Alice talks about her amazing experience at our newest healthcare program

Voice from the field,  May 17, 2013 - Alice

As the first volunteer to work on the new healthcare program, I was excited to visit the special needs school to learn how it runs. The school is run by a group of the most dedicated and energetic mothers, three days per week. On top of running the school, they care for their own children with special needs, 24 hours per day and attend a busy schedule of therapy sessions.

During my stay, I was able to be involved in the centre’s equine therapy and music therapy programs as well as private therapy sessions. At the request of the school staff, we created learning materials so the staff can teach road safety and assisted with initiating a clothing drive to raise funds for the school.

I was pleased to find that despite having never learnt Spanish before, I could still manage to interact with the children and staff, most of the time, in other ways. I drew many similarities between therapy modes used at the centre and back home in Australia where I work as an Occupational Therapist. The mother’s explained that they had learnt their skills by attending workshops across the country.

I think it’s very exciting for GVI to be initiating this program to assist these tireless mothers to provide the best opportunities to these children. I look forward to following the GVI blog to see how this program develops!

Alice talks about her amazing experience at our newest healthcare program

Clare's story from Divemaster to Instructor great achievement!

Voice from the field,  May 16, 2013 - Clare James

After an incredible three months of living and working at Pez Maya. I have chosen to undertake my Divemaster course in the small fishing village of Xcalac, which is located far down south of the Yucatan Peninsula, on the Belize, Mexico border. XTC dive centre is blessed with outstanding diving. In one day I was lucky enough to see two nurse sharks, two porcupine fish, moray eels, four rays including eagle rays, turtles, manatees and an abundance of other fish species and healthy corals. This is not at all unusual for a day’s diving in Xcalac and the outstanding diversity of marine life is due to the creation of the marine park which was set up when the local fishermen realised that the area was being overfished. By creating the park the local fishermen have ensured future sustainability, and improved biodiversity.

On completing my Divemaster course I am planning on doing my Instructor course, which is an invaluable ticket to living in many incredible areas of the world and pursuing my career as an underwater photographer. Having always enjoyed photography I decided to invest in an underwater housing and after using it for the last four months I have developed a passion for underwater photography. I hope to use my photos in order to raise awareness of the beauty and diversity of the marine life in this area and to improve understanding of the threats that coral reefs face.

If you are interested in Mexico and the marine life of the Yucatan Peninsula, please take a moment to have a look at my website http://clarejames100.wix.com/photography

Clare's story from Divemaster to Instructor great achievement!

Wow!! Training, Turtles and even weddings last week at Pez Maya

Romance was in the air at Pez Maya this week, two former volunteers returned to exchange vows in the company of friends and relatives on the beach where they had met during their phases with the crystal blue waves lapping gently behind them. The bride was a vision in a long white dress with her groom beamed ecstatically while he awaited her as she made her way down the aisle to the sound of an acoustic guitar. It was a wonderful event to behold.

Everyone has been working hard on the various courses they have been doing. All of the volunteers are progressing swiftly through the stages towards becoming monitors with Maj Britt making it to the final stage and becoming a monitor and a couple of others being close on her heels as practice monitors. Also, the latest group of Emergency First Responders passed their tests this week and are now qualified to save our lives, after asking permission of course.

We have been having amazing weather lately allowing us to dive every day although sun burn has become more prominent. There have been sightings of turtles in the area giving us high hopes for the new turtle project that is starting next week.

Wow!! Training, Turtles and even weddings last week at Pez Maya

An amazing day at the paradise!

Voice from the field May 10, 2013

What better way is there to spend your morning than lying on the beautiful Caribbean beach of Playa Del Carmen with it’s dazzling white sand and it’s glittering turquoise water. This is how I like to start my day. After a relaxing few hours by the sea, I make my way up to the Spanish school. However, it is no ordinary school, each classroom is a little hut surrounded by brightly colored flowers and wildlife.

It’s such a tropical and relaxing setting that I find myself not wanting to leave. I usually follow my intensive Spanish class with a traditional Mexican dish such as a torta or quesadilla, and I always like chatting to the locals as they’re all so friendly. After a fairly relaxing morning of being surrounded by tourists I suddenly transform into a local. I put my GVI volunteer shirt on and catch the local bus with my fellow volunteers and all of a sudden the setting completely changes. We’re suddenly surrounded by bustling Mexicans on their way to work, musicians entertaining us on the bus and of course the whiff of authentic Mexican cuisine.

