Vecinos con Cariño –Neighbors Who Care Part II of II

by Murry Page
3 Mar 15
mazmessenger.com

 

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.

 

The vision of these two men was to bring the digital age into these schools by connecting the students to online lessons through a wireless Wi-Fi network. The first primary school they approached was Josefina Osuna Perez.

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.”

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.

Foreign Group Works to Donate 20,000 Tablets to Students

by Maureen Dietrict
30 Jun 14 
mazmessenger.com

The Mazatlán civil association, Vecinos con Cariño, in coordination with the State government, is planning to donate 20,000 electronic tablets to primary school children with few resources, in particular children of farm workers.

Rudy Villalobos, president of the 30-member association of foreigners living in Mazatlán, explained they want to provide portable computers at a low cost to students to give them the option of studying at home rather than leaving school.

They are going to develop a high technology industry in Mazatlán, Villalobos said, with the first order of 20,000 tablets. He has been told the Secretary of Education will pay for the tablets which will have a low cost of 1,000 pesos payable over three months.

The tablets will come equipped with all programs and internet accessibility, he said. The association will provide the internet connection signal from their center of operations in a community center in Francisco I. Madero which will span out to several areas of the municipality. 

(from Noroeste)