Border Partners, Author at Border Partners

Supporters continue the good work in Puerto Palomas

Posted onNovember 8, 2013

Promotoras [health promoters] we sponsor provided veggie burritos at their free October Health Fair in Puerto Palomas. Health is improving and the hungry are fed, thanks to Border Partner’s supporters.

A donation to Border Partners can honor a loved one on a special occasion.

When you choose to give a memorial gift, it will not only convey your love for your friend or family member, it will also provide much-needed funds for our development projects in Puerto Palomas.

We’ll be happy to write your designee a note informing them of your donation.

You can select a donation that matches the values of the person you’re honoring. Visit the gift-giving page on our website to make that perfect choice.

Adding Border Partners to your will can extend the positive impact your life makes. Thanks for your support to improve life on the US-Mexico border!

Promotoras sponsor successful October Health Fair

Posted onOctober 26, 2013October 26, 2013

Promotoras offered free blood pressure checks for all at the October Health Fair.

Our health promoters [promotoras] sponsored a free health fair at Pancho Villa Park in Pto. Palomas this month on Friday, October 4 and Saturday, October 5. With financial assistance from the Columbus, Luna County-Palomas Binational Health Council and donations from businesses in Pto. Palomas, they were able to provide a wide variety of health-related activities, open to all at no cost to participants.

Pto. Palomas Mayor Chacon visited the booth to have his glucose checked.

In addition to the blood pressure screening (as seen in the photo at the top of this post, the promotoras offered blood glucose screening and a wide variety of written health information. They also arranged for free haircuts to emphasize the importance of personal hygiene.

Local participants enjoyed nutritious, healthy, and delicious home-made burritos, composed from whole wheat tortilla, beans, veggies and cheese. There were games for the children, and zumba dancing for everyone!

Even the local dogs could benefit from free rabies shots at the fair. It was an activity that assisted their owners, too.

On Friday, a mobile health clinic staffed with a doctor, a nurse, a dentist and free medications arrived from Chihuahua City to serve the Health Fair attendees.

The promotoras were outstanding in every way, including their professional appearance in red shirts and name badges.

Click HERE to visit our Flickr set to see photos of many aspects of this wonderful event.

Putting sustainable technology on display in Palomas

Posted onSeptember 28, 2013September 29, 20131 Comment

Border Partners produced this solar water heater, a device offering great utility to local residents. Most Palomas citizens do not use gas water heaters due to the utility expenses incurred in their operation.

It was time to put our work on display, and the public responded! On Wednesday, Border Partners held an exhibition of recently completed sustainable technology projects in Pto. Palomas. The exposition showcased a variety of projects in the area around the Public Library.

Our new addition to the library which is constructed of papercrete blocks took center stage. Papercrete blocks, locally produced by Border Partners, are lightweight, highly insulating, low cost and utilize recyclable material. The addition’s roof is made of ferrocement, a building material known for reduced maintenance costs and long lifetime in comparison with traditional construction methods. This methodology reduces the cost of roofing far beyond any current methods utilized in Palomas.

A solar water heater and the graywater system for the library bathroom were also on display. In addition, participants visited the onsite demonstration garden where some of the raised beds utilize drip irrigation and a large tank collects and stores rainwater. The earth on this site has been shaped to drain rainwater away from the walls nearby where they had been eroding and is directed toward the garden.

Border Partners staff from Palomas led visitors through the exhibits, explaining the processes and their corresponding advantages.

We were delighted with a turnout that included Mayor Angel Chacon and two of his staff members, Maria Sisneros, an environmental engineer from the US EPA, and Jorge Hernandez from the Border Environment Cooperation Commission. The Secundaria Principal and teachers brought their students. Two representatives from the Small Business Development Center at Western New Mexico University as well as many interested adults from both Palomas and Columbus.

Visitors enjoyed snacks that were prepared and served from a solar cooker.

All projects on display were designed and built to be low cost and to conserve the Earth’s natural resources. Many projects use recycled materials. These projects were funded in part by a grant from the Border Environmental Cooperation Commission and the US EPA.

Palomas students love summer school!

Posted onJuly 25, 2013July 25, 2013

Proud summer school graduate receives both his certificate and the applause of the school community.

Repeatedly during the past year students approached us to ask if we’d hold summer school again this summer. How could we refuse?

For two July weeks, seventy children, nine teachers, three cooks and two helpers happily engaged in learning about math, about healthy foods, about art and about preventing accidents at Summer School 2013 in Palomas. And they had lots of good exercise!

The school is staffed by the Promotoras, our wonderful group of Community Health Educators.

After class, students enjoyed a nutritious lunch which is another important support to their growth.

Generous sponsorship from the Gila Friends Meeting of Silver City combined with contributions from all our supporters funded the food and classes for two weeks.