Once we arrive at our destination we’re immediately greeted by an overwhelming amount of local children. They all gather around greeting us with hugs and kisses, it’s a delight to see their faces light up as we all walk in. They are the most polite, adorable, grateful kids I have ever known, and not a minute goes by without an array of grinning faces staring back at me. It really is a pleasure to be a part of their lives, even just for a short amount of time. It really is a life changing experience. I can only hope that we have had the same impact on their lives as they have had on mine.


 It’s going to be impossible to say goodbye.

An amazing day at the paradise!

sharing an incredible week in three stories

Voice from the field May 13, 2013

Deep dive

This week the advanced open water people went on their deep dive, which is probably most fun of the advanced dives. Going right down to 29m is a good way to get narked. Everything is more amusing at that depth for example your dive leader’s curly hair or when an angel fish eats the egg being used to show pressure. It also makes it very difficult to perform simple tasks and to know the difference between your nose and hear. It is a good way to understand the effects that pressure has on your senses.

Treasure hunt

On Thursday we had a plan B day, which meant no diving but instead we had an intense treasure hunt. Teamed up in different groups we were all running like crazy around base trying to collect all the clues in time to figure out the anagram, “Stoplight parrotfish”.

The treasure hunt ended with a couple of rounds of spinny pole, making everyone eat tons of sand and laugh their faces off. On the afternoon the weather suddenly switched and in 30 minutes everything went pitch black. The wind pretty much tossed away everything left out in communal and then the sky opened up and rain came pouring down. After almost four weeks of constant sunshine a tropical storm was due and for us experiencing it for the first time it was quite awesome and a nice relief from the

humidity of the day. Of course the normal reaction to the rain is to run straight in to it until you are completely drenched and it’s a strange feeling when the sea is warmer than the beach. Some people even used the down pour as a shower so we all felt pretty clean on Thursday evening.

Akumal

Turtle Friday was the theme for the last Friday we had together before some people left and new people were arriving. After having beach clean and tidied up the base before the new arrivals on Saturday, we all went to Akumal to snorkel with the turtles. We saw heaps of green turtles, a hawksbill and a couple of people even caught a glimpse of a baby green turtle, awww! There are also plenty of fish to see if you swim out to the reef and sting rays are abundant. We all got some ice cream which we all have been craving. So all in all it was a good week although it’s always sad to say goodbye to friends.

sharing an incredible week in three stories

"GVI Childcare a program that changes your life"

Voice from the field May 3, 2013 -  Natasha  

Last week was my first week here in the beautiful city of Playa Del Carmen, Mexico. To start my week off I met up with my fellow volunteers, Josie, Christie and Tom who are also from Australia, and Camilla and Josh who are from the Isle of Mann and Canada.

Instantly I can’t believe how lucky I am to be spending two weeks in this fascinating place with such awesome people! Everybody has such amazing stories to tell, and I’ve had such a great time getting to know everybody. As this is my first volunteer trip abroad I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but everybody has been so welcoming. Mexican people are all very friendly and the culture here is so vastly different to the one I am accustomed to back home in Australia!

Family and love form a very strong basis of the values shared by the people here.

There is so much happening I almost don’t know where to look first! The streets are alive and buzzing with people selling everything from intricate little trinkets to the most delicious authentic Mexican cuisines!

In my first week we also began Spanish lessons at the local Spanish school. It has been an incredible learning curve trying to master a whole new language in the space of two weeks!

The highlight has been spending my time at the local Ludoteca (toy libraries) with the children and Ludotecarias. It is customary for both students and Ludotecarias (teachers) to greet visitors with a hug and a kiss! It is lovely to be immersed in a culture that is so affectionate and promote such strong values such as family, love and peace. The children are all so beautiful and friendly, and so enthusiastic to get to know us and where we come from. It is certainly a different world, coming from a highly industrialized country and working facilities into a place that is still growing and expanding. The Ludotecarias do an amazing job, and the children are all keen to learn and have such amazingly bright and positive attitudes! Their beautiful smiles are infectious and you can’t help but feel so happy to be there! It’s truly an incredible feeling to know you are making a difference. This has by far been the best, most rewarding and fulfilling experience of my life to date and I wish I didn’t have to leave! To anybody who is considering volunteering – DO IT! It will change your life in more ways than you can imagine!

"GVI Childcare a program that changes your life"

Welcome to the health and marine conservation programs in Mexico !

