Letter from the founder and director of Bien de Mujer, Aine Ni

Bien de Mujer has just posted its annual report for the past year 2010 online, please view the report in its entirety here.  This is the introduction from the founder and director, Aine Ni:

Dear Friends,

Looking back on the year 2010, I feel an enormous sense of gratitude to the hard-working, dedicated team of people who work with Bien De Mujer as well as all the generous people who supported us. It is amazing what dreaming, with a large dose of hard work and support, can accomplish.

Three years ago, we started the Granos Solidarios program with 24 women; today, we have 102 women and 40 additional women on a waiting list!  One of the unexpected rewards is witnessing the strong, genuine bond of friendship and solidarity that has developed through the women’s work.  They not only understand, but live “united we stand.”

 Like Granos Solidarios, our Illori Children’s program has also grown over the past three years; this year 160 children attended our Annual Children’s Christmas Party.  Each week, we continue to provide “playshops” which seek to nurture the mind, body and spirit of each child.  We are also co-creating workshops with other children’s welfare organizations such as the Scouts of Costa Rica.

This past year, we decided it was time to create our own safe, unique education, play and community center, to house our programs and projects, in the slums of Costa Rica. Therefore, we raised funds to purchase 3 houses, which we are currently remodeling and transforming into our vision for an eco-conscious, spirit-inspired community center.  Please visit our blog at https://biendemujer.wordpress.com/, to follow our progress.

The theme of 2010 seems to be growth, because we have also outgrown the building hosting our early childhood development educational program, Canto al Sol, in el Alto de Guadalupe.  Currently, we are working with 40 pre-school children, with a waiting list for 16 more children!  So we are starting to look at other locations, spaces that can allow us to serve more children.

 Just recently, we implemented social media networks, so now you can find us on FaceBook and Twitter, as well as our blog.  And yes, since “Bienestar y Desarollo de la Mujer” is a mouthful, we legally shortened our name to Bien de Mujer.

 Yes, this past year had its fair share of challenges, but despite temporary obstacles, we seem to keep growing in the amount of people we serve, the amount of people volunteering, and in support.  We are grateful everyday for this abundance!  We hope you share in our joy, while you read through the following pages, and know that we could not have accomplished all these things without your invaluable support.

Aine Ni

Founder and Director of Bien de Mujer

Saturday at La Sabana with the Scouts of Costa Rica

This past Saturday, Bien de Mujer took 3 bus-loads of children and their mothers from the slums of La Carpio to La Sabana Parque, one of the most beautiful parks in all of San Jose, for a day of outdoor play.  We had a total of 120 children and 30 mothers who started off the day with a pancake picnic in the park.

The Scouts of Costa Rica arrived about 10:30 am to work with the children aged 11 and up, preparing them for their big summer camping trip (coming up in July.)  So while the older group was learning how to make knots and basic camping skills, the younger kids played group games, learned some new songs, played on the playgrounds of La Sabana, and even had a treasure hunt!  Ending a perfect day with a healthy lunch picnic and ice cream with mangoes for dessert!

For more photos of this Saturday in the Parque, please visit our FaceBook page!

Ilori Education Program puts the “play” back in playshop!

Over the past month, at every Ilori Educational Program “playshop” with the children of La Carpio, we have been using Wise Heart Books’ Smart Values Series.  Each book contains an important message for children, such as building a strong and healthy body or cultivating positive thoughts and habits, or developing love for oneself and the world around them.  Therefore, we have created group and individual activities centered around the values presented in the books.

In addition to inspiring and educating readers, as well as promoting literacy among the children, every sale of a Wise Heart Book generates funding for our Ilori Children’s Educational Program in La Carpio. 

We have been using Wise Heart Books’ Smart Values Series, which is a collection of five delightful stories that help children understand the positive and transformative nature of good values.  Each story describes how certain values – such as generosity, cleanliness, and honesty – can change us for the better.

About Annie the Ant:

Annie the Ant is having a hard time watching over her friends, Lazy and Hasty. Lazy never wants to work hard like the other ants in the colony, and Hasty is always getting into trouble because she always leaps before she thinks. When Annie and her friends are endangered by a cat, the two wayward ants have a chance to change themselves and save the day.

The kids read Annie the Ant together, followed by a facilitated group discussion about the values of hard work, patience, and cooperation.  In order to make sure the kids understood the message, they were asked to re-create the story as a drama and did some accompanying art work.

