San Francisco, Nayarit, Mexico – The volunteers at Entreamigos, an active community center whose primary focus is to increase educational opportunities for the children of San Pancho, tell us how they are preparing for their upcoming season of educational programs and community initiatives.
Setting Up Our Spaces Again!
After a long hiatus, we are so excited to be able to dust off our books and our upcycled products as we begin to set up our library, gallery and secondhand store! As we learn more about the restrictions that will be in place pertaining to our re-opening to the public, this is an important first step in getting literature and sustainable products into the hands of our children, teachers, families and community members.
Meet Our Staff for Next Season
Watch this short video to be introduced to some of the staff that will be joining us as we start this next season. Not featured: Nicte Priego – Gallery Manager; Isis Vivas Rodriguez – High School Tutor.
Program Adaptations for Next Season
As many of you know, Entreamigos has lots of community educational programs in addition to our public library services and after-school classes. Here are some of the ways we plan to safely adapt and continue these programs even from behind closed doors:
Tutoring Services
In a recent survey we conducted in the community, we found that most families are struggling with the online platform for education and children are falling behind in school. In response to this need, Entreamigos will have two tutors on staff working in small groups in open areas to support these students education in a safe, socially distant way.
Weekly Food Bank
Even as San Pancho slowly starts to reopen, there is still a large amount of unemployment due to reduced hours, staffing and tourism for many of the local businesses. To support our community at this time of need, we plan to continue with our food bank that provides an average of 130 food packages weekly through December.
Open Air Play Spaces
With research indicating that Covid transmission is significantly lower in outdoor spaces, Entreamigos is working hard to create inviting and safe recreational areas in our Recicla-park and Magic Garden. Our garden space, in collaboration with the Lilha Organization will also contain fruit trees for community members to have as they enjoy the peaceful atmosphere.
Recycling and Reducing
In addition to maintaining our recycling program 5 days a week, this next year we will be begin partnering with local service providers to reduce the use of single-use in out town. Taking into account the added sanitation measures that are in place, we will work together to find creative, safe and sustainable ways to replace the use of single-use plastic.
Creative Women’s Group
The women in this program will continue to learn and produce their crafts of glass cutting, sewing, and paper bead making in our Eco-Design Center. We’ll even be adding some silk screening to their skill set! We of course have accommodated the space to ensure social distancing and safety protocols. Many of their products will be feature online, so stay tuned!
Ways to Support Entreamigos
Help Us Remodel Our Park
In the next few weeks we will be hammering, digging, moving and building as we improve our outdoor, educational play space! If you would like to dust off your tool belt and volunteer with us to revamp our ReciclaPark, please email Nicole at: nicolemarie(at)entreamigos.org.mx for details!
Shop on Amazon
Did you know that you could support Entreamigos by simply shopping on Amazon? When you go to smile.amazon.com and enter Entreamigos as your beneficiary organization, you can shop with your normal account and Entreamigos receives .5% of the price of your purchase at no additional cost to you. It’s an easy and convenient way of supporting this important work.
Place Your Glass Orders
Dulce and Conny from Entreamigos’ Creative Women’s Group continue to accept glass orders. If you are in San Pancho and are interested in supporting these women by ordering your very own set of glasses made from recycled bottles, please email us at info(at)entreamigos.org.mx. Please note: Entreamigos is only able to deliver glasses locally in San Pancho and nearby towns.
Make a Donation
Monetary donations are also a HUGE support and how all of these important initiatives continue to run.
You can make a secure donation on our website via credit card or PayPal, by clicking HERE.
Thank you for continuing to support the important work of Entreamigos!
Entreamigos primary focus is to increase educational opportunities for the children of San Pancho in Nayarit Mexico. To achieve these goals Entreamigos runs an art collective non-profit store, a library, a computer center and a collection of educational and community based workshops and initiatives. Entreamigos is entirely funded by donations and almost completely run by volunteers. To learn more about our programs and activities please visit entreamigos.org.mx.