By Paola Velasco 
​
At a January 10 press conference, The Rotary Club of San Miguel de Allende – Midday presented its new “Girls Empowerment Program” focused on education and health for girls of menstrual age from San Miguel’s rural communities. This program is being carried out in collaboration with the Secretary of Education for the State of Guanajuato and the civil association "Niñas Sabias,” which has developed an educational manual that will be shared with fifth and sixth-grade girls from public schools. The project was presented by representatives of all the aforementioned bodies, who shared pertinent details about the program.

Teri Kavanah, a member of Rotary, commented on the importance of offering useful and effective information at this stage in the lives of young girls, many of whom lose self-esteem and opportunities by not understanding and accepting what it means to grow up. Rotary, represented by current president Lee Carter, has made an assessment to support this project, to which it will allocate around 200,000 pesos. All those involved have been working for more than six months to develop this program in a comprehensive, useful way, but above all, with considerable respect and empathy.

The educational director of the project is Erika Hernández, a certified teacher, who trained a group of 10 teachers to cover more schools and offer the best advice to girls in rural communities to empower themselves, complete their education, and proudly embrace all that being a woman implies. This aim is to reach 2,000 girls this year. The work material presented to the girls shares with them what is happening in their bodies in a friendly, easy-to-comprehend style, without guilt or taboos, and allows them to make informed decisions about their bodies and their lives.
Each girl will receive a menstrual control kit with washable, ecological, and reusable sanitary pads that will last three to four years.

The Guanajuato State Secretariat (SEG) joins the project to give it credibility with families and communities, with whom the coordination of the first stage will be carried out from January to April. The course consists of five modules: in the first, parents and siblings will be invited to find out about the topics that will be covered during the remaining four modules. The participation of the whole family is very important, not only for women but also parents and siblings, to understand and care for the girls at home.

The entire cost of the project is being supported by donations from local communities, Rotary clubs in San Miguel, the U.S., and Canada, as well as the Rotary Foundation.

For more information, visit the Project Page on our website. www.RotarySMAMidday.org,

It's at this time of year that the ANNUAL THEME is introduced by the incoming President Elect of Rotary International at the International Assembly.

The 2023-24 theme "Create hope in the world" was announced by RIPE Gordon McInally earlier this week.

Here is a brief history of the annual themes.

In 1955, RI President A.Z. Baker announced a theme, "Develop Our Resources," to serve as Rotary's program of emphasis. Since that time, each president has issued a theme for his Rotary year. The shortest theme was in 1961-62 when Joseph Abey selected "Act." Other one-word themes were chosen in 1958-1959 by Charles Tennent ("Serve") and 1968 - 1969 by Kiyoshi Togasaki ("Participate").
Carl Miller, in 1963 - 1964, had a theme for the times when he proposed "Guidelines for Rotary in the Space Age." Other "timely" themes were in 1980-81 when Rolf Klärich created "Take Time to Serve"

William Carter in 1973 - 1974 used "Time for Action." Two themes have a similarity to commercial advertising: "A Better World Through Rotary" (Richard Evans, 1966 - 67) and "Reach Out" (Clem Renouf, 1978 - 1979). Bridges have been a striking metaphor. Harold Thomas, 1959 - 60, urged Rotarians to "Build Bridges of Friendship"; William Walk, 1970 - 71, created "Bridge the Gap"; and Hiroji Mukasa, 1982 - 1983, declared "Mankind is One-Build Bridges of Friendship Throughout the World."

A worldwide focus was given by Stan McCaffrey in 1981 - 1982 with the message, "World Understanding and Peace Through Rotary," and again in 1984-85 by Carlos Canseco who urged Rotarians to "Discover a New World of Service." In other years, the individual was emphasized, as "You Are Rotary" (Edd McLaughlin, 1960 - 61), "Goodwill Begins With You" (Ernst Breitholtz, 1971 - 1972) and "You Are the Key" (Ed Cadman, 1985 - 1986).

