Villa Esperanza will be participating in the Act Local Think Global conference at the University of Texas at Austin on February 4, 2010!

Stay tuned for more details!

The official flier for Copa Esperanza 2010 is here!

Join Villa Esperanza for “Water: Thirsty Fields and the Elixir of Life,” the first lecture of our 2009-2010 Lecture Series!

Water is man’s only weapon against aridity. It slacks the thirst of humans, provides the foundation for all crop production, and must be in place for a viable agrarian community to exist in dry regions.

While the availability of water affects all humans, lack of access to water and to viable irrigation systems has a particularly devastating impact on disadvantaged communities.

Charles Porter’s presentation focuses on the need for successful irrigation systems designed to create a “living or on-going total system” approach. His talk references ineffective infrastructure projects in northern Mexico and south Texas where thousands of hectares of fields surrounded by concrete channels ready to deliver the elixir of life to thirsty fields have laid fallow for years, and addresses the consequences this has had on poor, agrarian communities. His talk will conclude with ideas about how we could assist governments and/or local farm communities in developing a “living system” approach that could make the expensive infrastructure already in place useful in the successful development of more independent and sustainable communities.

St. Edward’s University
Doyle Hall 132
Wednesday, October 7th
7:00 p.m.

Villa Esperanza is now part of the Randall’s Good Neighbor Program! Swipe your Remarkable Card at the checkout line, and 1% of applicable purchases will be donated to our organization! The Remarkable Card is not only a way to save money on groceries, but it’s also a way to benefit Villa Esperanza’s programs!

Click here for more information about the Good Neighbor Program and to download the form to add Villa Esperanza to your Remarkable Card.

The Villa Esperanza Charity # is 12186.

Join Villa Esperanza at Plucker’s Wing Bar (9070 Research Blvd) on Thursday August 27, 2009 from 6-9pm for Party with a Purpose! Enjoy Plucker’s selection of wings, burgers, and daily drink specials. Tell your waitstaff that you support Villa Esperanza, and 20% of your non-alcohol purchases will benefit our organization!

Come on out to Plucker’s for some good food and drinks, and help raise money to further our mission for a Better World…Here and Everywhere!

Earn money for Villa Esperanza by using the Goodsearch web browser!  Simply click on the badge below. When asked “Who Do you Goodsearch For?”, search “Villa Esperanza” and select “Villa Esperanza (Austin, TX)”.

Villa Esperanza is now on Twitter!

Become a “follower” and receive up-to-date information on what’s going on with our organization.

http://twitter.com/villaesperanza

Villa Esperanza invites you to attend “Impact of Global Financial Crisis in Impoverished Communities Abroad,” the 2nd lecture of our lecture series.

*When: Monday, May 18, 6:30PM*
*Where: Caffe Medici on 2222-B Guadalupe*
*Who: Dr. Gwen Sullivan*

How is the global financial crisis unfolding in impoverished communities
around the world? How are households responding to the immediate impacts
on their livelihoods and their access to basic goods and services? Dr. Gwen Sullivan will
locate local accounts of crisis within the broader story of inequality in
power and wealth in today’s global economy.  She will draw on the preliminary
findings of participatory researchers in six countries.

Gwen Sullivan teaches in the Global Understanding Program at St. Edward’s
University. She is also a Research Fellow at the Institute of Latin American
Studies at the University of Texas. Gwen lived and worked in Nicaragua during
much of the 1980s and ‘90s. She received her doctorate from the Institute
of Development Studies at the University of Sussex, UK.

On May 2nd, Villa Esperanza will be hosting a night of salsa dancing to raise money for our upcoming projects.  Come join us  and the well-loved local salsa band Cienfuegos at Jovita’s and help us support those in need in our community and abroad.  There will be salsa lessons at 8pm and live music starting at 9pm, all for only $10.  All levels of dancing welcome, so there’s no need to worry if you lack experience.  We look forward to seeing you there!

Jovita’s
1617 S 1st St
Austin, TX 78704

Beginning Monday April 13, Villa Esperanza will be hosting a lecture series designed to encourage public awareness about the issues of poverty and inequality which our organization works to improve.  Increasing our knowledge about the context and causes of the problems faced by other members of our global community is the first step towards the kind of action that can help break the cycles of poverty and inequality.  Therefore, we are so pleased to present the first lecture in our new series: “Ecuador, its people, culture and social realities”, a conversation with Michelle Wibblesman, Ph.D.

Michelle is a cultural anthropologist from Ecuador who now performs research among indigenous populations in the Andean highlands.  Her recently published book with University of Illinois Press, /Ritual Encounters: Otavalan Modern and Mythic Community/, describes the Otavalan ways of life centered on ritual celebrations and shows that Otavaleños—indigenous people who live in the region of northern Ecuador—have maintained ritual practices not in spite of modern influences but rather /because/ ritual is uniquely suited for symbolically capturing cultural changes and exploring them critically.

Monday April 13th at 6:30 PM
Garden District Coffee House
2810 S Congress Ave
Austin, TX