About Manny the Mouse:

After losing his tail to the baker’s cat, Manny the mouse quickly learns the consequences of stealing flour from the bakery. In this delightful and twisted tale of a tail, the mouse learns the importance of respecting what belongs to others.

The kids read Manny the Mouse together, followed by a facilitated group discussion about why stealing is wrong.  They played “pin the tail” on Manny the Mouse and even made character masks, which they used to act out scenes from the story.

They just started reading Captain Grimy, who happens to be the dirtiest, most miserable, one-legged sea captain in the world, who likes nothing better than to pollute the seas.  There is a lot to learn from Captain Grimy’s story, lessons about the importance of personal hygiene as well as respect for our environment.

Other books in the Smart Values Series include:

The Magic Bucket

The Wise Woman of the Mountain

Please make sure to check out our FaceBook page for videos and photos of these playshops with the children!

You too, can use Wise Heart Books to teach values to your children and know that each sale is a tangible way to support our Ilori Children’s Educational Programs in La Carpio!

By the way, Happy Semana Santa to all!

Urgent Opportunity to help complete our vision for our women & children’s center!

As you may know, we have been busy transforming two neglected buildings into on our women and children’s community playground and education center in La Carpio; home to our Ilori Children’s Education programs and our local women’s group, Granos Solidarios.  Recently, very serendipitously, the house on the other side of the first building came up for sale, and we knew, in our hearts, this was meant to be for the expansion and completion of our vision for the women and children’s center.

Therefore, we took a huge leap of faith; vigorously negotiated with the owner (bargained down to $17,000 USD total!); and managed to scrape $14,000 USD together, required for the down payment.  We signed the papers on Monday, February 28^th –now, we have until the end of March (March 31 is the deadline!) to come up with the remaining $3000 to “seal the deal.”

Therefore, we are appealing to our neighbors, supporters, and fans to contribute to pulling $3000 USD together by March 31.  Twenty dollars here and $50 there, adds up quickly; no contribution is too small!  Already individuals, companies and peer organizations are working with us to make our vision a reality.  A local donated a double-door fridge.  Local companies have pledged to assist us with creating an organic and aesthetic garden, the design and construction of the playground, as well as interior furnishings.

Grupo Armonia, a local collective of environmental professionals and artists, which seeks to connect and facilitate ecological consciousness movements throughout Costa Rica and Central America, and actively promotes the reconnection of humanity with the spirit of the earth through various activities, workshops, and the muy popular “Feria Verde” (Saturday morning Green Farmer’s Market in Barrio Aranjuez, San Jose), has hooked us up with an eco-architect!  They will also be designing and creating a “vertical” organic veggie garden, as frequently used in urban permaculture.

Cemex has already donated a truck load of cement, and Mecco, another local company, has donated a truck of sand and gravel.  In others words, we are getting to our complete vision for the women and children’s center at a rapid pace and all we need to seal the deal is $3000.  Therefore, if there is any amount you can share, please donate here:

 

Or if you happen to be in Costa Rica, you can always donate directly to the Women’s Wellbeing and Development Foundation, Costa Rica at our bank:

Nombre: BAC San José, Costa Rica
Swift: BSNJCRSJ
Nombre del banco: BAC San José, Costa Rica
Número de cuenta: 906417993 (Moneda extranjera y americana)
Número de cuenta: 906418017

Thank you again for all your time, consideration, and support.  And before I forget, Happy International Women’s Day!

Meet our neighbors in La Carpio, Costa Rica

Every time I mention I work in “La Carpio” to a Costa Rican, they grimace and ask, “But isn’t that dangerous?”  This reaction is most likely because the only times “La Carpio” is mentioned in the local media it involves drugs, crime or violence.  Most visitors to Costa Rica have never even heard of La Carpio because the local media (and the tourism industry) is proficient at covering up any blemishes on the face of Paradise.  But yes, despite Pura Vida, there is poverty, disease, crime, and neglect in Costa Rica; however, most of it seems to be isolated to one particular San Jose neighborhood:  La Carpio.

Founded by squatters in the mid-1990s, La Carpio’s estimated 40,000 residents, around half of whom are immigrants and refugees from Nicaragua and other Central American countries, live in an area of 296 square kilometers, encircled by two heavily polluted rivers and the city landfill (which receives over 700 tons of waste daily.)  As a matter of fact, more garbage-per-capita comes from the wealthy, predominantly ex-patriot community of Escazu into the La Carpio landfill, than from La Carpio residents themselves.*

Forgoing the obvious environmental hazards of living in La Carpio, like most “slums” throughout the world, public infrastructure such as schools, clinics, roads, security, and sanitation systems are under-resourced or plainly neglected; unemployment is high; drug and alcohol abuse is common; low levels of education; large families with single parent homes; and there is a high prevalence of HIV and other chronic diseases.