This weekend we received Nathalie, Jens and a little bit later Rosanna to our Marine conservation programme; Above a photo of Nathalie & Jens arriving to their new home and ready to start their diving and marine training on base! 

We also received  Alice to our Health programme in Playa del Carmen! Since the first day Alice started contributing to the programme helping out with the equine therapy centre for disable children. She got to know the benefits the horses have with children and what to do and what not to do while pulling the horses! Good exercising and a very nice time all in all! 

Alice will be starting her Spanish lessons this week, Nathalie, Jens and Rossana will continue with their dive and marine conservation training so keep track of this blog or follow us on twitter gvi_mexico or facebook GVI Mexico Yucatan. 

Welcome to Mexico and we hope you guys will have an amazing time here!

Welcome to the health and marine conservation programs in Mexico !

DIVING, DIVING AND SOME SNORKELING TOO

Voice from the field April 29, 2013 

This week in a nutshell

It has been an amazing diving week thank you to the weather gods! We went for all 4 waves every day apart from Thursday due to engine problems which are now fixed thanks to the staff’s diligent work. There was even enough time for everyone to go on a fun dive! There have been sightings of Mating turtles, sting rays, nurse sharks, lionfish and many other delights of the marine world. All of the Open Water people have passed-woohoo! And they are now tearing their way through the Advanced Open Water dives.

Because of the problems with the engine we all went snorkeling at the reef and saw some rays and an eel as well as the usual variety fish and corals.

Our stomachs have also had an amazing week with the volunteers pulling out all of the stops in the kitchen, cheers to Johanna and her hut for the amazing bean burgers, and Chloe for the mango and chocolate cakes, yum!

Also Ben’s Lionfish catches have been fried up and served as a tasty treat for a lucky few!! Inside the invasive species we found a few baby fish and have been found to be mostly males!

The beach has been great too with the sun out everyone has been browning up nicely so we can make everyone at home really jealous. Diving so much has taken up a lot of time and energy and we have pretty much been crashing out every night, though we have still had time for a poker tournament which Fredrik excelled at bluffing along. 

DIVING, DIVING AND SOME SNORKELING TOO

Life on Base

Voice from the field April 24, 2013 -  Joshua  

My day 

I started the day with some cereal and a fresh ripe mango. I attended Spanish lessons from 9am to noon with the other childcare volunteers, Natasha and Camilla. It was about 28◦C by then and the shade in the classroom huts was welcome. In the afternoon I returned to the flat to cook myself lunch. Quesadillas made with fresh local tortillas and stringy quesillo cheese. This afternoon’s visit to the ludateca proved to be the most fun and rewarding visit yet. The ludatecarias are very warm and welcoming to all the volunteers and GVI staff. Many of the kids now call me by name in Spanish, pronounced “Yosh.”  I helped some of the older kids with an activity to make a hurricane contingency plan. They were eager to teach me some Spanish while we worked on their poster. Later we played some fast paced games at the basketball court around the corner from the ludateca, which were great fun. Lots of laughing and running until the end of the evening. I already am looking forward to my next visit to the ludateca. 

Outside of Solexico (Spanish School)

First trip to the beach in Playa Del Carmen, in the late afternoon.

Life on Base

What is it to be a professoinal diver?

This time we are sharing  a document that explains what the Marine conservation and dive master internship in GVI entitles. We are very proud to say that some of our interns has stayed to work with us or are furthering their professional skills in the Marine conservation world or in the dive industry around the World. From Mexico to all of you out there we send you a big abrazo!! Enjoy the reading!!

  GVI Mexico Montlhly Achievements Report March 2013 by GVI  Mexico

What is it to be a professoinal diver?

Welcome to the new volunteers to our Playa del Carmen childcare projects!!

We are super excited to welcome our new volunteers to Playa del Carmen. Two weeks ago we received Tom and Christie who are our two first interns and who will be getting train in leadership, community work, childcare and suppporting our healthcare programme in the area. Last Saturday we received Natasha, Camila and Joshua who will be here for two and four weeks supporting the work with Save the children in the ludotecas (toy libraries) in Playa del Carmen. Natasha will be performing an arts workshop with the children, Camila will then fly to our childcare and sister GVI project in Costa Rica and Joshua will be swamped playing and working with the Playa del Carmen children before going back home and studying medicine. We are very happy to have you here and we hope you will enjoy your time here!! 

