LAS HERMANAS

DE TRONCONES

Providing Opportunities for Women and Children

Through Education

April. 18, 2024

¡Bienvenidas y Gracias!

Welcome to our new members: Carmen Parra and Donna Roggenthien. We look forward to seeing you at our events!

Are you interested in joining Las Hermanas? We would love to have you! Dues are 2,000 pesos, or $125 USD. Click here to join .

Thank you to the following donors:

Harry and Kim Aldrich

Lon Johnson

Donna Roggenthien

Jocelyn Formento, for donating the proceeds of a weaving commission.

Carmen Parra and Sarah Borealis, for recently donating 10% of sales of their clothing line, PRET a PAKA, to Las Hermanas.

Thank you to the following who donated jewelry:

Becky Malecky

Denise Winn

Saundra Gibson

Trisha Johnson

Julia Leonard

Jody Len

Millie Beale

Jack and Ann Marxhausen

Jane Clune

Donate Now!

Student of the Month

We are proud to share this new program, the goal of which is to help motivate and celebrate the students, as well as to help the entire community get to know the stories and dreams of some of the outstanding students that frequent the Las Hermanas Learning Center and Library.

Congratulations to Ximena Arriola Solís!

Ximena has earned the honor of being named the first student of the month because she is a student who always comes to class with a smile and is willing to do her best. In the classroom she is very participatory and respectful. She carries out her activities with great dedication. She does not like to miss any classes because she knows that each class is an opportunity to build her dream of having a career in business, and to be able to help her family and her community.

Ximena is very curious and has become comfortable asking questions at the Las Hermanas learning center, where the teachers have helped her to understand that asking questions and making mistakes are a part of learning.

Ximena also loves to draw, write, and spend time with her family. She writes many stories, in which she is always accompanied by her father, mother and younger sister, and they go on grand adventures together.

How Caring Makes a Difference in Our Adopted Community

Teachers and students at a faraway high school in Orono, Minnesota, became interested in the village of Troncones some 20 years ago, and began bringing down school supplies to share. Their support of our community has been coordinated for many years by Las Hermanas board member, Jami Fernette, and her hard work has been key to their efforts. Their interest has grown over the years, leading up to their big project just completed at the Troncones Kinder. The school itself was renovated last year, thanks to Las Hermanas donors and administrators in La Union.

But there was something missing–a new playground for the youngest Troncones students. Thanks to generous donations from the Orono DECA students, swings, slides, climbing towers, a play kitchen, and a climbing dome were purchased. Builder David Martinez lent his construction crew, at no cost, to assemble the thousands of parts to create the equipment. Over two weekends, they prepared the footings, assembled the equipment, and installed it. The Padres de Familia, the local equivalent of the PTA, pitched in by carting in two truckloads of sand to fill the playground. The result is a state-of-the-art playground in our little village, and parents say that their children can’t wait to go to school each day.

With vision, will, and hard work, it is possible to change lives, no matter where we live. Thank you to the students and teachers of Orono Independent School District of Minnesota for making this happen!

A Tribute to Wendy Brooks

The Hermanas sisterhood recently lost a beloved member.

Wendy Brooks, three months shy of 85 years young, left us on March 26^th. Wendy passed peacefully in her beach palapa, surrounded by family. She had three weeks to say goodbyes to dear friends and family members, several who came to Troncones after learning of her terminal cancer recurrence, following almost 20 years in remission.

Wendy’s life was unique for many reasons; her social activism representing minority migrant workers and the war on poverty in the 60’s, her passion for bridging cultural gaps which took her and hundreds of teen thespians under her wing to over 30 countries across the globe, raising three sons on her own (part of that time in a VW bus), and forever forging and nurturing meaningful friendships worldwide, testimony to her devotion to growing communities of conscious and caring humans.

Those of us who knew her admired her spunk and dedication, and we treasured her devoted friendship. Her Friday shifts in the Las Hermanas store, her graceful beauty, humor, adventurous spirit and wisdom will be greatly missed. We are so much better for having known her.

Affectionately,

Leela Francis

Sunset Club

What a way to end the Sunset Club season! Over fifty people gathered at Punta Majahua to chat with old friends and new while enjoying homemade margaritas and agua fresca de jamaica, along with delicious appetizers from Antonio’s. But that wasn’t all we had going on. Our guests were treated to a tour of five Punta Majahua condos. Many commented that this was their first time being inside these condos, and they marveled at the beautiful design, and the views offered by the location on Majahua Point. A big shout-out to Wendy and Mark Renner, Sofia Hernandez, Colleen and Mike Boaz, Mo Maglio and Gordon Burns, and Nancy and Howard Carr for opening their homes for this super-fun event, as well as for providing all the food and beverages. (That means the money for your tickets went directly to fund the work of Las Hermanas.) Thanks also to Tim and Jackie Reuling for donating the tequila for the tequila shots we offered in the little Las Hermanas cups!

