Experienced volunteers bring international perspective
to our work in 2011



Volunteer, Ginny Darvill from Mount Vernon, Washington, USA returned to her beloved Oaxaca in December and January to learn about CORAL through a month long volunteer arrangement in our therapy program. She fit right in as a skilled and experienced former early childhood special education teacher and nurse. Our therapists were thrilled when she shared activity ideas for a special interest of hers, creative movement and music. Ginny´s expertise, bright energy, generosity and exceptional Spanish-speaking skills were appreciated by all of our staff, and we are looking forward to her visit again next year.

Ginny´s friend, Rebecca Love is also from Mount Vernon and came to learn about CORAL and México in general. She assisted us in Therapy, helped out immensely with myriad office tasks, and was always ready with her camera to snap pictures of the daily happenings at CORAL. Rebecca´s background in art therapy was a perfect match, and her experience in NGOs and foreign cultures prepared her well. More than all of this, her encouragement and terrific attitude helped keep us energized and focused on achieving our goals in CORAL.



World traveler, Matthew Stevens, visited Oaxaca from New York and donated a week of his time in February to take pictures in the therapy and clinic programs. One day he accompanied a mother and her little boy and girl, both with hearing loss and enrolled in our therapy program, for a “day in the life” type of photo series. He has donated all of the week´s images to CORAL´s photograph library for promotional and internal use. Follow the blogs of Matt and his companion Zoe as they continue through Mexico and set sail with a crew to the Caribbean Sea.



Cassandra Donish is with us for three months assisting our group therapy instructor and learning more about the field of hearing, language and speech therapy. Her work experience in Seattle, San Francisco, Madrid and Prague as an editor and English teacher have provided her with a great background for collaborating with CORAL. Cassie is also skilled at speaking Spanish, which is a major plus!

Thank you, Ginny, Rebecca, Matt and Cassie! CORAL´s staff and beneficiaries are all lucky to have your help -- we appreciate you!