Keep track of this blog to learn more about their experience!! 

Welcome to the new volunteers to our Playa del Carmen childcare projects!!

Lots of new experiences in the 1st week of the community internship in Playa del Carmen!

Hola!

Looking back on week one it was nothing short of intense. After traveling for at least 33 hours on a plane to the other side of the planet, arriving in an unfamiliar city, not speaking a lick of the language, we were ready to tackle the challenge of being a GVI intern – more or less.

It was daunting and we couldn’t help but feel a little under prepared, but after we met the GVI staff and moved into our new home, it didn’t take us long to adjust and start exploring.

The city center is 5 minutes walking distance, the beach only 10 minute! We found familiar comforts such as McDonalds, and foreign ones too, taco eateries on almost every second block!!

However, it wasn’t all crystal blue waves and local Mexican food gluttony – being an intern involved lots of training. In our first week we tackled Emergency Response (First and Second Care), risk assessments, Spanish lessons, and a whole lot more. And we thought we waved goodbye the days of exams and assignments for good!

But the highlight of the week was definitely working at the Ludoteca (Toy Library) for the first time. We met some of the children who greet us with kisses and hugs and the lovely Ludotecarias, (ladies who work in the Toy Library), who look after kids as part of the ‘Save the Children’ organization. You can’t help but fall in love with the lively, funny, sweet group of children and feel so lucky to be able to spend the next 6 months of our lives here.

Cue a sigh of relief as we see the week ending. We’ve never been more thankful that it’s Friday, but we’re counting the minutes until we’re back in the Ludoteca! We can only hope that gets easier when the jetlag is gone!

Photos: Apartment in Playa del Carmen & Josie and Christie wearing flowers that the children gave them at the Ludoteca.

Lots of new experiences in the 1st week of the community internship in Playa del Carmen!

New volunteers, new friends and new experiences!!

It’s been a very busy first week but at the same time a bit slow, base is full of new volunteers. HSBS bank members have also arrived who are visiting just for this week, they’re here to enjoy some time off and help contribute around base. It’s too bad that the weather hasn’t been very cooperative and we haven’t been able to treat them to a good snorkel around the reef. They have been very helpful painting the huts and making signs for the Least Tern nesting season. We’re planning on placing signs and roping
off the area where the migratory Least Terns are planning on nesting. Yesterday we walked along the
beach watching them perform there aerial courtship displays to one another. After a few days of fancy
maneuvering the males will fly far out to sea and catch a fish to show off to their mate. The males will
take the fish in their mouth and shake it back and forth in front of the females, if she’s interested she’ll
join him in shaking heads. We’re waiting to figure out what area of the beach they’ll pick. We’ve made
the signs to warn people that these birds like to nest on the ground and to please respect their area
as they are an endangered species. It’s also been a bit slow for all the volunteers as diving has been
postponed most days because of weather conditions. We’ve tried a few days only being able get one wave out before realizing how impossible it would be to Anchor. With all our time off every ones getting plenty of time to get to know one another, study and pass all there fish and Coral tests. We’re all hoping for a bit of mercy next week from the wind so we can finally get into a diving groove.

New volunteers, new friends and new experiences!!

The end of a phase... bright colours and fun!!!

We have reached the end of phase. It is unbelievable that three months have passed so quickly, it has been

an amazing experience in which we have all learned a lot about the coral reef ecosystem and biology and in doing so we have all improved our diving skills immensely and made friends that will last an age.

A huge thank you goes to all the staff and scholars, all of whom have passed on a lot of knowledge whilst at the same time making the last few months so so SO much fun.

For the last two weeks we have been collecting the key data that GVI shares with our partners. We’re monitoring adult and juvenile fish numbers and sizes, focusing on species that are key indicators of reef health. We are also monitoring the number of “little things” on the reef at key points on a thirty meter transect. Point Intercept, the technical name for the monitoring of “little things”, looks at everything from sponges to corals to anemones, even the algae. Lastly, we’re monitoring coral communities, checking them
out for diseases, predation and signs of competition between corals.

Pez Maya has treated us to its infamous wind for two days this week, so we’ve taken the opportunity to have one last visit to Casa Cenote. Both groups were rewarded with cloudless skies and crystal clear water. You could never get tired of diving and snorkeling at Casa Cenote, where we saw plenty of Tarpon, a Moray eel and discovered some exciting swim throughs.