Frequently the theme urges Rotarians to become more involved in their club, such as "Share Rotary-Serve People" (Bill Skelton, 1983 - 84) or "Make Your Rotary Membership Effective" (Luther Hodges, 1967 - 1968). But whether you "Review and Renew," "Take a New Look," "Let Service Light the Way" or "Dignify the Human Being," it is clear that the RI president provides Rotarians with an important annual program of emphasis.

In 1986-87, President M.A.T. Caparas selected the inspiring message that "Rotary Brings Hope."

Charles Keller in 1987 - 1988 saw "Rotarians-United in Service, Dedicated to Peace," while Royce Abbey asked his fellow members in 1988 - 1989 to "Put Life into Rotary-Your Life." Hugh Archer (1989 - 1990) urged us to "Enjoy Rotary!" and Paulo Costa (1990 - 1991) asked that we "Honor Rotary with Faith and Enthusiasm." My predecessor Raja Saboo (1991 - 1992) exhorted every Rotarian to "Look Beyond Yourself." In 1992 - 1993, I reminded Rotarians, "Real Happiness Is Helping Others," and in 1993 - 1994, Bob Barth counseled Rotarians, "Believe In What You Do and Do What You Believe In." In 1994 - 1995, Bill Huntley encouraged Rotarians to "Be A Friend" to their communities.
​
At this time of year with great interest, we always look forward to seeing the new theme announced.

​Published January 11, 2023 (sp)

The Midday Rotary Club of SMA in coordination with the SEG, is launching a pilot program to empower girls in San Miguel de Allende.

The Girls’ Empowerment Program consists of 36 workshops on the theme of “menstruation”, which will be taught by teachers prepared, in the months of January to April of this year, to girls of 5th and 6th grade, from rural communities of the municipality.

The workshops will be 2 to 3 times a week, and each consists of 5 modules of 2 hours.

Each girl who completes 4 of the 5 modules, will receive a menstrual control kit, which are washable, ecological, and reusable sanitary napkins, which will last 3 to 4 years.

In this first quarter, 400 girls are expected to be trained, and the goal is to teach 2,000 throughout the year.

The workshops will be taught by 10 teachers who were preparing for 6 months.

The program aims for all girls in all rural communities to empower themselves and take control of their lives, complete their education and proudly embrace everything that implies the condition of women.

The details were presented at a press conference Monday at the La Aurora Factory by José de Anda of the Midday Rotary Club of SMA, the Education Delegate of Region I of the SEG, Juan Rendón, and Erika Hernández, teacher and coordinator of the Empowerment Program.

By Paola Velasco

On December 5, celebrating International Volunteer Day, Midday Rotary members teamed up with Rotaract (Young Rotarians) to clean up the Las Cachinches Stream, a waterway that crosses the city from the Guadalupe neighborhood to El Parian square.

The work was hard, there was a lot of garbage that accumulated during the rainy season; They ended up with a truck full of garbage, mostly plastic objects. This cleaning guarantees not to contaminate the waterways any more when the next rainy season arrives. Volunteers had the opportunity to speak to locals, police, and the media about the importance of protecting rivers and natural spaces.

For Midday Rotary the spirit of volunteering and the spread of Rotary consciousness is essential, Teaming up for the common welfare is something that motivates you to volunteer and be able to help the community.

¡Thank you very much for your work!

by Robin Loving​

​September’s stone is sapphire, and the Midday Rotary Club had a royal blue month when it was visited by District Governor Jose de Jesus de la Cruz, otherwise known as Chuy. Chuy is a professional engineer, and is engineering great opportunities for Rotarians in Mexico. His support has helped us to become an excellent club, but we are headed for extraordinary, and following Chuy’s lead, no doubt we will achieve that.
 
One of Chuy’s focuses is peace, and he asked us to share that and more with all we meet. We did just that at the Peace Pole on the International Day of Peace Sept. 21, prompting several passersby to join us in a moment of peace, plan to visit our club, and tune into our Facebook page.
 
