Ayuda a los Niños Costalegre
Ayuda los Ninos has had management problems since I can remember but because they help kids they have been pretty much untouchable and successful at hiding their problems. At least they started out mostly helping the disabled kids in Cihuatlan (CAM). With their success at fund raising they've had more money to spend on other projects and that seems to be where the trouble starts.
Bad judgement on projects, not fully consulting with communities they choose to help ... and expecting more out of these communities than they should.
The latest project is/was a school in Pinal Villa that is nearly completed but now we find it can't be used because it's in the wetlands and the waste water can't be handled legally and safely.
Right now there's an ongoing conversation on TomZap Melaque Message Board where the following pictures were posted. This reminds me of a few years ago when I was asking questions on TomZap because everyone you talked to about Ayuda los Ninos had a different story. Who wants to get involved or contribute when they won't talk to you. I was attacked by our local lunatic "Dryhouse" for trying to sabotage a good cause when all I had were questions. It sounds like the infighting this time is for real.
Last year the fund raiser was held in a public space to avoid the possible conflict of interest and money caused by holding it in a "gringo restaurant". So here we have the 'indigenous' people, probably from Villa Pinal protesting in front of Ava's restaurant where the fund raiser was held this year. With lawyers envolved I'm sure we'll hear more but if you are into helping the locals I would point my dollars towards the local Rotary Club that seems to be doing quite well with management and their projects. I just hope CAM does not suffer from this
Bad judgement on projects, not fully consulting with communities they choose to help ... and expecting more out of these communities than they should.
The latest project is/was a school in Pinal Villa that is nearly completed but now we find it can't be used because it's in the wetlands and the waste water can't be handled legally and safely.
Right now there's an ongoing conversation on TomZap Melaque Message Board where the following pictures were posted. This reminds me of a few years ago when I was asking questions on TomZap because everyone you talked to about Ayuda los Ninos had a different story. Who wants to get involved or contribute when they won't talk to you. I was attacked by our local lunatic "Dryhouse" for trying to sabotage a good cause when all I had were questions. It sounds like the infighting this time is for real.
Last year the fund raiser was held in a public space to avoid the possible conflict of interest and money caused by holding it in a "gringo restaurant". So here we have the 'indigenous' people, probably from Villa Pinal protesting in front of Ava's restaurant where the fund raiser was held this year. With lawyers envolved I'm sure we'll hear more but if you are into helping the locals I would point my dollars towards the local Rotary Club that seems to be doing quite well with management and their projects. I just hope CAM does not suffer from this
Gringo do-gooders in trouble again
1 comments:
Ayuda a los Niños Costalegre A.C. has had very few internal problems over the years. We have however, as with most charities and other organisations, had teething problems and experienced a learning curve due to the fact that we all started out as volunteers with little experience in such projects, but with a desire to help within the community. We do not have the international structure and depth of resources as does Rotary.
Each of our community projects is planned and carried out using input from the communities themselves, and most of our projects are actually initiated following requests from people or institutions within the community.
Our school/clinic project in Pinal Villa is nearing completion; children have been attending classes since December 2009. Our original budget was not enough to install the drainage system once the building had been finished, as the costs involved in raising the plane of the land above swap level were higher than the contractor had expected. We therefore consulted with SEDESOL (government sector responsible for the shelter home project), and got their approval to wait for them to finish the drainage for the shelter homes, and then connect our drainage to their system.
The conflict during the auction held at Restaurant AVA took place due to the misinformation given to the migrant farm worker families by two ex-members of our charity. The second fundraiser at the Ejido football field in Villa Obregon was successful and without negative incidents.
CAM Cihuatlán continues to receive sponsorships from Ayuda a los Niños, but unfortunately has also suffered defamation on tomzap, by Daniel Cuevas Moran. We are also currently awaiting news about a child we have been supporting continuously and is now in Guadalajara undergoing heart surgery.
We thank you for your interest and invite you to look at our website for a list of the other projects we are involved in:
http://www.ayudaalosninos.org/projects.html
We are always willing and happy to discuss our difficulties, successes and plans with anyone who identifies themselves to us.
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