Without getting into the complicated reasons why such a place continues to exist in a country whose pride and reputation lie in being an eco-progressive, peaceful “social democracy”, I will refer you to more qualified (and eye-opening) resources such as

http://www.envio.org.ni/articulo/2782
http://insidecostarica.com/dailynews/2008/october/04/nac04.htm
http://www.monitor.upeace.org/innerpg.cfm?id_article=547

It is within this context that we, at the Women’s Wellbeing and Development Foundation/Bien de Mujer, are actively building our women and children’s community playground and education center, which seeks to be a safe, eco-conscious, community education and resource center for both local women and children living in La Carpio.

Women helping women in La Carpio, Granos Solidarios

Created and supported by the Women’s Wellbeing and Development Foundation/Bien de Mujer (WWDF/Bien de Mujer), Granos Soldarios seeks to empower women living in the slums of San Jose, Costa Rica, to utilize their economic, social, intellectual, and spiritual potential to achieve personal growth and the integrated development of their communities.  Granos Soldarios began as one small group of women, mostly living in La Carpio, gathering to pull their economic and personal resources together to make sure all their families had food to eat and to address emergency needs.

Over the past few years, this single group of dedicated women has bloomed into two groups of women:  currently, 63 women living in La Carpio and 35 women from San Juan de Dios, an equally poor neighborhood in San Jose.  The majority of these women are unemployed, single parent, refugees from Nicaragua; with low levels of education and large families.  Several of the women are living with HIV and other chronic diseases.

Operating like a co-operative, for 8,500 colones ($17 USD) a month, each Granos Solidarios member gets 10kg of rice, 1 liter of oil, 3 kg of beans, 2 kg of sugar, and 250 gr of coffee for their family, per month.  In the event that a Granos Solidarios member is unable to meet the group monthly food investment of 8,500 colones, the other women chip in to help.

In addition to pulling their economic resources together for food, the women have created a peer support group; actively fundraise for emergency family expenses; and have started their own businesses:  making and selling tamales, and selling second-hand clothes.  The women’s groups also regularly participate in life skills, parenting skills and health education workshops organized by WWDF/Bien de Mujer, and they voluntarily assist with WWDF/Bien de Mujer’s Ilori Children’s Education programs.  (For example, Granos Solidarios prepared and distributed lunch to the 200+ guests at the Annual Children’s Christmas Party, last December—click here for photos of this amazing party!)

Each Granos Solidarios group has elected a peer leader and each group meets once a week:  the La Carpio group meets every Friday at a member’s house, and the San Juan de Dios group meets every Thursday at Parque de la Paz.  Ercy Mendez, a trained counselor and educator who works for WWDF/Bien de Mujer, oversees both groups.   As soon as the women and children’s community playground and education center is ready, Granos Solidarios will be meeting and working out of the center in La Carpio.

This month, the women of Granos Soldarios are busy putting together an action plan for 2011.  This plan will include workshops, starting some more group income-generation projects, and assisting in the renovations and development of the women and children’s community playground and education center in La Carpio.  We will keep you posted!

For photos of the Granos Solidarios Christmas party, last December, please click here.

*If you have some talents or skills you would like to share with the Granos Soldarios, please do not hesitate to contact Ercy Mendez, at ercymtr@yahoo.com . To contribute to the Granos Solidarios: http://www.wwd-f.org/help.html

 

More gratitude for the Children’s Christmas party, from the mothers and children themselves!

This past Tuesday, January 18, felt like a family reunion between the Women’s Wellbeing and Development Foundation/Bien de Mujer staff and the women and children we work with in La Carpio.  Because our women and children’s community education center is still under renovation, 35 kids, a few mothers, and we, all gathered at a local church in La Carpio for some value-teaching group games and exercises, as well as fruit and biscuits.

Authentic gratitude for our Children’s Christmas Party was tangible, and we just wanted to share some of these sentiments:

From the Mothers:

The Xmas party was very beautiful, very well organized. The kids enjoyed it very much!  They gave us food and the gifts were fantastic.  Thank you very much for everything.

Maria Isabel Suarez Gonzalez, Mother

My name is Jazmina Pupiro and I went to the party with my 5 children.  It was a wonderful party:  there was a pool, games, food, ice cream and cake, and beautiful gifts!