The wall mural is coming along. However, it will not be finished by tomorrow so all the new volunteers feel
free to improve it, and add to it.

Congratulations to all the Interns who are leaving on Friday to go to their various dive shops and learn to be fantastic divemasters. Congratulations also to all the volunteers, leaving and staying, for bringing so much to base, doing amazing things and generally just being incredible. We are all going to miss Pez Maya a lot, hope
the wind calms down for next phase.

The end of a phase... bright colours and fun!!!

Closer to finishing a stage... fish and coral monitoring moving forward, diving courses advancing and more incidental sightings!!

We are nearing the end of phase. It is amazing that eleven weeks have gone so fast, time flies when everyone is having such a fantastic time. Against all the challenges the weather has thrown at us this phase, both fish and coral monitoring has begun and data

is being collected. So a huge congratulations goes to all those who are now successfully monitoring.

More congratulations go to all those who have successfully completed their rescue course, and are now qualified rescue divers. With one rescue course complete another rescue course is beginning. However, due to the dreaded wind we have had to visit Casa Cenote to start the course. After 5 hours in the water practicing tows and how to rescue panicked and tired divers, we went for a relaxing dive to finish and were lucky enough to see Tarpon, huge fish about 2ft long, and a night heron stalking what looked like a huge red crab but turned out to be a shoal of fish. This Cenote is a haven for wildlife the abundance of which is astounding. Also congratulations to all the newly qualified open water divers, who are now undertaking their advanced course.

There have been a few more incidental sightings, numerous species of ray, and moray eels have been seen. Weather wise we have managed to dive most days. However, there have been some exciting tropical storms throughout this week. In order to pass the time a treasure hunt was organized. Four teams followed cryptic clues which took them to the remotest corners of base, in search of rare and wonderful objects, namely clothing, coconuts and sea shells. In the end the contest was so tight it could only be resolved by a thrilling game of spinny pole.

We have also had a productive week in which the wall mural has begun to take shape, the background and the start of the coral reef are coming along well. There is still a huge amount of wall to paint but it is getting there, Thank you to everyone who has lent

a helping hand. Alongside which a raft was constructed, it was made of bamboo poles and many many lengths of rope. Amazingly it worked, managing to support four people successfully and we paddled it using the end of palm leaves which make surprisingly efficient paddles.

Tuesday was a sad sad day when we were forced to say goodbye to Robbie and stick him on the plane back to bonny old England. We are already missing you so much mate, hope it is not to cold. Holly is unfortunately leaving us tomorrow for a two week holiday so we will have to have a big send off on Friday night.

Closer to finishing a stage... fish and coral monitoring moving forward, diving courses advancing and more incidental sightings!!

Sharks, rays and Project aware!

We couldn't let this opportunity go to share with you the final resoluiton from the recent CITES meeting in which the proposal to protect 8 species of sharks and rays from the devastating effects of international trade were successful. Below the press release from Project aware foundation Executive director Alex Earl, words that we share and are convinced about:

"This is an unprecedented victory for these vulnerable marine species and a testimony to the strength and power of divers’ voice. There were times when it seemed out of reach, but your commitment and dedication made this a reality. Thank you so much!

Armed with more than 135,000 petition signatures and 245,000 letters sent direct to CITES delegates, we showed governments around the world the environmental and economic power of the dive community. Your voice, the voice of divers, was heard at CITES as never before. 

As we reflect on this milestone, continue to work diligently on our current campaigns and plan for the future,

You have seen the results we can generate together. Together, we can:

•    Push for even more policy change to secure further protections for vulnerable shark and ray species nationally, regionally and globally

•    Dive Against Debris to remove trash from the ocean floor and to collect vital data needed to help put an end to its devastating effects

•    Invest locally in Ocean Action Projects around the world and so much more...

The privilege of diving comes with responsibility. There is no rest on duty to protect our ocean planet. Engage, support and invest in our critical work today.

Please also join us in celebrating. Together we've shown that determination pays off. I'm proud to be part of the Project AWARE movement with you and here’s to future victories together!

Thank you, again, for helping us change the game for shark and ray conservation. When we work together, we're an unstoppable force."

Sharks, rays and Project aware!

Spring celebrations!

