Vecinos con Cariño –Neighbors Who Care Part I of II

by Murry Page
16 Feb 15
mazmessenger.com

 

I like the word serendipity. I just don’t like it when someone inserts the word “luck” into the definition.

 

When the word was coined by Horace Walpole in 1754 he used it in a letter he wrote to a friend in which he explained an unexpected discovery he had made while reading a Persian fairy tale, The Three Princes of Serendipity. He noted that the princes were “always making discoveries, by accidents and sagacity, of things which they were not in quest of.” He did not suggest it was because of chance, i.e., luck. He said the discoveries were made by accident e.g., without an apparent cause, and by sagacity, i.e., good judgment.

I believe when a serendipitous event presents itself, it’s the Universe that serves up the situation and then it is up to us to grasp that event, which seems to us without an apparent cause, and act on it through the innate wisdom that lies within us.

Too philosophical? Maybe. But, that word kept running through my mind as I sat and talked to my friend Rudy Villalobos and Robert “Bob” Strasser, the founders of Vecinos con Cariño. I’ve known Rudy since the days we both volunteered for Friends of México (FOM) in Mazatlán. Rudy served as its president for three years and led the organization’s efforts in helping Mazatlán’s young students, among other things. He has always had a passion for the education of México’s children and knew his three year stint would not quench his desire to help deliver the best education possible for the city’s less fortunate children.

One day Gayle, Rudy’s wife, invited a relatively new Mazatlán resident to visit Josefina Osuna Perez, a primary school located in one of the city’s poorer colonias and supported by FOM. That invitee was Bob Strasser. Like most us on our first visit to one of Mazatlán’s underprivileged primary schools, Bob was shocked at what he saw; the lack of resources a child needs in order to learn. Again, as with most, he fell in love with the children, their playfulness and their eagerness to learn.

Bob’s background is in computers and thoughts began to race through his mind. Before moving to Mazatlán Bob worked in a small native village north of Vancouver, BC in the digital delivery of educational materials. He could see similarities between the two situations and said to himself, “If the schools don’t have the educational resources they need, let’s bring them to the school through a Wi-Fi network.”

Over the next few months he and Rudy discussed the idea. Rudy’s term of office at FOM was over and he and Bob decided to form an organization that would focus exclusively on helping to provide Mazatlán’s children living in its poorest colonias with an education as good as those children attending private schools. In March of 2012 they formed Vecinos con Cariño, which loosely translates as “Neighbors who Care.”

Their goal of providing a Wi-Fi network for Josefina Osuna Perez was going to take time.
When Vecinos con Cariño was formed the Mexican government was providing English classes for the first through sixth grades. So, while Bob and Rudy began their work, Rudy started conversational English classes with Vecinos con Cariño volunteers to help the children more quickly assimilate the new language. He saw schools that lacked the basics, such as white boards, desks, and toilets. To the extent he could garner volunteers and money; he tackled those impediments to a child’s education, as well.

While this was going on Rudy and Bob approached Leti Morales, the Director of Josefina Osuna Perez, and told her about their idea, which was enthusiastically received. In October of 2012 they made a presentation to the school’s administration. Attending the presentation were others from the school system who had heard about their digital learning concept. They were all taken aback at the potential.

Rudy is friends with Lissy Bernal Osuna, who then served as an assistant to Sinaloa’s Governor Mario López Valdez, and in December he explained to her their concept of digitally connecting the schools through a Wi-Fi network and the favorable response they had received. Lizzy told Rudy that the governor was going to be in Villa Unión the following day and that he needed to talk to the governor. She hurriedly put together a meeting between the two. Surprisingly, Karim Pechir Espinosa de los Monteros, the head of the newly formed Ministry of Technological Innovation for the state, was also in Villa Unión.

Oddly enough only three months before this meeting in Villa Unión Karim Pechir had announced the “Digital Sinaloa State.” It was a program to digitally connect Sinaloa’s communities to the government’s fiber optic network. The plan was to have 190 internet points located in 75 communities. According to him, this would permit the digital connection of 70 percent of the state’s population to the state’s network.

Bob and Rudy explained their concept to the Secretariat of Technological Innovation. After an enthusiast hour discussion of the concept, an agreement was reached and in September of 2013 Josefina Osuna Perez’s internet connection to the state’s fiber optic network was completed.

Although Vecinos con Cariño’s had connected Mazatlán’s first school there was still a lot to do.

Rudy and Bob had demonstrated that these young students could now access digital lessons, once they had been created, with one computer and a projector at their school. But, Rudy and Bob wanted to provide each student with a tablet of their own.

They knew neither the schools nor the students could afford to pay much for a tablet and Bob made a commitment to himself and Rudy to deliver a tablet for no more than 1,000 pesos ($77).

Next time I want to continue with this story of serendipity and talk about designing the tablets, developing the lessons for the students, and connecting Mazatlán’s elementary schools to the Wi-Fi network.