By Rebeca Anaya Cárdenas

The Rotary Club of Huatulco has been working behind the scenes for most of the pandemic and is gradually re-entering local communities in person to get back to work providing services.

The Park Library, a valuable resource in the community since October 2017, was constructed by our club and generous donors. The Library has been on standby regarding active daily use and continues to coordinate hours of operation based on municipal guidance.

Regardless of the challenges, and thanks to the donations of Rotarians from the US, we have achieved the construction of a second module within the library compound, the Rotary Salon. This beautiful palapa, used for weekly meetings of the Rotary Club, is also available to rent for private meetings through the Park Library. Rental donations are appreciated based on a suggested love offering, and dependent on the requirements for the space.

Liz St. Germaine, current President of Rotary Club Huatulco, invites the public to inquire about the Park Library’s “Pandemic Hours,” which allow private admission to the library via appointment until the time the municipal authorities authorize reopening fully. The Park Library telephone number is (958) 688 5085. Liz can be reached at this number by leaving messages with the librarian, Socorro Lopez Diego. The secretary of Rotary Huatulco, Dra. Reyna Rangel, can also facilitate in providing information about the library and its many benefits to the public, including rentable meeting space, seminars, movie nights, language classes, summer school activities, art classes, puppet shows and stage materials, and competitions.

In August Rotary Huatulco, working with the Rotary Club from Boise, Idaho, via member Mike Jones, provided two oxygen concentrators, which were delivered to the Director of the Red Cross, Liane Factor. These two concentrators are in addition to those donated by Canadian Rotary clubs that are in use in the IMSS and Santa Maria hospitals for COVID patients with oxygen needs.

Since September, Club Rotary Huatulco has entered into an alliance with the Huatulco Food Bank to distribute food staples to those without work due to the pandemic, dispersing items from the Park Library in Sector U2 on a monthly basis. The Food Bank specifies the parameters for those who qualify for the bags of staples; qualifying families can receive three monthly food deliveries. With more donations, that figure could grow.

Should you wish to support this much needed food distribution, please make your donation to Randall Clearwater at the HSBC Bank, debit card no. 4213 1680 5292 5146; you can also contribute by PayPal or e-transfer to email: rlclearwater@gmail.com. Donations in kind are welcome; please communicate with Wilfred Justiano at tel.
229 435 6083.

Rotary International has implemented an effort worldwide of reforestation called Duelo Verde (Green Mourning) in which all clubs are planting trees in memory of those in our communities lost to COVID-19. Rotary Huatulco has joined this initiative in planting memory trees; our goal is based on 55 lives lost to date.

During the week of September 20, Rotary Huatulco participated in another fulfilling alliance, sponsored by the Guelaguetza Rotary Club from Oaxaca City, delivering 200 specialized wheelchairs to individuals with cerebral palsy. The effort involved working cooperatively with ten Rotary Clubs from the state of Oaxaca.

Watch for the Grand Re-Opening of the Park Library at a date soon to be determined!

Interested in Rotary? Please contact President Liz St. Germaine or Secretary Dra. Reyna Rangel for more information.