Punta Allen this week was extremely exciting as the town held a spring festival, all the children from the kindergarten and primary classes came together to welcome the coming of spring. They performed a play and a few musical dance numbers, in which the GVI staff and volunteers were asked to be special Guests, the people of Punta Allen made us feel very welcomed and appreciated, It’s too bad that Valeria our most committed and compassionate staff member who put in so much work into the Punta Allen outreach project couldn’t be there. The children put one a Shakespearian calibre play, recreating the suspenseful drama of snow white and the seven dwarfs beautifully; all were dressed in amazing home-made costumes, which we found very impressive. The play was followed by some amazing dances. Our favourite was the “La Ranita” dance number, which held a hand full of primary students dressed in green spandex and tutus; there show fit for Broadway was incredibly entertaining and well performed.

Unfortunately at the end of this week a much-loved scholar is leaving, his time is up here and he has to return back to a cooler England. Robbie is going to be greatly missed by everyone here (mostly for his beautiful singing and flamboyant dance moves).

Spring celebrations!

Challenges and beach olympics!

Huge congratulations go to all Triathletes as everyone successfully completed the course and the total raised came to an impressive $1544, which will be put to good use improving Punta Allen’s recycling centre. The volunteer team beat the staff team in the run, but it was a close contest all the way through the swim and the cycle.  Special congratulations to solo competitor, Peyton, who came sixth in his age group and 32^nd overall!

A non-diving Friday after an extremely windy week called for a plan-B day that was full of excitement. This resulted in some crazy fun Beach Olympics. Each hut plus all of the staff got creative inventing a team name, flag and outfit. As the games progressed everyone became more and more competitive.  Particularly in the spinny-pole relay which involved sprinting to a pole running around it ten times then running back in as straight a line as possible, which proved near impossible and hilariously funny for everyone involved. 

This week has been much more productive diving-wise. There have been some very exciting incidental sightings. Today, there was a huge Loggerhead Turtle sighted, from the boat, whilst it was surfacing for air. It was almost 2m long with an enormous head. These incredible beautiful creatures lay their eggs on the beaches during the months of May-June, the rest of the time they do not venture onto land but are often sighted on dives. A total of four turtles, Loggerheads and Hawksbills have been sighted this week which is fantastic. We have also had a very unusual sighting of a Sail Fish, these large fish are very uncommon around here at this time of year. So the divers who saw it were exceedingly lucky.

Challenges and beach olympics!

A brief overview of the Mesoamerica Barrier reef (MBRS) synopticmonitoring program (SMP) for surveying adult and juvenile fish

  GVI Mexico Monthly Achievement Report Febuary 2013 by GVI  Mexico

A brief overview of the Mesoamerica Barrier reef (MBRS) synopticmonitoring program (SMP) for surveying adult and juvenile fish

GVI Mexico - Save our Children

I don't usually get to devote time to spend with large groups of children. The opportunity arose when our new partners on the Mexico Childcare Project invited us to the ludateca (toy library) where our volunteers will soon be based. Large groups of English speaking children are already a lot to handle, so the added aspect that all the kids only speak Spanish could make me go weak at the knees. However, I trudged on thinking this is a great time and place to use the limited Spanish I know and to get to know these little rascals. 

My colleagues and I headed out on the first Thursday of our volunteering adventure, and we haven't looked back since. It's been a lot of fun and something to look forward to after spending hours in an office watching the sun go by and the taunting waving of the palm leaves out the window. We've all participated in countless numbers of Gangnam style dance remakes, dodgeball games, arts and crafts, homework help, duck duck gooses, and so many more activities where we learned that the fuel tanks on excited children last way longer than those of fully grown adults. There are the wild kids, like little Andres tugging at my pant ties screaming at me for a different name "OTRO!" (apparently he didn't like the one I gave him) and the twin girls always climbing on any adult that will let them. There are motivated children that are absorbed in their assignments during lesson time, and there are kids that tend to have a slight distraction problem as you watch their thoughts wandering about and their pencils barely moving. There are the shy kids that will give you a fleeting glance and join in on activities only when encouraged to do so by the ludatecarias, which brings me to another point...

The women that work at the ludateca are phenomenal! Some have been working there for years, some for months. However, it is easy to see why every last child is completely fond of every one of those ladies, or should I say heroes! They are devoted to creating a safe and creative learning environment. It is also very important to note that it is an environment where the kids are encouraged to openly bring up their problems for people to listen to and care about what they have to say. Not every child is lucky enough to have this kind of fostering atmosphere at home. 

I am happy to have been able to be a part of it all.

Until next time, or in ludateca language - hasta luego!

Amanda Cota

GVI Mexico - Save our Children