Providing Hope, Learning Life Lessons in Oaxaca, Mexico will be presented from 6-7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024, at the Global Village Museum of Arts and Cultures. The presentation is in conjunction with the museum’s main gallery exhibit, Street Vistas: Oaxaca’s Día de los Muertos.
“My first visit to Oaxaca was in 2000, and little did I know the journey I had begun,” says Jody Snow, a long-time Spanish teacher at Fort Collins High School. “I got involved in a local nonprofit organization, Centro de Esperanza Infantíl, that funds educational expenses and provides supplemental services for students living in poverty in Oaxaca. Then I met a young boy, Luis Fernando, and I became his madrina, or godmother.”
Snow, who helped curate the museum’s Day of the Dead exhibit, will describe her life-changing journey as a sponsor of Luis Fernando’s education as well as her decades-long work with Centro de Esperanza Infantíl. In addition to helping fund educational expenses for local students, the center provides free meals, computer access and tutoring.
The Oaxacan organization is supported by an American nonprofit, Oaxaca Youth Empowerment (OYE), based out of Arizona. The president of OYE, Dave Slaymaker, lives in Colorado. Snow will also outline OYE’s success with enhancing the well-being of students in the Mexican state.
In total, Snow has travelled to Mexico more than 30 times, meeting with Luis Fernando and watching him transform from a shy young boy into an educated young man.
“I gave him hope,” Snow says. “And in return, I learned lessons that guide me through my everyday life.”
Tickets to the presentation are $5 per person, and reservations are requested at globalvillagemuseum.org. Refreshments will be served, and registration includes admission to the museum’s four galleries.