Pilot Promotoras de Salud Cohort: Ready to Serve
“(I appreciated) the knowledge we acquired about culture and personality – since this will help me perform my job as a promotora in the organization and my community.” – Participant in Para Los Niños’ pilot Promotoras de Salud cohort
When parent leaders at Para Los Niños recommended that we start a Promotoras de Salud (community health outreach worker) project to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, we were all in. We had already been sponsoring vaccine clinics and resource tables, but we needed the capacity to reach deeper into our community to counter the misinformation about the virus and the vaccine. From August to November, 2021, six Latina PLN members (including three Leadership Academy graduates), participated in 20 hours of training to reach deep into the South King County Latino community with COVID-19 prevention resources, accurate vaccine information, and more.
PLN Helps Parents Preserve and Pass Down Cultural Traditions
Adult English Class Writing Project: Our Cultural Traditions and Family Memories
In the introduction to the bilingual children’s book, Family Pictures, writer Sandra Cisneros says, “They say every picture tells a story. But the pictures of Carmen Lomas Garza tell many, many stories.” When the Level 2 adult English students in our Aprendamos Juntos (We Learn Together) family education program opened their copies of Lomas Garza’s book and were asked, “Which picture reminds you of home and why?,” they had stories to tell. Her evocative paintings sparked memories of visiting the local fair in Oaxaca, spending a lazy Sunday afternoon on a beach south of Acapulco, or picking oranges at a grandparents’ house in rural Honduras.
The class used the vignettes in Family Pictures as a jumping off point for telling and writing their own stories.
Read their stories in the class booklet, “Our Cultural Traditions and Family Memories,
ADULT ENGLISH CLASS
From Mexico to Burien: La Posada
Also in December, PLN partnered with The Highline Heritage Museum, City of Burien, Southwest Youth and Family Services and other sister organizations to plan and organize La Posada, a Mexican Christmas tradition reenacting Mary and Joseph’s journey to find shelter. Several Adult English students wrote about Las Posadas celebrations in their Mexican villages and towns, but said they didn’t have the opportunity to celebrate here. The Museum’s annual La Posada event aims to change that!
New Traditions: Sea Hawkers Latin American Club and Tres Lecheria Toy Drive
New Traditions: Sea Hawkers Latin American Club and Tres Lecheria Toy Drive
While many adult students wrote about customs practiced in their home countries, a few described new family holiday traditions celebrated in the United States. For several years, PLN has gathered holiday toys for participants in our programs. In the face of a pandemic that has devastated many families’ finances, it made sense to continue this new holiday tradition. Nationally renowned bakery, Tres Lecheria, partnered with us again this year. Then the Sea Hawkers Latin American booster club joined in, and we were able to make even more wishes come true.
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