Hispanic Heritage Month 2010 Big Hit!

Hello, All! You are probably wondering what has taken so long for me to post this latest blog. Well, I was very busy organizing and working on the events the North Valley Public Library held during our 3rd annual Hispanic Heritage month in September. First, at our kick-off event "Grand Fiesta" the members of our Spanish Conversation Group "Reunion en Espanol" along with members of the staff and Board of Trustees at the Library, created some delicious dishes from around the world, of course from countries of Hispanic cultures. One of our most prominent members Oscar Macz performed some of the songs he had written, singing and playing guitar, to provide lovely background music while everyone enjoyed the food. After dinner, professional dancer, Kimberlee Carlson, and her group of Hispanic dancers performed several traditional dances to the delight of the audience of over 100 people. It was a fabulous event, many dressed in native dresses, several people drove all the way down from Missoula and there was much laughter and many happy people. A GREAT way to start our month! More updates to come...stay tuned! Photos to follow...

Wa Correia recognized as GREAT Volunteer

Hello, All. This month we are waiting to hear if our project "Hispanic Heritage Month" will be funded by the Missoula Community Foundation. Meanwhile, we are moving forward with our plans for our play "Cenicienta" or Cinderella in Spanish. Many of our native speakers will play the major roles. Oscar Macz (Guatemala) is working on adding more dialogue to the script and has agreed to be our director. Oscar will also perform during our kick off event, Hispanic Fiesta, on First Friday, Sept. 3rd, in Stevensville. Oscar plays guitar and sings beautiful songs, many of which he has written himself. Wa Correia (Mexico) was featured recently as Volunteer Extrordinaire by the RSVP - Retired Senior Volunteer Program. Here is a photo of Wa. She is very busy giving so much of her time and energy to help others. We encourage anyone who has photos of interest to our Spanish Language Outreach bloggers to submit them to the blog. This fall I have plans to attend nearby schools during Parent-Teacher nights to "reach out" to those folks of Hispanic heritage. I will provide them with information on all we offer at our North Valley Public Library. I will even do my best to communicate in Spanish! Amy Ling

Earthquake in Chile on our minds

Shortly after our last blog, Chile experienced the most devastating earthquakes ("terremoto") in its history. Two of our North Valley Public Library (NVPL) SLO group, Erika and Alfonso Schumann, are Chilean natives. The family of Alfonso (his nephew or "sobrino") was affected in so many horrible ways, that their lives will never be the same. As they fled their home during the first tremors, the walls crumbled around them, crushing the nephew, his wife and 10 year old son. The nephew somehow managed to carry his wife outside; we don't know how the son escaped. The young wife was killed by the collapse of the house. The nephew and his son had broken bones, including compound fractures, and were impaled by debris. The nephew had to leave his wife while he desperately sought emergency transportation for his son to go to a hospital. Imagine the trauma to this boy who watched his mother crushed by the falling house, screaming in pain, then dying. By some herculean effort, the nephew managed to secure a ride in the back of a crowded truck bed, carrying his son, having several broken bones in his feet himself. When they finally arrived at the location of the hospital, they found the building had also collapsed. Imagine the pain and anxiety of having broken bones, a huge piece of wood sticking out of your son from his back through his shoulder exiting his chest AND the boy having a compound fracture of his leg, broken bone exposed, through open wound. Alfonso and Erika and their two daughters wired money from Montana to Chile to pay for an ambulance for transportation to the closest working hospital. The nephew was relentless in his pursuit of a coffin for his wife and was successful in bringing her to a final resting place on family land. I am writing this very early in the morning, waking up with these images on my mind, after hearing the details last night at our SLO conversation group. The horror of this situation for this family and so many others haunts me. I just can't stop thinking of the emotional and physical trauma to that young boy and his father. Our discussion last night led to brainstorming of ideas to help these people. Our hearts are heavy with sadness but we are determined to express our care to somehow help in some way.

It suddenly occurs to me that I don't even know their names, but, then... does it really matter?

I will report further details as I learn more. Amy

Day One of Spanish Language Adventure in Montana

Wonder who this will appeal to?