News

LACA Welcomes New Board Leadership

The LACA Board welcomes its 2010 Executive Committee with officers noted below. President:  Sheila McAlinden
Vice-President:  Bridget Meyer
Secretary: Julie Ackerman
Treasurer:  Linda Palmeri

President, Emeritus Message:  I hope I find you all in the hopeful spirit of the coming New Year, 2010. This transition marks the beginning of a new decade, providing us with an opportunity to not only reflect on the last ten years, but also to look ahead and think of the expectations, obligations, plans and intentions that will accompany us into the near future.

Looking back on 2009 from a LACA standpoint, there is much that we can be thankful for and much to be satisfied with. Yet we also recognize that there is a great deal of work still to be done in the New Year and new decade. A new year does, however, bring with it new focal points and new perspectives. This is true for each of us individually, as well as for LACA.

Our past year will be known for its global economic crisis.From what I have been reading and understand, the economy will probably remain troubled for 2010 as well.My fondest hope is that we can make the best of our resources and maximize our mission to the rural poor of Latin America.I am quite certain that this will happen under our new capable leadership with Sheila J. McAlinden as incoming President.

With this in mind and under our new leadership, let us use 2010 to continue to work successfully and make progress and, above all, make a difference! I wish you and your loved ones a happy, healthy and successful new year.

With best regards,

Jesse A. Canchola

LACA Newsletter Fall 2009 - President’s Address

As we wind down 2009, we look back at all the good that we have done together. In this issue, we see the true champions of our causes beginning with our own founder, Lillian Trillo, whose passion provides the fulcrum of our efforts; Dianne Fisher, who tirelessly gives a great portion of her time to LACA; Sister Olga, who in El Salvador assisted LACA in facilitating medical clinics, water projects and scholarships for students; Board member Mary Mapelli-Conway, who boldly led a group of LACA volunteers on a medical clinic in Honduras; Geralyn Martinez and our dedicated Medical Teams who dedicate themselves to providing essential medical consultations to the poor; and Sister Isabel Turcios, founder and administrator of the Nina Carolina Day Care Center. I invite you to take a few minutes and review our accomplishments for this year on emergency relief, sustainable agriculture and water projects, education and health. You will see that your continued generosity has a positive impact on individual lives and makes these and future projects possible.
-Jesse Canchola

LACA Newsletter Spring 2009 - President’s Message

Dear Readers,
Renewal, compassion and hope - these are the key points of our first LACA newsletter of the year. I hope you will discover wonderful stories that inspire you. One such story is that of seven year old Raiden Grady who collected “angel money” to help the Tarahumara children of Mexico. Your compassion, whether in the form of donations, volunteering or encouragement, does make an enormous difference in the lives of the rural poor of Latin America. I thank all of the donors in 2008 who have kept LACA continuing strong and have given great hope to many in these difficult times.
Jesse A. Canchola, LACA President

Help LACA Educate the Needy - Spring 2009

A university education is highly valued by the communities where LACA is currently working, including Mexico, Haiti and Guatemala. Unfortunately, without the financial assistance of generous individuals, these students are not able to obtain a university degree. LACA presently has eight students who are requesting assistance from LACA which will average $1,000 a year. LACA is currently seeking donors to sponsor these students through their university education. Donors can sponsor students independently or sponsor jointly with friends and family. Imagine, one scholarship will provide leaders and educators to rural communities and help break the chain of poverty. LACA screens candidates through an application, essay, scholastic documents, financial family status forms, teacher recommendation, and parental consent. The potential student signs a contract agreeing to: maintain a GPA of B or better, volunteer 10 hours a month in their community and support another impoverished and promising student after graduation. - Lillian R. Trillo

Nelson Reached His Goal - Spring 2009

Guajiquiro, a Honduran village, sits on top of a mountain accessible by a rocky, unpaved road. The Lenca Indians have inhabited this remote and isolated area for centuries. When the Spanish arrived in the 16th century, they attempted to force the Lencas to work in the mines. To avoid this enslavement, the Indians trekked up the mountains and settled. Among the present day Lencas was a young boy who aspired to be a teacher in his own village— Nelson Hernandez Garcia. He attended the first four grades in his village school. To pursue his studies further he would have to leave Guajiquiro and move to La Paz, a large village, but he did not have the financial resources.

A Friend of LACA decided to finance Nelson’s education. He was eager to enter the seventh grade, even at the age of eighteen. Despite being much older than the other students, and being away from school for so many years, he did well. He finished six years of study in La Paz and then started the teacher education program at the University of Honduras in Tegucigalpa. Nelson graduated and returned as a teacher to his village of Guajiquiro. Nelson is now teaching and, using his own resources, pursuing a master’s degree that will qualify him to become a district superintendent. One cannot help but wonder how many other Lencas would reach such heights, if only they had the opportunity. -Sheila J. McAlinden

Dreams DO Come True - Spring 2009

Rosario recounts her wonderful journey from her poor beginnings to the hope brought by a formal education – an education financed by our donor.

