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| Puente a la Salud Comunitaria contributes to food sovereignty and advances the health and well-being of rural communities in Mexico by promoting the consumption, production, and commercialization of amaranth. |
Letter from the Executive Director
Hello friends of Puente,
On behalf of the entire team, I would like to take a moment to thank all of our supporters who continue to donate energy and resources to our organization.
I recently shared with our Board of Directors this excerpt from Ben Stein’s December 28th, 2008 New York Times piece entitled, “They Told Me That Madoff Never Lost Money.” I believe you all will also find the message of significance. He correctly describes that,
| “We are more than our investments. We
are more than the year-to-year or day-by-day changes in our net worth.
We are what we do for charity. We are how we treat our family and
friends. We are how we treat our dogs and cats. We are what we do for
our community and our nation. If you had $100 million or $100,000 a
year ago and now you have a lot less, you are still the same person.
You are not a balance sheet, at least not one denominated in money, as
was explained to me recently.” |
I look forward to sharing with you the on-the-ground results in 2009 made possible by your donations. I would also like to encourage you to refer to the message of Mr. Stein throughout the year. Finally, my hope is that its impact translates into much needed investments and donations for the villages Puente serves and poor families throughout rural Oaxaca.
Sincerely,
Pete Noll
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The Volunteer Experience in Numbers
by Lauren Whaley (a Puente volunteer)
 About 150 days ago, I arrived in Oaxaca to volunteer as a Community Promoter Assistant at Puente. I have had the opportunity to experience the rural education projects that Puente’s staff delivers and to understand the tireless planning and supportive work these programs require in the main office. I, like countless others who have passed through Puente’s doors, have attended workshops, read Puente’s newsletters, and become a passionate believer in amaranth. Among the many ways I have grown in my experience here is that I have begun to focus on the quantitative. That is, I have seen my volunteer contribution and Puente’s success through numbers.
Thus far, I have spent countless hours on the winding Oaxacan roads traveling to some of the 21 rural villages in which Puente’s Healthy Families project worked throughout 2008. There, I simultaneously aided in the workshops and learned about amaranth alongside the roughly 600 other men and women who participated this year. These visits gave me the opportunity to master four particular amaranth recipes, and, luckily, push a Puente car with a dead battery a mere single time.
 While not in the rural villages, Puente volunteers have the opportunity to work on projects in the office that best suit their interests. Aside from my daily task of making at least one pot of coffee for the staff (a self-assigned duty I have enthusiastically taken on), a mathematics background and an interest in the monitoring and evaluation aspect of public health projects led me to my primary project focus. Using evaluations collected throughout 2008, both before and after the series of workshops were conducted, I began my analysis and discovered numerical evidence of the impact Puente has made. Most notably, before Puente began workshops in the communities, 18% of participants reported that they regularly ate amaranth. This number jumped to 86% by the end of the year.
My work with Puente has given me a particular perspective on how to both identify needs for improvement and rate the success of a program. With only 26 more days left as a volunteer to compare numbers, risk motion sickness on the village roads, and add to the immeasurable amount of amaranth cookies I have snacked on, I find it hard to believe that my time here has gone so fast. I am grateful for the opportunity Puente has given me, not only to learn about public health, amaranth, and Oaxaca, but to write as well as compute statistics in the office.
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Who doesn’t love amaranth pancakes?
Ingredients:
1 cup Puffed amaranth cereal
1/4 cup Whole wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon Baking powder
1 Egg, or substitute equivalent
3/4 cup milk (or alternatives)
Directions:
In a medium-sized bowl, mix together the cereal, flour, egg, and baking powder. Pour the milk over the mixture and beat with a spoon until the ingredients are well combined. If the batter is too thick, you may add a little more milk.
Drop the batter by 1/4 cup measures into a hot, oiled skillet and cook over medium-high until bubbles begin to appear on the tops of the pancakes. Turn them over and cook until done.
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Puente would like to thank all individuals and foundations that have made our work possible. Please help us invest in the future of many more families with your generous support. Donate now!
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Join Puente's cause on Facebook by clicking here and searching for "Friends of Puente." We look forward to seeing you on Facebook!
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