Chuy’s vision is to better connect clubs of English- and Spanish speakers, so his annual conference in Guadalajara May 7 will be bilingual. He is keen on innovation, so encouraged teaching folks to use digital tools and providing youth internships. Chuy saw that we are doing those things when he visited the Escuela for Educacion Especial that Rotarian John Doherty established and has run for 10 years.
 
Chuy feels that his Rotary mission is a calling. He emphasized that having heart is essential, that we should all set good examples, and that we don’t need money to provide service. He emphasized that what we do as Rotarians has worldwide impact, and to amplify that he would like to create an association of service clubs across all sectors for collaborative idea exchanges.
Chuy also wants clubs to have brother clubs so that we may be diplomats to one another for capacity building.
 
He stressed sustainability, which he saw in action when he visited Boca de Canada to meet with the women who have led Rotary’s rainwater harvesting and dry composting projects. The education they have received as a result of these Rotary projects has allowed them to grow all they need for balanced meals throughout the year; and create a living pharmacy of herbal potions to heal their community, for they are far from any doctor, and do not have resources to pay doctors.
 
This amazing community of women now make their own shampoo, soap, and honey from their plants and beekeeping operations, and the word they use for the difference between their lives before Rotary and now is transformation. They also sell and trade things they now make, such as marmalade, vinagre, and syrups. They are proud of their new-found economic and community development skills, and feel dignified that they are doing things ecologically.
 
Their sustainability measures will soon include making fertilizers from human waste, which will add to their self-confidence and empowerment. They said it is a pleasure learning and subsequently making all they can now make.
 
Watch for more from Rotary. One way to do so is to attend our meetings Tuesdays a 9:30 at Sala Quetzal at the Biblioteca Publica via the Relox entrance to Café Santa Ana, which Zenteno is now operating. In fact, Zenteno is offering breakfast options the hour before meetings.
 
Imagine a better world through Rotary service!

by Stu Dearnly​

​As a new member of SMA Midday Rotary, I was excited to join the club for a morning of painting cisterns. Rainwater Harvesting is one of the club’s flagship programs. Like all Rotary projects, this one was born of necessity. Small villages’ aquifers are often contaminated with fluoride and arsenic. This can lead to cancers, dental catastrophes, and up to a 20% reduction in I.Q. among children who grow up drinking it. Cisterns are our club’s solution. A cistern is a 12,000-liter concrete jug that gathers enough rainwater from nearby rooftops to provide a family of four with water for the year. I’m new to both San Miguel de Allende and to Mexico. Anything cistern-related is miles away from what I’ve seen elsewhere. Game on!

After paved roads turned to less paved roads, we were instructed by a group of women to park alongside some tethered horses. We divided up into three groups with equal parts Rotarians and local mothers. The only men in attendance were Rotarians. Women run this show. We were there to paint the cisterns they’d built with their own hands. Cisterns that keep their children safer and that—with maintenance such as that we would soon perform—should last for generations.

The projected began in 1997 with a multi-week training for this community and others around SMA. They first learn about water safety and health statistics, then how to build and maintain their family’s cistern. Mothers invest 250+ hours apiece, and their pride in the accomplishment comes through in the joy they take maintaining them. We started by scrubbing the cisterns with a wire brush, which is easy on some and difficult on others. We had a team of six, and everyone but me knew exactly what to do without guidance of any sort. There was zero energy wasted, and it was remarkable to be focused on one piece of a giant drum and hear someone say “Está terminando.”

Then we’d put our paint rollers over our shoulders and troop off through a few atajos (shortcuts) to the next cistern. We moved between cisterns quickly with everyone smiling all the while and chatting in whatever language they preferred.

​Then the feasting began.