“My name is Rosario Isabel Valle Aguilar. I was born in San Pablo Tacachico, El Salvador on May 6, 1982 to Don Ignacio Nicolás Valle and Isabel Aguilar. I am the fourth child of ten children. My family had very little, but the few things we had, we were taught to cherish. I could only attend the first two years of elementary school because of my severe chronic bronchitis – a terrible disease that made me struggle with every breath. Despite my afflictions while at home, I helped my mother care for my younger brothers and sisters and assisted her with the household chores.

Five years later, with my health improved, I had the opportunity to continue my studies. Through encouragement by my teachers, I dreamed of a university education. Those dreams were to study my love of language and literature. To this, my father would respond, “don’t set yourself up for a letdown The poor do not have the right to dream because our dreams are impossible to achieve.” My family’s financial situation worsened causing my younger siblings to abandon their studies. Frequently, I would pray to God to send me an angel – an angel that would give me that educational opportunity that so dreamed about. One day, I met with Sister Olga and poured out my aspirations, frustrations, and anxieties. Sh reassured me that the poor DO have the right to realize their dreams. “Sí se puede” she continued. I thought to myself, that is why God puts us in contact with noble hearts. Not only did God send me one angel, but he sent two. Lillian Trillo from LACA was in my community leading a medical clinic. She listened intently to my story and goals, then introduced me to Bob Kennis,who graciously agreed to sponsor my university education.

Oh, you don’t know how ecstatic and thankful I was! I worked hard through my studies and I will graduate in May with honors. I am proud to say that HOPE has returned to my family! Because of my achievements, they now believe that dreams DO come true. Presently, all my brothers have returned to school and I intend to help them realize THEIR dreams.” -Rosario Isabel Valle Aguilar, Translated by Lillian Trillo

LACA Supports Haitian Micro Loan Program - Spring 2009

LACA continues to keep its focus on Haiti, the poorest country in the Western hemisphere. Haitians reap benefits from LACA’s other projects: feeding seniors and the disabled, building concrete block homes, educating two university students, conducting a medical clinic and supplying emergency assistance after hurricanes.

The foundation most recent project is its involvement in micro-loans. In 2008, LACA decided to donate $3000 to Fonkoze’s microloan project to help the ultra-poor at the lowest level of a four-step process. Experience from Bangladesh’s Grameen model predicted a success rate of 70%. Remarkably, in Haiti, the first 2008 completion rate exceeded 93%. This was truly amazing. The director of the first-step program reported, “Most of these women were too sick or too poor or too vulnerable to enter the regular microcredit program.” In his own words, he remarked that they were… “without hope, they were dead already, but not yet buried.” After reaching out to the poorest of the poor, the 18 month program supports them with training, one-on-one supervision and encouragement. Other services include health care for their families, home improvement- a tin roof, a concrete floor and a latrine. Additional benefits include: water filtration system, school enrollment for their children, a small stipend, training in finance, and livestock (i.e.: goats and chickens) as future assets. -Sheila J. McAlinden

Micro Credit Loan-Mimrose’s Story - Spring 2009

Mimrose St Fleur, a graduate of the first 2008 class illustrates the transformation made for these ultra poor women. She is a mother of six children and another one on the way. When she began the program she said, “I had nothing, my kids were not eating regularly and basically I knew that this was the way my life would continue until I died.” She recognizes that she has too many children, but she said, “They are such a joy to me and each other.” Originally she received three goats. With the help of a Fonkoze case manager, she now has eight goats and a garden tended by her husband that provides vegetables and nuts. She sold three goats to buy a cow and eventually hopes to buy a donkey to take her to market to sell her produce. Now she says, “I’m smiling with my face and heart because I see a future for my children and myself.” -Sheila J. McAlinden

“LEAVING POVERTY” written by a student of Fonkoze - Spring 2009

Misery and poverty
turn beautiful women into ugly and desperate women.
Misery and poverty
turn young men into old men before they reach middle age.
Misery and poverty
teach children how to lose respect for their parents and for themselves.

I have left misery behind and taking small steps to leave poverty behind
And I swear 7×77 that I will never return where I was two years ago. That is what
Fonkoze has done for me and for all the women graduating out of extreme poverty
today.

DONATE TO LACA

It is generous donations from donors like you who help LACA continue to support programs that make a huge difference in the lives of the rural poor. If you would like to support the Haitian project, please donate to LACA and reference the Haitian project in the memo of your check. Any amount is welcome. Please use the envelope enclosed to mail in your donation.