Thank you to all! You make this happen!

You bet we’re betting on Palomas! Help us promote that.

Posted onMay 31, 2013

The Silver City Rotary Club is still helping us outfit our new Palomas Education Center, and you can join in, too!

We hope our supporters in the Southwest will add this event to their summer calendars! We are planning on a great time.

Casino Night ** Saturday, June 15, 2013 ** 7 pm -11 pm at Billy’s Restaurant, Highway 180 E., Silver City, NM in the Governor’s Room

$25 donation. Proceeds to Benefit the Education Center of Palomas, Mexico

Western wear encouraged. Food and drink available.

Live Music in the Beer Garden

Tickets at the door, or contact Mark Richard (575) 537-5988 or Kathy Eaton at silvercitykathy@hotmail.com for advanced tickets.

By sharing this post, you can help us spread the word. Invite your co-workers, friends and family. If you have a Facebook or Twitter account, you just need to click the links on the bottom on this post.

Also, you can download the flier you see on this post by clicking here on this link. It will automatically download to your computer. Then simply click on the link to open the file. When you mouse over the image, click the “Print file” icon that appears [it looks like a printer!]” [Second from the left in the row, as you see here!]

You’ll print up a single page flier that’s post-able in any public place!

If you can help us promote this fundraiser, we will appreciate it so much.

Thanks for all you do! You’re making a big difference

Palomas Binational Earth Day 2013: A Border Partners Showcase

Posted onApril 29, 2013April 30, 20131 Comment

by Peter Edmunds

Eric shows off the amazing papercrete block–extra light, extra insulating–at Earth Day in Palomas.

Last Monday was Earth Day around the world and, for the first time, it was celebrated in Palomas. It was organized in conjunction with several groups in Columbus, NM just across the border and so became a Binational Earth Day Celebration.

Border Partners volunteer Don Farber and secondaria students who assembled photo voltaic electric panels and used them to power a light bulb proudly displayed their products and explained them to the public.

photo voltaic electric

For the past six weeks, Border Partners has been sponsoring a workshop about sustainable technology with the seniors from the Palomas high school. About 15 students have built a solar water heater, two types of solar cookers, and a photo voltaic electric system. The completion of the projects coincided with Earth Day.

The Mayor gave us the use of the plaza outside his office for our event. It became a showcase for all of Border Partners projects. The student projects were setup on the plaza, and they were there to explain how they worked to anyone who stopped.

Eric Laborin Quezada, who is working with Border Partners to start a business selling papercrete blocks made from recycled paper, was there to promote the advantages of papercrete blocks and insulation panels.

Juana Flores distributes tomato seedlings.

Juana Flores and Juana Lazoya, our gardening promoters, gave away over 200 free tomato seedlings and seed packets containing ten different vegetable crops for home gardens.

The Promotoras (health educators) sponsored by Border Partners, welcomed a continual stream of people who wanted their blood pressure and blood sugar checked.

Two artisan groups displayed craft items made from recycled materials.

This was the first time that all Border Partners’ projects were on display to the public in one place. There’s already talk of a fall harvest festival. Lots of local citizens got a chance to see what Border Partners is doing in the community.

Palomas Health Fair combined action, education and enjoyment

Posted onApril 19, 2013April 19, 20133 Comments

by Polly Edmunds

Promotoras offered free screenings for blood glucose levels at the free Health Fair in Palomas. The boy in the foreground is examining a box of free children’s vitamins that was distributed at the event.

The Promotoras and Centro Salud staff deserve hearty congratulations for conducting a wonderful health fair last Saturday, April 13 in the Central Park in Palomas. Both groups together planned an ambitious list of activities. Thanks to their hard work, everything ran smoothly. A big thank you goes to COBINA–the Binational Health Council–for providing the funding that made it possible!

People loved the free, healthy burritos that the Promotoras served.

The Promotoras checked blood pressure and glucose levels. They also served free burritos on whole wheat tortillas with vegies from their gardens plus donated ones they received from stores in town. The grocery stores also donated fresh fruit and bottled water so that was available, as well.

Thanks to Healthy Start in Deming, they were able give some prizes to children for participating, as well as pamphlets on health topics to their parents. Books are Gems, an El Paso nonprofit organization, also donated some children’s books to give away.

Dr. Carrasco and her assistant administered free rabies shots for many local dogs. They also brought children’s vitamins, Border Binational Health Week caps, and lots of literature to give away.

Marisol Guillen offered free zumba lessons to enthusiastic participants.

Zumba sessions through the day and a jumping cage set up for the kids were very popular!

In addition, the Promotoras asked students from the beauty school in town to give free haircuts. Many people who had not been able to have a haircut for a long time were very happy to receive this service.

This health fair was very successful and I hope it will prove to be the first of many joint projects for Centro Salud and the Promotoras.

