Villa Pinal Primary School

A group in the Melaque area that doesn't seem to need to broadcast it's good deeds to the Gringo community is San Patricio by the Sea, an interdenominational church located bewteen San Particio and Villa Obregon. This project particularly interested me because this school is about three blocks from the house I'm building in Pinal Villa. A link to their web site is below if you want to look further into their projects.

Villa Pinal Primary School:

The Community Support Fund task force, with church board approval, agreed to take on the 4 priorities that the 3 teachers at the school determined to be of high priority:

1. A consistent water supply. A new water pump was installed by the principal and a teacher

2. Ceiling fans for one of the classrooms. A new ceiling fan was installed

3. Paint for the existing classrooms. Paint was purchased and the actual painting was done by volunteers from the community

4. Improvements to the open, tin-roof, cardboard walled "classroom".

The task force and church board deemed the classroom unsuitable for repair and recommended replacing it with a new classroom.

Preparations, plans and permits made with the approval of educational authorities led to the building of a concrete, post and beam classroom, with a reinforced roof which will allow for a second story classroom at a future date.

Original classroom

Building the new one

Offical opening

Inside new classroom

Kids lined up for inauguration 
San Patricio by the Sea

Homage to migrants in Melaque

The article below is from the Guadalajara Reporter and I guess they know this new complex is in Pinal Villa - with many of the migrants living there or Jaluco. I was out in Pinal working on my place last week and took a few fotos. Very nicely built, three large buildings with outdoor spaces and Gilliam's work adds a nice touch

Well-known muralist Ed Gilliam is creating a new work on a building in Villa Pinal, near Melaque. The 18-meter-long piece reflects the lives of indigenous migrant workers. The complex will eventually house an educational building, a health clinic and housing for 60 to 70 people. Details of Gilliam's mural

Gilliam has traveled and studied in Europe, Asia and Mexico. He has exhibited internationally and has permanent collections in major museums in the United States. Born in Denver, Colorado, he lived in Los Angeles for 20 years. He now lives in Melaque.

Guadalajara Reporter Article



The three Buildings


Classrooms

Hurricane season starts May 15th - 2010

The Eastern Pacific Hurricane season runs from May 15 to November 30

Track Eastern Pacific weather here

All the major forecasting is done by the US covering what will effect the US which means the Atlantic coast and the Gulf of Mexico. Very few Eastern Pacific hurricanes effect the western US. The best I can assume is both areas will be somewhat similar.

The 2010 hurricane season is predicted to be more active than the average for the 1950-2000 seasons. The December 2009 report estimates approximately 11-16 named storms, 6-8 hurricanes and 3-5 major hurricanes occurring during the 2010 Atlantic hurricane season, which is more typical of years in an active era, such as the 1995 season.

The forecast utilizes a statistical methodology derived from 58 years of past data and climate-related global and regional predictors. The effects of El Nino or La Nina also have an impact on the frequency of hurricanes. El Nino creates warmer water, and stronger winds that rip tropical depressions apart before they become tropical storms or hurricanes. La Nina creates cooler water, resulting in more hurricanes. Based on these facts, it is forecasted that El Nino conditions now in effect will weaken.

Melaque Mirador

If you haven't been up to the Mirador lately you should give it a try. The road has been widened drastically but will get rough again with the summer rains. I assume widened for the large trucks heading up to the construction going on beyond the Mirador.

Very nice views from up top and as you can see it's still green which is rare this time of year. The Mirador is also a favorite 'Lovers Lane'

Mirador Road

View of Melaque

View of "Chicken Beach"

This is from TomZap's aerial Fotos of the coast
And the new construction

Ayuda a los Niños in the news again

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

Gringo do-gooders in trouble again