There must have been twenty dishes to choose between and five types of juice I’d never tried before. Everything was homemade. It feels like we ate for hours, yet it wasn’t until I got home that I took time to reflect on how mutually beneficial this relationship is.  For example, the club’s Ninas Sabias (please hyperlink) initiative was born of insights gleaned through our cistern program. Equally importantly, these women now know exactly how capable they are. They’re happy to work together for the collective good, which is exactly what Rotary’s all about.
​
Helping families help themselves is a beautiful thing to be a part of, and they take every opportunity to tell you how thrilled they are that we’re with them on this journey. There are fifty-seven communities like this one, and San Miguel’s Rotary clubs are committed to continuing the water harvesting program for as long as mothers continue wanting our support. I will jump at the next opportunity to paint cisterns, and I cordially invite you to join me there!

by Robin Loving

​​Voice of San Miguel Cesar Valderrama sang in celebration of 70 Rotarians and friends who attended a sold-out fundraising luncheon at La Mansion at Montitlan in November to support Rotary’s joint project with Apoyo a Gente Emprededora’s micro-lending program. Rotary resources will enable the expansion of micro-finance in San Miguel de Allende to help raise more families out of poverty.
 
“We raised over $8,000 USD for this program that educates and loans an average of $250 USD per person to those who want to elevate themselves out of extremely disadvantaged positions via business enterprise,” said Midday Rotary President Lee Carter. “This was our most lucrative fundraiser in history,” he continued.
 
“As a recipient of an Apoyo micro-loan, I received $5,000 pesos with which I bought merchandise to sell to support my family. Thank you for having faith in us,” said Rosalinda Granados, an Apoyo loan recipient.
 
“At Apoyo we continue to help the most disadvantaged people break the cycle of poverty by educating them about business and finance to promote sustainable economic development.  Last year we expanded a training center for a trade school. We believe the success of our model will be replicated in other areas of Mexico,” said Apoyo Founder and Director General Ezequiel Mojica.
 
“I am thrilled with the support shown for this project by all in attendance an. The funds raised will enable us to truly take a giant leap forward in helping more San Miguel families bootstrap themselves out of poverty,” said Rotary Micro-Lending Project Chairman Norman Feldstein.
 
Sponsors  included Penzi Weddings,Ron and Linda Felton, Ron Lenox. Additional funds were raised via a raffle of prizes generously donated by Bovine Restaurant, Esencia Spa, Follow Me Tours, Galeria Atotonilco, the Mansion at Montitlan, Nest Property Management, Maggie Sperling, and Dorothy Wallstein. 

By Frederika Zystra

This beautiful quilt, valued at $20,000.00 pesos, was handmade by San Miguel de Allende Quilters, a group of thirteen women from many countries who hope to inspire and empower young women on the threshold of adulthood. Over the years, they have created dozens of beautiful quilts for deserving charities. It was professionally padded by Maribel Trejo and would be exquisite as a bed quilt or to hang on the wall. What a beautiful Christmas gift for someone special!

The duvet, titled '¡Viva San Miguel!', will be displayed at Geek & Coffee for at least 10 days prior to the selection of the winner. Raffle tickets can be purchased in person at Geek & Coffee, through SMA Quilters and Rotary Midday of SMA members.

About Wise Girls SMA:
Eight out of ten girls experience a loss of self-esteem when they reach puberty. In this culture, menstruation is often considered dirty and something that needs to be hidden. Because of this, many miss several days of school each month; in total almost 25 percent of the school year. Often, they are hopelessly backward and drop out of school altogether. Because they do not fully understand the changes in their developing bodies, many become pregnant too young and repeat the cycle.

Wise Girls provides education, opportunities, mentoring, and solutions for these young women, so that they instead celebrate and accept the miracle of becoming a woman. From practical matters such as managing their period, to promoting their confidence and dignity, they learn through biology classes, spiritual exercises, and culturally appropriate rituals to embrace their power, get to know their bodies, and develop self-confidence.

Many return as teachers in the program to give back while earning a salary. The Ministry of Public Education supports these teachers, providing them with credentials to affirm their contribution.

These young women represent a beautiful cultural history with an impressive work ethic. They will be our future leaders, teachers, entrepreneurs and community activists. Our goal is for them to carry the torch and passion of Mexican culture with pride and self-confidence. Help us support this necessary and invaluable program in San Miguel by purchasing raffle tickets!

