Scholarships and Equipment: How we can help.
		When Mark Mittermiller of Santa Barbara, CA contacted us to say that his kids' school, Santa Barbara Middle School, had over 400 desks in an attic space that had to go, we jumped at the chance to get them for these schools. Here are some of the desks in the ejido school, while others ended up at two different shools in the colonias. The government builds the schools and pays the teachers, but does little else to outfit and maintain schools in poor areas.
		There are many hurdles the kids face to get into and remain in public school. There are fees and bus fares, uniforms that are mandatory, books, supplies...all of which poor families must provide for their children if they are to attend school. Helping with these expenses and materials is where we come in.
		One way around uniform expense is to make your own, but this is not possible for the poorest families. Julie and Kim Fudge from St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church in Capitola, CA have for several years coordinated providing church funds to buy uniforms for hundreds of kids.
		Marta Medrano gets fitted for her new uniform by her "mom," Rosenda. Rosenda took Marta in as her own daughter several years ago, and we've gotten to watch her grow over the years. Children of The Americas steps in wherever possible to help in this and others areas of need for kids' education.
		Besides providing funds for fees and uniforms, books and school supplies, Childen of The Americas, under Norm's direction, built this 10-workstation computer lab at Genaro Vasquez public school in Colonia Tecolote. Here, it's just about finished and ready for kids.
		Here, it's newly finished with Norm in it.
		And here it really finished and in use with Rick Boshart, a computer technician, checking out the gear.
		And where do all these computers come from? People all over Southern CA have donated computers and peripherals to us for the kids. Santa Barbara Middle School, in addition to school desks, donated many computers as well. Tim Beck, our computer guy, refurbishes these computers, installs necessary software and hooked up the network at Genaro Vasquez.
		Norm Kremiller presents one of Tim's refurbished computers to the Principal of Genaro Vasquez school.
		The finished interior of the dining room that Children of The Americas built at Genaro Vasquez also serves as a place for the teachers to meet, organize lesson plans and text books, etc. Beyond nutrition, a room like this is invaluable in furthering the school's ability to effectively teach kids.
		Our dining rooms in the colonias likewise do double duty. Here the dining room at Rosenda's home in Colonia Lagunitas also serves as a place for children to do homework and spend some time with each other.
		More students at Rosenda's dining room on Saturday.
		Couldn't resist one more shot at Rosenda's.
		And here's the goal. These last shots were taken at this year's graduation ceremonies at Genaro Vasquez. Each class was themed with its own costumes, music, dance, and awards. Here the graduating 6th grade class in formal dress performs their dance.
		The steps of the dance were pretty intricate and interactive and very traditionally Mexican.
		The girls from the equivalent of our second grade dancing in Tahitian dress.
		The 6th graders waiting for final awards.
		A very traditional Mexican dance with traditional rural costumes. This one is a version of the hat dance with Coke cans (See them there on the ground?) standing in for the hats. The boys and girls danced around the cans.
		The 5th graders in their costumes.
		And here are the little ones dressed as animals and all sorts of things.
		And a final little beauty in her graduation best. As she is promoted to the next grade and the outgoing 6th graders move on to Secundaria (our Jr. High), we see the hope of this generation. We can't solve the problems that Mexico faces with its schools and poorest children, but we can certainly help the children in front of us get a chance to build a better future.