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    Encouraging volunteers, lending a hand to help

    Day 229

    Being Human

    El Proyecto Desarrollo Humano (The Human Development Project) is true to its name. When we pulled up to the premises, we saw a group of women under an outdoor pavilion doing Zumba, while their children played in the park. Sister Fatima helps to run this facility, which gives community members access to sewing classes, an organic garden, medical and dental services, a computer lab, English classes, youth education, and a thrift store.

    It’s a place that truly focuses on the development of human beings in their entirety.

    But like many organizations in places like Peñitas, Texas, the resources that Proyecto Desarrollo Humano possess are far more limited than its community’s needs. In our brainstorming session, Sister Fatima noted that this has negatively affected attendance of many of their classes, particularly because they’ve struggled to provide childcare.

    This means that many of the community’s mothers – who would love to do Zumba and learn English – are unable to do so with no one to watch their children while they participate.

    We couldn’t employ a full-time daycare provider, but what we could do is lend the Proyecto Desarrollo Humano some resources to address this need from within. The organization already relies on charitable donations of time and talent from community members who do not receive (or expect) compensation for the valuable roles they play. But when it comes to a service that is not currently being provided, the women felt that some extra incentive might be best…

    We purchased a collection of gift cards from a local supermarket that can be given to anyone providing daycare services for a day. This can be a shared responsibility among community members who use this facility, and when they volunteer their time, they’ll be surprised with a gift.

    Now, more people will be able to access the amazing services that Proyecto Humano Desarrollo offers, and continue to develop themselves as human beings, while also serving one another.

     

    Meet Bill!

    Bill is a social studies teacher at Forest Lake Area High School, living in Robbinsdale, Minnesota. A native Minnesotan, Bill spent a year in Mexico, teaching English and becoming fluent in Spanish. The opportunity to make an impact on the issues happening on the southern border has been a time he’ll always cherish. When not in the classroom, petting his cats, or writing for his blog, you can find him in the wrestling ring as the Revolutionary Bill Williams.

     

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