Jazmina Pupiro, Mother

Everything was fantastic!  The gifts, the pool!  I liked the games very much.  My daughter loved the pool and her gift.

Maria Rizo, Mother

I loved everything about the party.  The children loved their gifts and had a lot of fun. They enjoyed the food– it was a great surprise for them.  These workshops are very good for the children, they learn a lot in them and they help them a lot. The people that organize them are very good people and they really are great with the children.

Jaquelin Caliz Soza, Mother

I am very grateful to these wonderful people for everything they do for the children.  The party was wonderful.  Thank you so much.

Martha Paniagua, Mother

From some of the kids:

My name is Amanda and the party was beautiful and wonderful.  I will never forget it.  Thank you so much.

Amanda, 13 years old

I loved the party!  Thank you to everybody that organized this party for us, children.

Leyter Dixon Caliz, 12 years old

It was fabulous!  I was very happy that Ercy and Sonia were there, they are very good people.

Emmanuel, 13 years old

I loved the party, especially the pool! Keilyn Patricia, 11 years old

I loved everything about the party, especially the gifts, cannot wait to go again! Dana Paola Cruz, 12 years old

I enjoyed the party very much and I really loved the pool. Genesis Zuniga, 9 years old

For me, I loved everything about the party, especially the gifts. Paola Ortiz, 13 years old

Then we asked the little ‘uns:  “What part of the Christmas Party was your favorite?”

The pool, I wanted to swim three times! Valery, 5 years old

Everything! Henrito, 3 years old

Santa and the gifts!       Alison Nicole, 5 years old

The gifts, the ice cream and the jumping castles!        Jacol, 6 years old

The jumping castles and Santa! Angie, 5 years old

Again, this unforgettable experience for the kids, parents, and us, would not have been possible without all the hard-working volunteers and all the generous donations from people like you!  Gracias por todo!

A day in La Carpio

I would love to do a survey of tourists and Costa Ricans (who live outside of San Jose), and ask them if they have ever heard of “La Carpio”?  I suspect most of them, both visitors and Ticos alike, will answer “no.”  “La Carpio” is basically the “slums” of San Jose and like most slums, unless you live there or have family there, no one ever visits, much less wants to accidentally end up there while trying to find the San Pedro Mall.

The Women’s Well-Being and Development Foundation (WWD-F) , known in Costa Rica as “Bien de Mujer“,  is one of the few local women-designed and operated; non-profit, community-based organizations specifically addressing the well-being, internal and external development, and quality education and empowerment of women and children living in La Carpio.  (Just my cup of coffee!)

Previously, I was just a fan and supporter of the quality work of WWD-F; now, I am a volunteer member of this extraordinary, international team of powerful, inspired, and resourceful women.  WWD-F might be new to you, but I have done some pro bono consulting with them in the past, as well as actively promoted last year’s big children’s Christmas party.

For the time being, I am taking on various roles with WWD-F which range from promoting this year’s Annual Children’s Christmas Party (which will be held on DEC 21); working on their new website (http://www.wwd-f.org/index.html) as well as assisting in the design of an integrated social media communications and marketing plan; and marketing their new series of children’s books, called Wise Heart Books, which focus on teaching values to children in a fun, memorable way.

Current projects of the Women’s Well-Being and Development Foundation (WWD-F):

• Experiential, uplifting children’s education program called Ilori Educational Program, which includes “playshops”, fieldtrips, and events/activities outside of La Carpio.
• Educational Center Canto Al Sol: a preschool located in Lomas de Tepeyac, San Jose– with programs such as yoga, swimming, music and the arts, in addition to early childhood development education.
• Wise Heart children’s books—which will partially fund all current WWD-F projects
• Women’s Support Group called Granos Solidarios, which is currently working on putting together a small group business, in addition to training and support in conflict resolution; parenting skills; nutrition; self-esteem development; community organization; and holistic health care.
• The Sattva Vita Complementary  Health Care Center, located in Guadalupe, San Jose, which is staffed by certified Aryuvedic practitioners and other professional alternative and holistic health providers.

WWD-F just purchased two buildings in La Carpio (and intend to purchase a third building) and are actively in the process of transforming this series of buildings, in the middle of the slums, into an eco-friendly, safe, welcoming, and most importantly, fun women and children’s community education center with everything from an organic garden and playground to classrooms, library and computer lab and more! 

For information about WWD-F:  http://www.wwd-f.org/index.html

By Kelly N Patterson