Natik: ED MARCH 2022Good news from Natik
Greetings from Chiapas!
I hope you and your loved ones are well. With everything going on right now (everywhere), an attitude of gratitude for our blessings seems like a good place to start.
With all the (tragic-horrific) details of the escalating violence in Ukraine, I’m sad to mention that that the violence in Guatemala and Chiapas are also escalating. The violence is less explosively dramatic but is insidious and incessant nevertheless. Unfortunately, history has demonstrated that it only takes a few to convince the many that violence will somehow accomplish something worthwhile.
The positive flip side is that in the places where violence is not escalating, it is also the few who have exemplified for the many what love and collaboration can accomplish.
Thank you for supporting Natik’s "love and collaboration" partner teams in Guatemala and Chiapas.
Together, we are working to transform our concerns for the future by strengthening community-based infrastructures that help children and their families have more options than previous generations.
Natik has plenty of good news that I’d love to share with you!
After (too many) years of being my own Administrative Assistant, I’m happy to report that Karla Herrera stood out among the many worthy applications we received for that position.
She was born and raised in San Cristobal and works part time in the Administrative Office of the University of Chiapas (UNACH) in San Cristobal, where she is a colleague of Deborah Colvin (Natik Director of Operations and Programs) and Élida Anaya (Natik Accountant). Karla has a Master’s degree to teach English and loves organizing. She’ll be our half-time Administrative Assistant responsible for two-way translations, donor communication, file management, investigations, and whatever else we can think of as we go along. We are all thrilled to welcome her onto our team.
The next big item is that, thanks to Deborah’s skill at extracting impact data from all the nooks and crannies of Natik and our partners --- and then translating those details into the complex GuideStar reporting requirements, we now have a Platinum rating for the third year in a row! Click here or the link below.
Finally, I’d like to express my gratitude and appreciation for Berenice Zebadúa (Natik Communication Director), and Senai Mesfin, (Natik Technology Consultant) for their contributions to Natik’s mirror Spanish website!
This has been an ‘Important-Pending’ item on my To Do List for almost twelve years. Seriously. I won’t bore you with why it didn’t happen before now, but I will say that when I clicked the Spanish language toggle in the upper right corner of the screen for the first time, the goosebumps and tears caught me by surprise.
Sometimes we don’t know how deeply embedded an ‘Important-Pending’ item is until it’s been accomplished!
Therefore (drum roll), is my joy and honor to invite you to visit our Spanish site here.
Our April newsletter will be the 2021 Annual Report, which we’re working on now.
I always welcome direct communication, so feel free to reply to this email. Be sure to let me know if you’d like to be added to one or more of the bi-lingual partner bulletins on the fourth Friday of each month and/or to be removed from the mid-month all-Natik updates from me.
Below are samples of partner bulletins from last December in case you’re not on any of those mailing lists and you’d like to check them out:
As always--- Thanks for being there!
🍀 🌞 🍀 Anita
Executive Director
anita.smart@natik.org
