Dear Tia Maria,

 

Well it is time for the local students to return to school but it looks like classes will be on line for a while. This makes me sad because I love watching the parents que up on Hidalgo and on Sollano to pick up the younger students and walk them home.

 

I have been visiting with my housekeeper this week and she tells me this is going to be very difficult for her family for many different reasons. Their internet signal is weak. With so many family members living together in the house, there is not a quiet space for the prepa and university students in the house to do their work. In addition to the physical work space issue, the children are battling for bandwidth on the weak internet service. The various aged students in the house are fighting for the use of a shared family computer, if they are lucky. Many of the students are going to school using a cell phone and eating up data plans.

 

Do you have any recommendations as to what we can do to help the local children continue their studies?

 

Once a teacher, always a teacher. 

 

Dearest Teacher-

 

And I say Dearest in the most sincere way possible. While I mostly receive letters with people needing something to soothe their soul, you want to soothe the souls of others!

 

I think we all may have the opportunity to help our wonderful San Migulense hosts, the people who have so graciously welcomed us and have enriched our lives.  And we can all help in different ways.

 

I have a lovely friend who found out that several people that work in her home are having struggles with their children accessing reliable internet. Her solution was to invite the children to study at her home! She is fortunate enough to have enough space to carve out a quiet place where the children can study and use her internet. All under the supervision of an adult of course. How sweet and wonderful is that!

 

Not everyone has the space of the ability to do the same, but there are so many other ways.

 

My favorite is at The Biblioteca. They have a Scholarship Committee and have realized that many students who have worked so hard to achieve success no longer have a place to do their work. Where they once went to an internet cafe or The Biblioteca to use computers, because of Covid closings theses computers  are no longer available to them. These are students that are Scholarships provided by the committee and will have to take classes on line on their cell phones! Can you imagine?  It seems that 40 students need laptops and with help we can get these deserving young people the help they need. For every $500 donation a laptop can be provided to a STEM  Student (Science, Technology, Engineering & Manufacturing). I realize that not everyone can donate this amount but any amount would be appreciated. Or why not get together with your neighbors or friends and all chip in the cost of a cocktail or two at Berlin and give that to help? It doesn’t always take a lot of money, it just takes a lot of action on our part to give to others. If you are so inclined to help get these students a laptop, you may make a donation using your Paypal account to: bibliotecasma@gmail.com.  In the notes section of Paypal please reference “scholarship laptop project” 

 

And remember, everytime you help a student an Angel gets a martini… (or something like that)

 

I’m not Judging, I’m just Saying!