the bike ride or on other Border Partners’ projects, for instance, by assisting in the community garden project.

We’re hoping soon to be able to build a covered bicycle storage garage to protect them from the weather.  Donations toward this project are welcome and would facilitate this goal. Donations can be make online on our website or sent by check to our office. Donations can be designated toward particular projects–like the future bicycle storage facility.

Upcoming bike events are already scheduled for this spring. This includes a bide ride on April 14 and the construction of a dirt bike track by Palomas schoolchildren on May 14.
donated bikes

We’ll rehabilitate these donated bicycles that arrived in Palomas.

 

Palomas garden program now generates funds through local sales

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fresh produce

Gardening coordinator Juana Flores shows the packaged produce which is ready for sale.

Border Partners’ gardening program now sells locally grown produce, marking another step forward for the citizens of Puerto Palomas. Our local producers and gardening promoters now offer fresh produce weekly at Palomas stores and restaurants.

The program began last month and sold offerings including a variety of lettuces, spinach, chard, cilantro and parsley. The Pink Store, the large downtown tourist restaurant and vendor of Mexican artisania, placed the first major order for the garden produce, using the very fresh products for a large party they hosted. Since then, Memo’s Grocery and interested individuals have been returning customers.

Vending local produce allows the gardening program to raise funding that will supply seeds, equipment and support to local gardening families. This will support sustainable programming and help the gardening program expand to involve new families that want to participate.

Local leaders of the gardening program–Juana Flores, Juana Lozoya and Helena Myers–prepare harvest, prepare and package the produce for sale.

Because locally produced, organic produce provides improved nutrition and reduces risk of health challenges associated with chemicals sometimes used in commercial production of produce, these sales offer a healthy alternative food source to the border community.

According to Helena Myers, the gardens are currently being re-planted to grow spring crops. As soon as the new crop is ready to harvest, sales will resume.

“Possibilities are expanding,” she remarked.

Palomas health promotoras open a new office

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new office

Promotoras of health in Palomas, a grassroots corps of community volunteers to improve health, have opened a new office, providing a permanent presence. They provide health services such as blood pressure monitoring, as seen here.

The community health promoters (promotoras) of Puerto Palomas have opened an office to serve as their headquarters as well as an office from which they will serve the public. Centrally located in Palomas, the office allows the promotoras to offer regular office hours to the public. Promotoras will provide health services of blood sugar monitoring and blood pressure testing and provide health information there. All services and information are free of charge.

The new promotora office is clean, attractive and outfitted with health equipment and literature. Tables and chairs offer an environment conducive to health education meetings. With a computer and printer, the promotoras are able to produce documents and administrate their program. For a virtual tour of the new health office, visit our photo set on Flickr.

posting signIn a small community like Palomas, word of mouth will quickly spread the news of this new source of health assistance, consultation and first aid. However the promotoras also proactively engaged local artist Dagoberto Rodriguez to produce a display sign to clearly designate their office. We were on the scene to see the sign installed.

The promotoras designed a plan of action for 2014 which outlines their ambitious goals and upcoming activities. Ongoing fundraising will let them carry out their projects and potentially add internet service to their office. Promotoras seek that ongoing financial support from the Palomas business community.

The promotoras have also done a remarkable job of securing the contributions of pro bono services for Palomas children in need from local dentists and opticians.

The Columbus Luna County Palomas Binational Health Council (COBINA) provides major funding for the promotoras activities in Palomas.  Border Partners supplements that funding by matching the contributions that the promotoras themselves raise in Palomas. Border Partners is proud to provide financial help to underwrite these activities that improve public health. Donations to Border Partners that are designated to further the promotoras‘ work are welcome.

WILL volunteers’ home repair project benefits a Palomas family

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home repair recipients

WILL volunteers and Border Partners gave a single-parent family’s home some much-needed repairs.

