Meeting Minutes 10/30/00

Sister Parish Committee meetings are held the first and third Wednesdays of each month at 7 pm. in the school. Newcomers are always welcome. If you have questions, please contact any of the members of the committee.

What follows are the minutes of the Monday, October 30, 2000 meetings.

Monday, October 30, 2000

Present: The Delegates(Rosa, Mario, Efrain, Aura, Miriam, Addy, Tobias, Marlen), Ruth, Walter, Joel, Alex, Louise, Mindy, Cynthia, Lisa, Mark, Carol, Tim, Susan, Rick, Ruben

Introductions were first made so that everyone was sure who was who. The meetings that are bilingual always take more time as things need to be explained twice. Although half of the normal material might be covered, these are always the most significant of committee meetings because they involve face to face dialogue. Questions can be answered immediately rather than via email.

As our opening prayer, the reading for this Sunday's mass was used. Our committee will do the readings and the delegates will be doing the homily after Thursday's joint bible study meeting.

The delegation schedule was discussed. Concern was expressed that the delegates are not getting enough "down time". It was agreed things will settled down a bit more later this week which will allow for more down time.

Church construction- electricity and lights are now installed. They lacking materials(about 50,000 quetzales) to buy the flooring, balcony, doors, windows and roof. This project has been done with very little financial help from SJA. It has been a community project all of the way. The delegates are proud of what they have done via their own resources. The SJA committee is not looking to fund this project. Joint projects that our committees have focused on tend to be long term projects in which seed money helps start a sustainable project. An example of this would be the candle making business which TNII started with $200 of joint startup money.

We reviewed joint projects already in progress:

TNII'ers helped a single mom with sick children build a home. Mario reported that the group actually built 2-3 homes this year. They are able to build more homes or a store to sell food items but need more supplies to go that route. He also suggested a need for a car for the church to be used for emergencies for those who have no car or telephone. These ideas will be discussed at this Saturday's meeting.
The pre-hermanamiento Women's Group continues to be very active. It is called PRDCFIM(Programa de Capacitacion y Formacion Integral para la Mujer). Start up funds came a 10 quetzales per month contribution from the members in 1995. The group numbers 25-65 and includes women from TNI, TNII, and surrounding areas. It's purpose is to promote the technical capacity of women and to better advance women in the community. Technical skills promoted include: cake decorating, crafts, floral arranging, nutrition, culinary arts, pottery making, etc. The group also discusses women's rights. They will need about 14,000 quetzales or $2000 for equipment and classes, etc. They have been involved in some projects(such as making decorations for our candles) that have allowed them to raise enough money to buy a stove. Any joint contributions from our hermanamiento have and will be used as seed monies for sustainable projects in keeping with our mission.
English classes continue
Paul has wrote a plan for a scholarship program for our TNII sister churc, the St. Mark the Evangelist Church in TNII(officially named a couple of years ago. Currently there are 6 secondary students. The proposal includes starting a school supplies shop in the community to create more money and expand the program by 5 or 10 more students. The goal is to reach 10 participants for 2001. The cost of the education is 100 quetzales for 10 months of school each. This amounts to about $2564 for schooling 10 students for the year. One of the students has graduated(Sandra from the 1st delegation) from business school. The purpose of the program is to promote education beyond the 6th grade and develop students at 18-20 years of age who are ready to work in skilled or professional positions. A commission of parents and students will administer the program. Students will be required to attend monthly meetings to present their grades and receive the money. The criteria to be considered for the program include:
- Being involved in TNII community service
- Economic need
- Pass all previous grades
- Live in TNII
- Prove academic abilities with papers
- Be moving and progressing through the program.

The above ideas will be discussed more at this Saturday's meeting.

Candle sales on Sunday raised $3849.60. More candles remain. It was decided to sell again this Sunday. Alex, Louise, Joel, Ruben, Mark, Susan, and Miriam will help.

A generous parishioner donated an undisclosed amount which Louise turned over to Efrain, TNII treasurer. The group will decide how best to spend the money, but ideas include a 30 cup coffeemaker and an electric frying pan.

The meeting closed with the 2nd reading on love from Paul's gospel to be read this Sunday.