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San Pancho, Mexico

11/14/2019

Aviation for Humanity's Director of Outreach, Blaire Harvey, shares her experience volunteering while on vacation:

"Aviation for Humanity has reached Mexico! San Francisco, or San Pancho as it is more commonly referred to, is a Mexican town situated in the State of Nayarit on the central Pacific coast of Mexico about 50 km north of Puerto Vallarta on Federal Hwy 200. Just north of the popular surf town, Sayulita.

As the Director of Outreach for Aviation for Humanity so far, I’ve only connected volunteers to organizations abroad. My family was planning a holiday and I was pleased to find this incredible organization in the little town of San Pancho in the Riviera Nayarit, México. My family and I got to visit the charitable organization, entreAmigos and bring 60 pencil cases to selected students from their scholarship program. We were welcomed with bright eyes and big smiles. The kids’ ages ranged from 5-12yrs old and they happily received the notebook, crayons, colored pencils, pens and paper airplanes. The center itself assists children of all ages. It was beautiful to watch my own children engage and share with these special kids. The center was started by three women who noticed too many kids on the beach selling candies and trinkets. Discovering the reasoning they were not in school because their parents couldn’t afford even the public school options. They created a place where mothers could tap into their creative energy, make goods and sell them to support a future with education for their children. The space has grown exponentially with great local support. The community works together and is really committed to a greener planet by making all their goods from recycled materials.

Entreamigos strives to achieve its mission to increase learning opportunities for children and families through the implementation of educational programs based on principles of integration and collective community action. The vision of Entreamigos is to provide the children and families of San Pancho with the skills needed to contribute to their changing communities in a positive way.

Entreamigos is a nationally recognized environmental education center. The facility is sustainably designed using 80% recycled materials and serves as an interactive teaching center for students and visitors of all ages. Entreamigos staff practice outreach in the regional schools with custom designed interactive teaching materials.

If you or someone you know is traveling to the Puerto Vallarta/Riviera Nayarit location and desire a humbling experience, please reach out! There are many different kinds of volunteer opportunities at Entreamigos for residents and for visitors. Entreamigos is funded by private donations and onsite businesses. Entreamigos relies heavily on the support of volunteers. To learn more about their program please visit: https://entreamigos.org.mx/about-entreamigos-non-profit-san-pancho/"

--Blaire

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Accra, Ghana

11/9/2019

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Aviation for Humanity has reached Ghana! Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean, in the subregion of West Africa. Although relatively small in area and population, Ghana is one of the leading countries in Africa.

Thanks to Cheryl Pitzer, an enthusiastic volunteer, supporter, and fellow member of the aviation community, we were honored to visit the Street Children Empowerment Foundation (SCEF) shelter in Jamestown-Accra.

The Street Children Empowerment Foundation, or SCEF, reaches over 1,000 children each month through various programs, projects and services through the community, social services, legal aid and health interventions and a developed program called The Learning Hub Children Services that assists rescued children with play based learning activities, after school programs, and a library to help prepare the children for more formal education. SCEF envisions a future where all children, regardless of their disparities, have equal opportunities in reaching their fullest potentials. The organization works to bring sustainable improvements in the lives of street and vulnerable children by actively engaging key stakeholders (parents/guardians, teachers, department of social welfare, hospital staff/doctors/nurses, police, etc.) to build safety nets around each of their cases. Their methodology is to rescue, rehabilitate and reintegrate each child toward a sustainable life and future.

Currently, SCEF has 98 street connected children on their scholarship program and 100 beneficiaries who visit The Learning Hub daily to access their after school programs.

Aviation for Humanity was pleased and honored to support such a wonderful nonprofit organization by delivering 100 pencil cases stuffed with various school supplies and a very well received toy airplane!

For more information on ways to get involved with their program, please visit their website at www.scef-international.org

And, if you happen to be traveling to Accra, Ghana please reach out to info@aviationforhumanity.org and consider allowing us to help you support this wonderful organization by bringing additional supplies.

Again, a big thank you to Cheryl Pitzer, her family, Eric Bempong and the amazing staff and volunteers at the Street Children Empowerment Foundation.

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San Pancho, Mexico

Accra, Ghana

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