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FROM THE NORTH SHORE

  

San Pancho – News

Hola!

Elvia & I have written several times in our articles about Nicole Swedlow and her amazing contributions in working with entreamigos and the children of San Pancho.  Back in April, Nicole sent out the following email regarding plans for building a park for the children in one day!  On May 24th, 2008 they made the plan happen!!

 

Dear Friends,

In the past few years that entreamigos has been working in San Pancho we have done some neat stuff... creating a library, summer workshops, Planta San Pancho etc...  but honestly, I have never been more excited about a project than I am about RECICLA PARQUE.

RECICLA PARQUE is an initiative to build a park/playground almost entirely out of recycled materials.  It builds on the tremendous success that we have had with the recycling initiative at the elementary school and helps turn all of that amazing energy towards creating a safe, beautiful and much needed playground for children.

In the past 8 weeks, kids and parents collected more than tons of glass, plastic, cardboard and aluminum - wow!   Parents, teachers and children worked together in a way that we really had never witnessed before and to be honest, it almost completely overwhelmed our small recycling staff but what it really did was make us think... Wow, what can be done with all that enthusiasm and energy?

The elementary school has 203 children and not a single piece of play equipment, not even a pole with a rope, no tables to sit on at lunch time... nothing. 

On May 24th, children, parents and the community will get together to create a Park for our children. It will be located on the elementary school grounds directly next to the soccer field. It will be open to the public in after school hours. This is not a small project (2000m) but it will be built entirely in ONE DAY!

The one day COMMUNITY BUILD and the collection of materials and supplies is being organized by the parents themselves.  entreamigos is supporting their efforts and helping to bring sustainable building techniques and innovation to the park itself.   The RECICLA PARQUE project is not intended to be a single project.  We hope to be able to document our methods, innovation and success in such a way that it can be easily duplicated by any community with any resources. Already teams from Bucerias, Sayulita and Punta de Mita will be joining us at the event.

RECICLA PARQUE is the best project we have ever done because it is able to do so many important things at once.  RECICLA PARQUE promotes environmental responsibility and sustainability, community leadership and empowerment and safe, beautiful places for children to play.  These are all critical elements in the healthy growth of San Pancho.

HOW YOU CAN HELP...

Become a Park Sponsor  $500 usd - $5,000 usd
Support the cost of a Bench, Planter, Slide, Climbing Toy, Swing Set or other. 

BEAUTIFUL MOSAIC BENCH or PICNIC TABLE  - $500 usd donation
TINY TOTS CHILD PLAY AREA - $1,000 usd donation
GIANT SWINGS - $1,000 usd donation
AMAZING SWINGING BRIDGES PLAY TOY - $2,500 usd donation
COVERED WORKSHOPS PAVILLION - $2,500 usd donation
FILTERED DRINKING WATER SYSTEM (6 fountains) - $5,000 usd donation
Park Sponsors will be recognized on the Thank You Sign at the entrance to the park, at the Playground Toy itself and on Build Day T-shirts.

Donate your "crew" to help us on Build Day.
Build Day is a Saturday when many San Pancho parents will still be working.  Bring down your "crew" to help us build a park for the children! 

Purchase an engraved Brick to be placed in the park  $100 usd
Engraved Pavers will carry your house name, family name or an "In honor of..." or "In memory of..."  message.  They will be placed forever in the park.  40 character limit.

Donate Materials and Supplies
We need your leftover building supplies, broken tiles for mosaics, car tires, wood etc..

Volunteer on Build Day, May 24th!
We are pre-registering Build Day Volunteers.  We need every kind of help from serving food to playing with kids to building walls and mixing concrete.  Sign up now!  

As always, entreamigos depends on your commitment to make real changes for the children of San Pancho.  We are always amazed by the generosity of this community.  thank you.

Below are details on how to make a tax-deductible donation to entreamigos.

1. To use a credit card please visit www.paypal.com  choose the SEND MONEY tab and enter entreamigos.sanpancho@gmail.com as the recipient.

2. Please send a check made out to entreamigos to:
  entreamigos
c/o John Arner
P.O. box 1373
Blue Jay, CA 92317

3. Your house administrator can bring a cash donation to entreamigos and we will provide them with a receipt.

Your donation is TAX-DEDUCTIBLE.  Receipts will be provided.

Thank you all.

Take care,

Nicole – Email: nrswedlow@gmail.com

……………………………………………………………………………………………………….

International Festival Amado Nervo
sanpancho

San Pancho was the site chosen by the state of Nayarit to host the 2008 Festival Amado Nervo in the Riviera Nayarit area.  This festival carries the name as a tribute to Nayarit poet, Amado Nervo, considered one of the best poets in Mexican history.  Amado Nervo was born in Tepic, Nayarit in 1870 & died in 1919.  If you are curious to learn more about him, please “google” Amado Nervo on the internet.

The festival lasted four nights from 6 pm (to late), starting Thrusday, May 22nd through Sunday, May 25th, 2008.  This was a quick decision by the state of Nayarit and within two weeks the festival was here with an army of people making sure everything would be ready for the planned dates.  The governments´ involvement was obvious.  It is amazing how great things can happen so fast when there is a will and resources to back it.

San Pancho was dressed up with colorful decorations from one side of the pueblo to the other.  The main street was groomed and many plants were planted to beautify the street (including the entrance of San Pancho by the highway).  Every evening was opened with a special parade for that night.  All the events were free and great musicians, comedians and dancers performed for us all during this incredible weekend of fun.

sanpanchoThe intention of the Government, the community and the Colectivo San Pancho is to promote San Pancho as a Cultural Center.  Lately the government has laid its´ eyes on San Pancho because there exists a wonderful art community with exciting programs already in place - so the conditions were just right.

The Festival lasted four days with the locations of the shows different everyday.  Thursday the show was held at the Bodegas by the entrance to town - On Friday the show was held at the plaza - On Saturday music concerts and dancing were held the beach - And on Sunday, the show was held again at the Bodegas.  Thousands of people enjoyed these amazing four days!!

The Bodegas have silently been waiting for their time to come back from the abandonment they have endured for the last 23 years or so.  The Bodegas were a great set up for the opening and closing of the festival and it was thrilling to see this beautiful space opened up for such an event!  All of sudden there is a lot of interest in San Pancho and the rumors are that these Bodegas will be a Cultural Center and San Pancho will become the “Art Capital of The Riviera Nayarit Enhorabuena San Pancho”.  Congratulations San Pancho!! Email to a friend

sanpancho sanpancho
sanpancho      sanpancho

Until next time,

Elvia & Geno
E-mail: genolamphiear@hotmail.com

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