Our promotoras posed with the senior citizens who participated in their own special session to improve the quality of their lives.
March was another busy month for our projects in Palomas. At the start of the month, Joel Carreon presented another one in our series of staff development workshops on nutrition. The theme was “Fats – how to eat more of the good ones and avoid the bad ones.” He balanced organic chemistry and practical knowledge to provide an illuminating class, complete with ‘good fat’ prizes for participants. That same day, we celebrated Employee Appreciation Day, with a delicious meal and gifts provided by the Board of Directors.
At the end of the week, we celebrated International Women’s Day. Donning purple shirts in recognition of the worldwide fight for gender equality, our staff walked through the main streets of Palomas alongside local school children, paramedics and firefighters from across the community.
Mid-march, we organized our monthly distribution of food baskets to families in need. A total of 158 beneficiaries received household hygiene supplies, fresh vegetables from our gardens, and basic food supplies. That same week, a volleyball tournament we held over the duration of the month ended, tallying a total of 265 attendees.
Entering spring, March was also a busy month in the gardens. Besides maintaining our three community greenhouses, our gardening staff built a new greenhouse at the elementary school in Entronque, a small community outside of Palomas.
Meanwhile, in the education center, 286 people ranging in age from 3-45 years came for assistance or to use the computers.
As usual, our health promoters engaged in a wealth of daily activities to benefit the community throughout the month. In March alone, the promotoras:
- Prepared 806 food plates and deliveries to 26 older adults in the community;
- Led 22 Zumba classes for a total of 110 people;
- Completed 115 health screenings revisions in the office and carried out seven COVID tests, of which two came back positive;
- Held a workshop on March 16 for the elderly in the community on how to get healthy physical activity in old age, while Border Partners’ intern provided a short English class;
- Held a workshop on March 22 at the technical secondary school for two seventh grade groups, with a total of 45 students in attendance. The classes were taught by Joel Carreón, Carla Chávez and Cristal García.
As we look ahead to an April full of more events and activities, we’re grateful for the active commitment of our staff to carry out projects to the benefit of their community this last month. Thank you to all of you who make this work possible.