A Special Day With The Children In Cuna Maya, Mexico & The Difference That Capstone Has Made

At the beginning of January, I had the honor of visiting the children, teachers, families and others in Cuna Maya, Mexico with several wonderful friends from Capstone.  

Cuna Maya is a small village in the jungle 20 miles southwest of Cancun.  It is very warm, beautiful and filled with wonderful families. 

Capstone has been volunteering and helping the people of Cuna Maya for the last six years as part of their national sales meeting in Mexico.  They have helped build and supply a library, classroom, medical clinic and girls dormitory on the property.

Within the village, they have raised money to build roofs on houses, donated and delivered basic household goods to families in need and sponsored community meals while they have been there each year.

And one of my favorite projects....they have build three Free Little Libraries for the village and fill them with new Capstone books each year as part of their visit.  

As Capstone's Facebook page states, this year Capstone's big initiative was to provide the children access to educational materials through technology.  

Pastor Mike, along with several young teachers, kicked off our day telling everyone how grateful they were for the help and friendship provided by Capstone throughout the years.

We stopped at the local shopping center and purchased items to make care packages to take to families.

Several of the volunteers helped make lunch for everyone including dozens of children and families that came to the educational center that day.

Capstone donated 1,200 new books to fill the Free Little Libraries and as soon as we put them into the libraries children were coming, taking books out and enjoying them so much.

They loved the Wearable Books from Capstone.  It was so much fun watching them try these out and it sure didn't matter that we didn't understand everything we were saying to each other.

I brought bracelets from Hagan and his friends as part of their Banding Together project to share with all of the children.

They loved the bracelets.  I couldn't wait to tell Hagan and the others who have contributed to this global project.

Eric was part of the crew that went out into the village to build a concrete floor for one of the families.

 The family was very thankful for this.

Through amazing support, Capstone raised enough money to donate 10 iPads, access to the internet and secure storage for the devices.  It was fun to watch a skit they created to tell the children the great news and explain how to use the technology properly.

They also provided Capstone digital products including PebbleGO and myON to the children of Cuna Maya.  The children loved watching as they showed how these products would work on the new iPads.

It was very special to watch Capstone employees like Todd Brekhus and....

Eric Fitzgerald show the children all of the exciting information and stories they would have access to.

 They couldn't wait for Andrea, who was our interpreter, to tell them even more.

As a teacher librarian, I loved seeing the children not only receive the digital resources, but also the books that would obviously bring them so much joy.

Eric has always told me how much this day and these people meant to him and so many at Capstone.

As I got to know the children....

 and watched all of the knowledge, resources and....

friendship shared on this day, I too was moved by the impact all of us can make by giving our time, hard work and love to others.

Capstone is doing something very special that will make a difference in the lives of the children and families in Cuna Maya, Mexico.  By giving them books, digital tools and resources, generosity and time, the employees at Capstone have started something that will give to everyone involved for years to come.

Eric and I cannot wait to see our friends in Cuna Maya again and hope to bring Hagan and our family there someday to meet them too.  The time that we spent with them made a difference in our lives and taught us things we won't forget.

Thank you Capstone for doing great things in Mexico and in so many schools and communities around the world.  It is very special to see how Bob Coughlan and Tom Ahern have empowered their employees to be part of this day and other volunteer opportunities throughout the year.  

As I said, you are definitely making a difference in so many ways.