Volunteers from Silver City, NM teamed with Border Partners to complete an intensive one-day home repair project and improve one family’s life. Volunteers from the Western Institute for Lifelong Learning [WILL], a grass-roots education organization, repaired one Puerto Palomas family’s substandard home last week.

Six WILL workers, many of whom were new volunteers for us, met us in downtown Palomas midmorning on January 29. Each volunteer contributed not only their time but also a stipend of $20 for home repair supplies and costs.

towel on holeBorder Partners staffer Marisol Guillen sifted through many needs in Palomas and selected a family whose home lacked a functioning roof and several panes of window glass. Winter cold also poured past the orange bath towel that futilely hung across the six square-foot hole in the small building’s rear wall.

The eldest son of this single-parent family died last year when the teen’s sports injury, untreated due to the family’s lack of funds, led to hip cancer. Grief and its accompanying depression ensued. The mother and her four surviving children became further mired as trauma left them unable to cope with stresses of daily life.

workers at work

Workers together tackled a challenge, and accomplished the most urgent repairs to the humble adobe home.

WILL volunteer workers–assisted by Border Partners personnel, volunteers from Palomas, and family members–moved four truckloads of rubble and debris from the yard to the landfill. This was a monumental improvement for a family lacking transportation. They filled the gaping hole in the rear wall and replaced or patched the broken window panes.

So much water entered the home through its leaky roof that the family had actually installed an eave trough inside the home to collect it. Volunteers covered that roof with corrugated tin panels and removed tree branches that had damaged the roofing. They also trimmed tree branches that had entwined with the wire delivering electricity to the house.

This home repair project reinforces Border Partners’ conviction that cooperative efforts can improve life in the border community. A slide show of images from the work repair day [CLICK HERE] is posted on the Border Partners Flickr account.

We heartily thank WILL volunteers Eric Ockerhausen, Dominick Bassi, Andy Payne, Chris Allen, Ann Hedlund, and Tom Bates.

WILL offers ongoing learning experiences for learners of any age. A second WILL February 21. In addition, a WILL tour of our projects in Palomas is slated for March 7. WILL originates in Grant County, New Mexico and is a partner of Western New Mexico University in Silver City.

Public meeting considers Mexican non-profit status for Border Partners

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By Suzanne Dulle

Border Partners’ stated purpose of creating new possibilities and self-confidence among community members in the small border town of Puerto Palomas appeared in an exciting new way at a meeting at the public library on January 17. Twenty-one individuals accepted the community-wide invitation circulated by Border Partners to come together:

  • to discuss current projects,
  • to assess their effectiveness and possible need for changes and
  • to discuss future activities.

Juan Velasco, an active Border Partners supporter and volunteer, facilitated the meeting, along with Border Partners founder Peter Edmunds. As a native Spanish speaker from Bolivia, “el Boliviano,” as Juan is called, stimulated honest and enthusiastic discussion among the Mexican attendees.

Community Meeting 1-17-14

Twenty-one Palomas residents responded to Border Partners’ open invitation to review and to discuss activities in Puerto Palomas.

The group was unanimous in expressing their gratitude to Border Partners’ US- based founders, Peter and Polly Edmunds, as well as the many volunteers who have dedicated years of work and service to their community.

As the meeting turned toward the “what next” agenda items, the excitement in the room became palpable. A new level of possibilities began to grow. How could current programs become more sustainable on the Mexican side of the border and what additional help could they themselves provide to allow for their own hopes and dreams for a better future to become a reality?

The idea of creating an asociación civil, a Mexican not-for-profit organization, was met with
enthusiastic support. Such an organization would qualify for funds and grants from the Mexican government and industries. This revenue could supplement the funding and support already provided by the US-side of Border Partners.

 

The ensuing “we can do this” discussions considered a new Health Center, a Senior Citizens Center, perhaps even a bank! The community garden program could perhaps expand. With a nod of approval from Peter, Juan responded to the group’s request for more training with the commitment that he and Peter would provide small business development courses in the near future.

