Village fairs with soccer and horse games, hand-ground corn tamales and other favorites--old and young come together to raise money to complete the new church.
Village women work to prepare
theTamales de Navidad.
Above right, Village teens compose the menu. Above, Julie lends a hand at the feria. Above are some pictures of San Josecito's inhabitants working to bring in money to finish building their church. One favorite method is to host a feria, or a day when folks from surrounding villages visit for soccer matches (San Josecito is the blue team!), horse games, and lots of good food prepared by the village women who begin two days in advance by cooking and grinding the corn that will comprise the tamales de Navidad, a traditional Costa Rican favorite. Below, find our most recent newsletter.
Greetings Friends,
I find myself still in the U.S. as a result of my long-time canine companion’s health. Around Thanksgiving I thought I would have to put him down, and as I didn’t want to do anything under a time pressure, I decided to postpone my return to Costa Rica until January 2, 2008. The Cape is beautiful this time of year in any case, and Najuk seems to be rallying!
One major victory since I last wrote is that we’ve managed to attain non-profit status as a public charity after a year of back and forth with the IRS. This means that contributions can now be listed for tax purposes. Past contributions are retroactive, but claiming deductions on them would involve amending your previous tax returns, so unless you need to do so anyway, it’s probably not worth the time or expense.
At our October board meeting two new officers joined us: Wendy Palliser will serve as our new secretary and Sarah Robinson has agreed to be our treasurer. Additionally, Ken Horton stepped down to allow Julie Rich to serve as a board member. Thank you Ken for all your help; and welcome to Wendy, Sarah and Julie. At this same meeting we agreed to lend our support to San Josecito’s efforts to build a new church. The old one was torn down last year due to structural problems that made it unsafe. The community has raised money in whatever way it could (including making and selling tamales where the corn is ground by hand!) to get a new church started.
I hope you’ll go to the blog (http://bridgesnmore.blogspot.com/) and take a look at the women grinding corn, the old church, and the process of putting up a new one. Bridges & More will donate an immediate $500.00 toward construction costs; and Julie Rich and Wendy Palliser are organizing fund-raising efforts to raise more for the Church Fund. Ronny Duarte, who is leading the church effort in San Josecito, estimates that they need only about $5000 more in materials to complete the church. Much of the labor is being provided by local citizens, although an architect and professional building crew were involved in the initial phases of construction. One anonymous donor has already given $1000 to the church fund, so we only need to raise $3500!
I need to confess that in conducting business for Bridges & More I have ignored the village’s need for help with the church for a full year! This was because I had my own ideas and prejudices about our being a secular organization, not a mission. Slowly I’ve come to see that the church is the center and heart of the community; and that to hold onto funds that could not at present be used for bridges is sheer stubbornness on my part! Now I’m excited by the prospect of really being able to serve the community.
The other project I look forward to upon my return to Costa Rica is the orchid farm. Carlos Rojas has developed a small business plan whereby Bridges & More would provide materials (either as a grant or as a lone) for a local family to construct a greenhouse to raise orchids to sell, and possibly even to export at some point in the future. Carlos himself would supply the plant stock and expertise in the process of cultivating the orchids.
When I return it will be vacation time in Costa Rica—children there get their “summer” break in January, and progress to a new grade in February. Vacation is one of the critical times for river protection, and I look forward to working with the village to help organize (and finance) a river patrol. Last year we gave $100 to the patrol during Semana Santa, and due to village contributions and careful management almost $50 of that remains. This year we’ll be organizing and funding for both the January vacation and Semana Santa in April.
Should you wish to make a contribution to the Church Fund, checks should be made out and mailed to:
Bridges & More Inc.
P.O. Box 1642
North Eastham, MA 02651-1642
Please be sure to write “Bridges & More” on the envelope rather than my name, because I won’t be here opening my mail: my roommate will be forwarding all checks to Sarah Robinson.
I send all of you my best wishes and thanks for your support and interest over the past year. Bridges & More is evolving as we come to understand more about the community and Costa Rican culture. I welcome your thoughts and ideas, either by email or on the blog!
Con mucho gusto,
Elizabeth Kushigian
