Live music in the street to benefit local children

Last night April 14th I went to a local benefit with incredible live music. A wonderful non-profit organization here in Playa del Carmen, Mexico was raising money for 12 children needing open heart surgery that, for one reason of another, would never be eligible for the surgery here in Mexico. The organization is called Angel Notion and the band who traveled great distance to donate their entertainment was Paris Delane’s Tye Dye Skye of Chicago IL. with special guest Red Eye & Freemont Jackson from Mexico City. (Go ahead, google them… you will love them!) They set up a stage in the center of town (Calle 12 & 1st Ave.) for everyone to enjoy.
Establishments located near the stage that participated were Karta Bar, El Cielo and Diablitos cha cha cha. It was a great time with a whole lot of dancing in the streets. Our community of Mexicans and foreign locals come together to make some good things happen here.

This particular fund raiser was for 12 specific children needing open heart surgery in the state of Quintana Roo, Mexico. All 12 have been diagnosed in the last 8 months! If you can imagine your child being diagnosed with a heart defect at birth but you have no options of saving your
child’s life… This is the circumstances that these 12
local Mexican families have come up against. The good news
is that 4 of the children have already been sponsored!
It costs around $13,500 US dollars to take care of
the expenses for one child.The organization has worked hard
to get support in the medical field that has made it possible
to bring down the total cost for each child. Before the event
they needed at least $108,000 US more.

Donation jars were circulating through the crowd all night. VIP tables with food and drinks included were sold to groups of 10. Everyone was welcome despite the level of donation. Some large local companies and organizations have made the
kick-off to raising money for this group of 12 a bit easier. Xcaret has sponsored Jolet, Calica has sponsored Sammy, Bernie from El faro hotel has sponsored Jesus and The city of Playa Del Carmen has sponsored Jose Luis from the Zona Maya.

During one of the band breaks, some of the families came to stand on stage,
some with the children in need. One mother (in the pink pants) spoke to the crowd (in Spanish of course) and cried while asking for help. It was a moment I am sure none of us will forget.

They are needing help to sponsor the other 8 children who
are desperately holding their breath for a chance to live.
If for any reason you want to support this wonderful organization
please go to their website to make a donation. www.angelnotion.org. It is tax deductible in the US and Mexico. If anyone is interested in seeing the general clinic on your next trip to Playa del Carmen, I am sure they would welcome your presence! The clinic is located in Nicte-ha, on the north end of Playa del Carmen just past the Colosio.

Thank you to Lavonna Redman, the founder and hard working volunteer of the Angel Notion organization. She is truly an “Angel”!

If I can get an update on the amount of money they raised last night I will update my post! – Sherry

Helping Animals in Chemuyil

This past weekend (March 17 & 18), I was involved with a free animal clinic in Chemuyil. Chemuyil is a small town in the Riviera Maya south of Akumal and north of Tulum.

Some local women with the support and assistance of Sandra Valdez (who holds a local office pertaining to animals in our state) were able to get enough government support to put on a well organized 2-day free spay-neuter and vaccination clinic.

There is a serious problem in this country of over-population of cats and dogs. I have been involved in helping this cause since the day I moved to Mexico in 2001. Over the past 5 years many of us have worked hard to get the support of the community and the government to assist in humanely addressing this problem. It has not been easy!

Many Local families do not have the education or funds to care for the animals they claim. Not to mention the great number of homeless animals without anyone to care for them. These free clinics are always located in areas of need and are designed to help the communities gain knowledge about the health of their animals and how to properly care for them.

I have long worked with http://www.vidas.org/ in free sterilization clinics they do in the Riviera Maya. Vidas group is based out of the states. The participants volunteer their time and skills to put on a large, highly organized clinic every year. It has been a huge success and we have been able to help so many animals in a short amount of time. But, as locals living in the Riviera Maya we needed to try to continue their efforts throughout the year. This Chemuyil clinic is a result of that effort. This has been a long process but appears to be turning the corner with some new support of the local Mexican government. They have begun to help cover costs of some of the drugs, supplies and vaccines needed.

As for my experience helping with the clinic, it was amazing! I help mostly in the recovery room making sure the animals are relaxed and doing fine while coming out of the anesthesia. We also clean ears, treat flea and tick problems and administer “TLC” to the recovering patients.

In this particular clinic the offer was free sterilization surgery with full vaccines for cats or dogs. If their animal had already been sterilized the year before, they could have all their needed vaccinations for free. If they chose not to sterilize their animal and still wanted vaccines, they were asked to pay only the “cost” of the vaccines which was $150 pesos (less than $15 US).This of course is to encourage the owners to sterilize their animals. The Government supplied rabies vaccines for any animal free regardless of owner decision.
The clinic organizers went into the schools before the scheduled clinic, talked to the children about the importance of the clinic and sent home notices to parents about the free event. This was a way to reach out to the children and have them share it with their parents. The notice acted as a permission slip to bring animals into the clinic.

It was great to see how many animals had already been sterilized in previous free clinics and came back to insure the good health of their animals with yearly vaccines. I have watched many owners come in for the free service and observe the kind of care the clinic workers give to their animals… it is as if they had never realized that their animal was something special until they see how the doctors and volunteers treat their animal. It appears to create a new level of pride they have for their animal that they had not known before.

The children come to see what is going on at the clinics since they heard about it in school. They spend the whole day watching through the surgery room windows and into the recovery room. On occasion, we get some help from the curious children and teach them simple things about proper care for animals. They soak it up like little sponges.

If anyone is interested in volunteering, learning more about this ongoing project or wanting to donate money or needed supplies, please let us know. We are always happy to find more supporters.
Please check out our page: http://www.travelrm.com/travel-tips/local-animal-charity/ – Sherry