The ideas seemed to tumble one upon the other as the meeting came to an energetic close. The group set a meeting date for March 17 to formalize their preliminary discussions.

To see the sense of empowerment that permeated the attendees was most rewarding. Truly, this was a red-letter day for Border Partners!

Suzanne Dulle, resident of New Mexico, is a member of the Board of Directors for Border Partners and is also a regular volunteer for the organization.

New Palomas Mayor: Precipitates Both a Crisis and a Gift

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Last Friday, we visited city hall to meet Puerto Palomas’ newly-elected mayor, Estanislao Sanchez Bujanda.

We introduced ourselves and conducted our routine business. But then the Mayor told us he planned to ask Border Partners to move out of the city buildings we use: the funeral building and coop.

What bad news!! We need these buildings for our woodworking shop and space for the Promotoras, the oilcloth group and Marisol’s exercise class to meet.

After much discussion with him, we finally suggested that the Mayor visit the buildings and see what we do there.

“OK,” he agreed, “I’ll be there in one hour.”  

Acting quickly, we summoned everyone:
  • our staff and representatives,
  • the oilcloth group,
  • the promotoras,
  • the gardeners, the sewing class, the cooking class,
  • the exercise class.
Over 20 people were waiting when the mayor arrived. And–almost every one spoke up to say what they did there and how much they valued Border Partners’ programs.
Mayor Sanchez meeting

Townspeople hurried to an impromptu meeting with new Palomas Mayor Sanchez to explain the importance of allowing Border Partners’ use of buildings owned by the city of Pto. Palomas.

Mayor Sanchez [far left in photo above] toured our beautiful demonstration gardens and the nearby ed center. His eyes were opened to the many ways we use those buildings.

“I had no idea!” he exclaimed.

And, as a result, we can stay!

The community immediately mobilized to intervene, and that made the difference. 

This speaks powerfully: Border Partners plays a vital part in their lives. They literally dropped everything and responded immediately to speak this truth to the town’s chief executive.

Knowing this is the best gift we could receive this season!

Border Partners’ gratitude overflows

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We give thanksAs the U.S. takes a holiday this week to give thanks, Border Partners shines a grateful spotlight on the many groups and people who have enriched life on the border with their time, money and other gifts. With this wonderful support, the people of Puerto Palomas have been able to accomplish many of their goals. This progress would not have happened without these generous donations received during 2013:

  • Eric Patterson and Unicorn Press of Silver City, NM donated a large printing job.
  • Silver City Bikeworks gave us 35 bicycles.
  • Gila Friends paid for supplies and food for summer school.
  • Many generous individuals gave us bikes, computers, printers, school supplies, books, garden tools, tee shirts, winter coats and blankets.
  • The Silver City Rotary Club wrote a grant proposal to Rotary International that was funded and will buy the equipment to outfit our Community Education Center!
  • The NM Dept. of Health gave the Promotoras 60 bike helmets for their Community Bike Ride!

In addition to donations of these gifts-in-kind, many people donated their time:

  • Sherry Bassi, Christine Brickley and Rachel Owen, faculty in the School of Nursing at Western New Mexico University met with the Promotoras five times this year to teach them nursing skills.
  • Helena Myers gave countless hours to guide our gardening staff in Palomas.
  • Billie Greenwood masterfully managed our website.
  • Dom Bassi volunteered twice each month at the Ford Primary School.
  • Julia Bruner mailed packages for Palomas Oilcloth Designs.
  • Bill Knauss has produced many buckets of bio-char for our gardens.
  • Don Farber can do just about anything and is ready to help most any time.
  • Jim Olsen made all kinds of things for Palomas out of wood and lends us his trailer.

And of course, the financial contributions of many generous and altruistic individuals, families, couples and groups enable the programs and operations of Border Partners to function. We value every contribution and do our best to multiply the goodness of the gifts we receive by improving life for people who can use assistance.