We upped the fun factor by offering raffle prizes, and drew the winning numbers after the tour. The lucky winners took home prizes from the following donors: Orbe’s Restaurant, William Mertz, Pampa Madre Shop at Punta Majahua, Mingo Mingo Restaurant, Majahua Palms Restaurant, Omar Sierra, and Karla Martinez. Please thank these donors by patronizing their businesses!

Thank you to Denise Hodges for organizing these fabulous events. If you would like to host a Sunset Club next year, email her at dhodgesboise@aol.com See you next season!

Ten Years of Las Hermanas

We celebrate our ten-year anniversary this month, and we thought it would be fun to look back at our origins. Pictured here are the founding members: Wendy Page, Jill Edwards, Lorraine Simpson, Ann Hatfield Merritt, and Malury Wells-Ordas. Below is the story of our beginning, told by our president, Ann Hatfield Merritt.

It was the usual sunny day in Troncones in 2014. Going to lunch with the girlfriends at Chenchos. Most of us had lived in Troncones since 1993 - 2005. We'd been in Troncones long enough to see it grow from a few old stick houses with no electricity, to a paved road, and the up and down growth. And as we watched the changes, we knew that Women wanted to have a voice in the changes.

So here we were at Chenchos, having a glass of wine. Jill Edwards, Malury Wells Ordas, Lolo Simpson, Wendy Page, and I. The Founders.

We wanted women’s voices to be heard. We wanted Opportunities for women. We wanted Progress.

So….we dreamed up Las Hermanas de Troncones. The Sisters. And during a few more lunches, we dreamed up a way to fund our new endeavor. JEWELRY! Easy to carry. Easy to bring. Women love to buy. And so, we started with selling used jewelry on tables at Mi Casa Su Casa. December 2, 2014. More than 500 pieces of jewelry were donated, and 41,000 pesos were raised for the Troncones Cemetery improvement project.

And, after a few years, of our beach sales on card tables, we rented the Jewelry location that we have today.

Our Mission was "Opportunities for Women." And within a short time..........we realized that Opportunities for Women are possible, when we also include "Children through Education." Nicole Dugal urged us to fund transportation to the Secondaria and Prepatorias, in Zihuatanejo, La Union, and Pantla. Nicole teamed up with Pedro Palacios to form relationships with the padres of the students. To monitor and fund. And Eva Robbins of Hacienda Eden joined the team to lead the Transportation/Scholarship program.

And so.............Our Mission became "Opportunities for Women and Children through Education.". And we remain loyal to the mission statement.

This mission statement became more important for us to maintain during the Covid Years. People said......"NO....we can't do anything...everything is closed...school is over."

Of course, WE DID NOT LISTEN!! We immediately started to fund laptops for Prepatoria Students, and tablets for the Secondaria Students. We wanted to make sure that students had continued access to education.

During Covid, we also began major renovation projects at the Secondaria School. The Secondaria school was closed. Lyn Gilstrap began investigating what the Secondaria needed. A donor began the process with a complete remodel of the broken, old, bathrooms. Las Hermanas began replacing and building roofs, gutters, drainage, patio/concha areas, bookshelves, desks, paint, air conditioning. We rebuilt much of the infrastructure. Covid was an ideal time to renovate. And we made use of every moment to make sure that when the Secondaria reopened, we would have a school worthy of the children attending.

And during Covid........we began Bilingual Education. With the help of Wendo Oregon. We held classes in open air restaurants, with new laptops, and installed internet. Mindful of social distancing....but we kept the Bilingual programs going.

We keep going. We have stayed faithful to the concept of spending the money on the Mission.........we depend on donors and fundraisers. Our situation is that the students are here TODAY. Not sometime in the future. We spend today...... on the six year old. The 12 year old. The 17 year old. Students don't get another chance. And our mission is to fund these programs NOW. And we work with all our hearts and minds and friendships to fund more and more. Including programs for Women. The demand has exceeded our wildest dreams.

Las Hermanas. We work. We pivot. We change with the times and the situations. We listen. We try. We are not afraid of success or failure. We try. And the vision of "Opportunities for Women and Children thru Education"continues. Every minute. Every day.

Ann Hatfield Merritt

President

Troncones Art Exhibition

March 30 marked the second Art Exhibition at Hotel Tres Santos in Troncones, and it didn’t disappoint. The Society of Master Artists is an organization of the best artists in Costa Grande, and we are fortunate to have them come to our community, to display their art and offer it for purchase. For both events, the artists have donated ten percent of their sales to Las Hermanas de Troncones, and we are gratified by their generosity in giving back to the community.

Las Hermanas Board Member and esteemed artist Meta Maricarmen Hernandez acted as the godmother for the event, helping to arrange it, and cutting the ribbon to mark the opening of the show. Lorena Castaneda, manager of Hotel Tres Santos, allowed these shows to happen, and produced the posters, invitations, and publicity for the events. Restaurant Steak House donated the beverages and aperitifs. The art was curated by Lorena, along with Troncones artist Alex Pineda. We hope to see more art exhibitions next season, as they provide another reason for us to be grateful to live in this beautiful community.

Photos from Last Month's Gala and Auction

Thank you to professional photographer Sean Powell for taking photos during our event at no cost to us. He captured the magic of the evening beautifully.