Janet Lowe

Art and Life in Playa del Carmen, Mexico

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6th Grade Graduation in Mexico

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Guests of honor who awarded the diplomas including me from Leyendo and Suzanne Filsinger from KKIS Project.

Many students don’t continue their education after elementary school in Mexico. Work permits are allowed at age 12 and families need their income. Consequently there are two elementary schools with morning and afternoon sessions in this neighborhood, only one junior high school with just a morning session and no high school in the vicinity.

So the end of the school year means Sixth Grade graduation ceremonies and parties. Last week I was invited to help award diplomas at two primary schools where Leyendo has built libraries. It has gotten hot and humid here but we were provided with little bits of shade.

At the beginning of the Adrian Cupul Itza Primaria ceremony we were treated to a dance performance by a dance troupe in the Veracruz style which included several of the graduates.
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The tradition is that the graduating class choreographs and performs a dance at the ceremony, they receive their diplomas and then there is formal dance for students with their godparents. And lots of photos of course.

Help the KKIS Project – Keeping Kids in School

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Janet with several 4th grade students and their bags of school supplies.

As many of you already know I am the Director of Operations for the KKIS Project – Keeping Kids in School – a registered non-profit in both Mexico and the US. We began 7 years ago providing school supplies to underprivileged kids where I live in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. The first year we helped 250 students with a backpack of the school supplies required by all public schools. Last August we assisted nearly 3,000 kids! The price is about $10 USD for each child, providing them with the materials necessary for a full year of study.

Now I am asking for your help. Every donation will bring a smile to another face and the hope of a brighter future for a child in need. This is the link to the KKIS website on which there is a Donate button: www.kkisproject.org.

Playa del Carmen is a resort town but it takes a lot of backbreaking work to build those condos and keep them all running. Families have flocked to this town looking for work which is not very well paid. Mexicans are hard working people and their children deserve the chance to dream big. Please help. Thanks.

Revolution Day Parade in Nicte Ha

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Three senoritas.

Today I visited the Adriana Cupul Itza elementary school in Nicte Ha, at the very north end of Playa del Carmen. I went to take photos of the room that might be used for another Library in a Week project. While there the afternoon session students began to pour in dressed to celebrate Mexican Revolution Day, Nov. 20, a day they have off from school. A parade was planned around the school grounds and parents were lined up at the front gate to cheer their kids on.

This was the first school recommended by the government social service agency where every student enrolled needed help with school supplies.   KKIS has been involved there four years.

Cristo Rey Secundaria Library is Up and Running

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Cristo Rey Secundaria Library in all it’s glory.

The organization Library in a Week, founded by Sultan Utm in Canada unveiled it’s latest project yesterday at the junior high school with three classrooms in Cristo Rey, north and west of Playa del Carmen. Until last year the residents had wells and outhouses, power from a generator a few hours a day, no internet and spotty cell phone reception, very little public transportation and a 3 room school built by parents and equipped with student teachers from university. They have come a long way and Sultan with the help of the KKIS Project really made their day yesterday.

Students helped paint the walls and carried rocks and soil from blocks away to build up a garden outside the entrance door. One young girl looked up at a book on the top shelf so I reached it down for her and told her it was written in both English and Spanish. She sat down with it and continued to read through all the uproar of the opening.

The students made signs of thank you for Sultan and had each created cards of endearment for him which they presented in a large multicolored pile. A KKIS volunteer, Robert Smith, who lives nearby has volunteered to be the librarian and will help the kids with English. Another Cuban friend here in Playa, Marilou Young, will help him get all the books catalogued and create a system to make a lending library.

What a community I live in!

Day of the Dead in Playa del Carmen, Mexico

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The KKIS Project volunteers who practice conversational English with CECYTE high school students twice weekly were invited to a Day of the Dead party for hot cocoa and pan de muerto. The students had created Katrinas and dressed them to represent the traditional clothing from many states in Mexico. Great fun and lovely Katrinas!

The students and faculty also donated lightly used books for the new library that the KKIS Project with the Canadian charity, Library in a Week, are building in the Cristo Rey neighborhood north and west of Playa. Gracias!!!!