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Last time I talked about the beginning of one of
Mazatlán’s newest charities, Vecinos con Cariñó. It was founded by Rudy
Villalobos and his partner Robert “Bob” Strasser. The primary purpose of their
new charity was to provide a quality education to Mazatlán’s children who live
in its poorer colonias.
When Rudy and Bob made their initial presentation of their idea to the director and teachers at the school a surprise attendee was Victor Sandoval. Victor Sandoval is Regional Director for Mazatlán, the head of all the public primary schools located in Mazatlán. He was so impressed with the concept and the potential it promised his students he offered to create the online lessons for Vecínos con Cariño.
He chose ten of the brightest and most dedicated teaching supervisors in Mazatlán. They gathered as a team at the Administration Offices for Mazatlán’s public primary schools and started to develop for the Vecínos con Cariño project online lessons from the government issued school books.
While lessons were being developed a state sponsored technology seminar was held at the Convention Center. Rudy and Bob decided to go. It just so happened that Dr. Leonardo Germán Gandarilla, President of Universidad Polytechnica of Sinaloa (UPSIN), was present. UPSIN is regarded as one of the top technological universities in México. A friend of Rudy’s introduced Rudy and Bob to Germán Gandarilla. Within a few minutes the president grabbed one of his attending professors and the group talked about what Vecínos con Cariño wanted to do. The synergy between the two organizations quickly became apparent to everyone.
It is common in Canada and the United States for universities to work hand in hand with businesses. That doesn’t exist in the same way in México and in the case of UPSIN it did not exist at all. Rudy, Bob and Germán Gandarilla quickly saw how their collaboration could fuel innovation and help the UPSIN students gain both the technical skills and ability to carry innovation forward as they leave the school and enter the workforce.
A partnership between UPSIN and Vecínos con Cariño would permit the university to be the first of México’s Technical Universities to research and build something for business. Bob saw a potential workforce for the production of his needed tablets and UPSIN saw the opportunity to retain more of its students in Mazatlán after graduation, as more than 80 percent of its graduates leave the city because there are no jobs for them. Before long students from UPSIN were working on a prototype tablet for Vecínos con Cariño.
Although Rudy and Bob had obtained the right to connect their Wi-Fi network to Sinaloa’s fiber optic network, the termination point for the state’s network was in community centers and other locations not close enough for a wireless connection to Mazatlán’s elementary schools. Rudy’s and Bob’s first school, Josefina Osuna Perez, was an exception. It was close to a community center. They needed land on which to build towers to wirelessly connect the students’ devices to a distant server, an expensive proposition.
As Bob was walking pass a Cobaes school one day, he noticed a large tower on the school’s building. He wondered how it was used and if Vecínos con Cariño could gain access to it. He mentioned it to Rudy, who just happened to know a retired director of the Cobaes schools in Mazatlán.
When Rudy and Bob met with the officials of Cobaes they discovered another win-win situation. Each Cobaes school had a tower, which often failed when they lost their government connection. But, their biggest problem was their inability to network all the Cobaes schools in the city. Bob offered to network their schools, if Vecínos con Cariño could use their towers to network Mazatlán’s primary schools. An agreement was reached. And, just a week ago Cobaes agreed to permit Vecínos con Cariñoto use all of their towers throughout the state.
By October of last year Rudy and Bob had school lessons that had been prepared by the teaching supervisors, the towers to connect the schools, and the software Bob had developed to make everything work. They decided to develop a promotional video to show government officials, teachers, and school directors how students could benefit by bringing the digital age to their schools. They chose a first grade class in the poor colonia of Valle Bonito. Computers were provided to the first grade children who had never received any schoolroom instruction on how to use a computer.
Fifteen teachers, supervisors and administrative personnel from around the city were present
Within a matter of minutes the inquisitive children had figured out how make their computers respond and they proceeded with lesson one. Very little intervention was provided by teachers. In most cases a question was quickly answered by a nearby classmate. The excitement and innate curiosity of engaged children flooded the classroom. In the allotted hour some students completed lesson one and figured out how to proceed to lesson two.
Rudy’s and Bob’s idea has gone beyond its original scope. All primary public schools in Mazatlán are in the process of being connected to their Wi-Fi network. They hope that all 65 primary schools will be connected by August of this year. UPSIN is scheduled to complete the tablet prototype within the next few months.
It has been a long time since I have heard or read a story with serendipity written all over it. But the story told to me by Rudy Villalobos and Bod Strasser certainly broke the long dry spell. We all have our beliefs and one of mine is that at times a force, unknown to us, steps in and gives us a hand. I call that serendipity. If someone were to question me, Vecínos con Cariño would be my Exhibit “A.”
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