Our theme for this quilt is EMPOWERMENT

The red centers symbolize love, first for oneself; life – celebrating our lives, bodies and spirit; and empowerment – to achieve our goals with pride and self-confidence. The 48 blocks are colorful and artistic, each as individual as the girls, and represent self-expression, joy, freedom and creativity. Padding is gold, which means wisdom, wealth and magic. Threads that connect all women young and old in the sacred sisterhood.
Thirteen women. Twenty-six hands.
​
Hours of love in every stitch in support of young women living in San Miguel de Allende on their way to adulthood.

by Waylon Hedegaard (The Fat Bastard Walking Tours)

​Last night, Renee and I had both the privilege and pleasure of attending the graduation celebration of the first class of the maestras for Wise Girls SMA/Niñas Sabias, sponsored by the Rotary Club of San Miguel-Midday. There were wine and margaritas and delicious food all set in a stunning private garden with a lot of good people.
It was a wonderful affair, perfect in every detail.

But… for all the beauty, great food and drink and conversation, I would have also enjoyed myself nearly as much celebrating this in an open field in the hot sun. Why? Because the real draw last night was not the party, it was the women who had just spent the last week training and who were so excited to teach girls on the cusp of womanhood about their bodies, its cycles and the wonders of menstruation.

As an aside Renee Ewine and I would love to congratulate our good friend and daughter in spirit Wendy Miroslava Aguilar Antonio for graduating the training. You'll do well here amiga!

In our darkening world, it is easy to fall into the hopelessness of belief that we can’t save the world, but that is a tragically flawed view. Maybe we can’t save it all at once. But last night was a demonstration on how we can all help to save it one young girl at a time. I have never seen a program with a greater opportunity to change the course of young women lives with so few resources.

It was amazing.

Excitement and understanding of menstruation is not the standard here or anywhere in the world. Young women often grow up ashamed of their natural cycles, thinking it is dirty or contaminated, thinking it is something to hide. Plus, they often don’t have resources to deal with this natural issue.  Sanitary napkins and tampons are much harder to get in the villages. Too often these girls miss school and other activities, embarrassed by the wonder of what their bodies are doing, and not juts a few day. Those missed days of school easily add up to a month or more.

That’s the equivalent of a serious illness. Every! Single! Year!

That is a disaster for everyone, the girl herself, the future woman she will become and the career she will follow, the family she may choose to raise. Society as a whole suffers greatly from this.

As a white man, I had no idea, and I am embarrassed of my lack of understanding.

No one should ever be ashamed of who they are!

The Lumineers sing a song called “Donna”, and it contains a single line that breaks my heart. “You told your daughter she was ordinary.” It may seem slight, but the mere thought devastates me. No daughter of any background, anywhere, should ever be made to feel ordinary or be ashamed.

They need to be shown how to feel extraordinary!

The entire point of Wise Girls SMA/Niñas Sabias is to educate these future young woman in their bodies and to take pride in them and their abilities. By stripping away the misinformation and shame the have hung over menstruation for generations and teaching pride in the incredible things happening, they can take a young girl and help her climb to a path in life she would not have reached otherwise. By giving them reusable menstrual kits, these future women will have the tools necessary to stay on these paths.

All for remarkably little money. $50 US can raise a child up so that they stay up.

Who doesn’t have $50 to help save a girl?
 
Here is their Facebook Page Wise Girls SMA - Niñas Sabias
...
Those wishing to help an extraordinary organization please donate here. It so easy. (Select Wise Girls SMA from the drop down menu.  Rotary SMA Midday
 
...
Tell them the Goddess and her Fat Bastard sent you.
https://linktr.ee/wisegirlssma...
...
The Rotary Club is the fiscal agent. Just choose the Wise Girls Empowerment project.Please contact us with any questions or more information.

rotarysanmiguelmidday@gmail.com