| | |  Vallarta Living | June 2009 
Rotary Making a Difference in Puerto Vallarta
 BainbridgeGa.com
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| | The Bainbridge Rotary Club helped provide 2 Puerto Vallarta schools with 13 computers each. | 
| | This is the area where many of the students live. The area is next to a garbage dump without running water. | 
| | Marlene Free holds an infant while the mother selects her 5 items. | 
| | This is one of the children that attends Pasitos de Luz. The seat he and others are in line the wall where they spend most of their day. | |
For the past 3 years, the Bainbridge Georgia Rotary Club has been making a difference in the educational opportunities for students in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Rotarians Dean and Marlene Free were able to see first hand what that help involves during a recent trip to Puerto Vallarta.
Presenting the update to the club, Marlene Free stated that this year they not only were able to sponsor 2 middle school students, but by teaming up with the Puerto Vallarta Rotary Club, Camilla Rotary Club and a matching grant from Rotary International, they provided 2 schools with 13 computers each, approximately 100 desks, and 56 pairs of eye glasses.
Free stated that school is very different from what we have here. The students attend school in 2 shifts, some students go in the morning and the others attend after lunch until about 7 pm. Students are only required to attend school to age 12. Then, many leave school because their families can't afford the uniforms, transportation and food or the children must go to work to help support the family.
The 2 students that the Bainbridge Rotary Club sponsors are BECAS students. The BECAS program began in 1996 and originally was designed to help get students through 9th grade. Today that program has been expanded and students can receive assistance all the way through college.
The students sponsored by the Bainbridge Rotary Club are both 13 years old. They are part of the 160 students that Rotary Clubs all over the U.S. and Canada sponsor. For the students to receive the assistance, they must maintain a B+ or better average, Free stated. She said the students they sponsor both have an A average.
When the Free's are in Puerto Vallarta, they attend the Monday meeting of the Puerto Vallarta Rotary Club. According to Free, the Puerto Vallarta Rotary Club provides help not only to the students but also the poor community. Each week the community is invited to lunch at the Rotary Pavilion. They also can attend English classes and can take 5 items from a clothing closet.
A new project that the Bainbridge and Camilla Rotary Clubs are working on in Puerto Vallarta will help supply equipment and supplies to “Pasitos de Luz” (little steps of light), Free stated.
The Frees visited Pasitos de Luz during their trip and spent some time with several of the 120 disabled children that attend the free program. Pasitos de Luz receives limited funding and was started in 1999 by a group of mothers with disabled children.
Free stated that since that time, a house has been bought for the program. She said that many of the children are there just for care while their mothers work. Others, depending on their abilities, receive instruction. Therapists also donate their time several times a week.
According to Free, Pasitos de Luz is a work in progress. Storage space has not yet been completed, bathrooms remodeled and the kitchen also is without a pantry. The grant the Bainbridge Rotary is working on will assist in acquiring the proper setting for the disabled children.
Free suggested the Rotary Club think about a work trip in the next year. |
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