Click this link to view a survey of photos from the day at our Flickr site. You will see what I mean!

COBINA, the health fair event sponsor, is the Columbus, Luna County, Palomas regional health council. We appreciate their support so much.

Rotary International awards education grant to Border Partners

Posted onMarch 29, 2013March 29, 2013

The Education Center addition at the Palomas Library will receive a grant from Rotary International.

Through the efforts of the Silver City (NM) Rotary Club, Border Partners will receive a major grant from the Rotary International. The full monetary award of $16,250 will outfit the new Education Center recently build by Border Partners in Palomas.

This funding will pay for computer technology, software and a wireless printer. We’re now able to obtain desktop computers, laptops and tablets as well as a server to network them.

In addition, thanks to this grant, the Education Center will be equipped with the latest in electronic audiovisual equipment: a projector, a white board and interactive stylus, and a large television suitable for viewing by a class. The Rotary funding will also provide security equipment and the resources needed to set up all the new equipment.

Rotary International logo as it is displayed on a memorial at El Paso’s Archaeology Museum

In order to apply for the Rotary International grant, the Silver City Rotary Club secured the support of their District here in the U.S. and also searched out a Rotary Club in Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico to co-sponsor the project, since there is not a local Rotary Club in Palomas. Each of the two local Rotary Clubs pledged money to the project.

We want to express our heartfelt thanks to the SC Rotary Club, especially Kathy Eaton, Sunny Yates and Elizabeth Silva who were the committee members responsible. With their valuable assistance, the Education Center will be fully equipped with equipment designed to deliver educational materials to the border community in Palomas.

With the assistance of the Rotary International, the people of Palomas will see their dream of accessing educational advancement opportunities fulfilled–right in their own town.

Palomas principal appreciates help that makes a concrete difference

Posted onMarch 13, 2013

Ford Elementary School principal Angel Garibay displays canned food Border Partners deliveredi

We at Border Partners prefer to partner with existing institutions in order to provide material assistance. Institutions already in place are more familiar with the needs of the people and have also determined the best way to address those needs. One partner institution with whom we’ve developed a warm relationship is the Ford Elementary School in Palomas.

When we were making a short pre-Christmas visit to Ford, Angel Garibay, the Ford principal, seemed delighted to have the chance to thank Border Partners and its supporters for the concrete support his school has received from them. The Principal in fact immediately launched into a beautiful and impromptu statement of appreciation when the microphone was passed to him.

We present to you his statement –translated whole and entire. It is you who make this good work possible through your donations. We want you to know how much it is appreciated.

I appreciate the work that Border Partners has done, especially in education. Their support of us [at Ford School] has been very good.

They have especially helped us in two areas.

First: in the area of computer technology, their “computer team” helped us acquire the equipment. Now the children have a computer teacher, and they also have the machines so that they can work.

The other area—one that’s also very important–is that every month Border Partners supports us so that we can provide food for the students. That means that they bring us eggs, potatoes, fruit, cheese, a variety of canned products—and all of this is for the good of the children.

The children are eating breakfast here between 7:30 and 8 AM and they eat another meal here at school between 1:30-2 PM. This would not be possible without the assistance you’ve given us.

At this point in the end of the year, hope that God will bless every single person who has helped us through these projects. We also hope that 2013 is filled with fruitfulness for you all.

Update:

Ford Students are successful gardeners.

Now that 2013 is underway, we’ve begun and accomplished two more important projects at Ford. In addition to the new school garden plots that are already producing (see photo, right) we also installed a solar cooker. The school food program will be able to use the cooker, utilizing free sunshine rather than the expensive utilities of gas and electricity, to provide warm food for the children.

You help allows us to augment the important work of the Ford educators, enriching the lives of the young students. Thanks for your support!

Students Create a Ford School Garden

Posted onFebruary 27, 2013February 27, 2013

The elementary school students at Ford School in Palomas are doing-it-themselves. They’re creating a school garden. In fact, they’re building several raised bed plots.

The plots will teach life-learning lessons about gardening, food and nutrition. Eventually, teachers will base curriculum lessons on the gardens–particularly in math and science. Best of all, the students will proudly eat the food they’ve raised themselves at school lunches.

In this photo sequence you’ll see the students building the raised bed frames for the garden plots and preparing the soil. Their intense interest and eagerness to participate in the process can’t be faked–it’s “the real McCoy!”

Our garden coordinators are working closely with the Ford School staff to direct and teach the children. But, the digging, the hauling, the watering, the planting–actually, in every aspect–the students are doing the work themselves.

See this process for yourself on our Flickr set: Ford School Garden! Thank you so much for making the good work possible with your support! [Click on the thumbnails individually to see the full-sized photo for better viewing.]

Ford School Garden, a set on Flickr.

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