Step Two – Site Visit and Initial Coordination

Attendees: Carlos Rivera, Director, Veronica Corella-Barud, MPH, Outreach Coordinator, Edward J. Makarewicz, Mangement & Program Analyst, a USMCOC/USMCEF Representative and Karen Caron, Project Manager, EASI

AYUDA Exec. Director, Gloria Melendez, Christy Rodriguez, AYUDA Executive Assistant, Elke Cumming from the Agua Dulce Community Self Help Center, Esther Chavez Cano, Casa Amiga Founder and Director, Maricela Gallegos Padilla, Counselor Casa Amiga Centro De Crisis, A.C, ; Carlos Rivera, Director and Veronica Corella-Barud, MPH, Outreach Coordinator from Region 6, Karen Caron, EASI and a USMCOC/USMCEF Representative

During the meeting Gloria Melendez from AYUDA gave an overview of AYUDA and the projects it has been and is involved in. Each of the representatives from Casa Amiga and the Agua Dulce Community Self Help Center, told about their organizations, their capabilities and community projects; Karen Caron explained about the EASI/USMCOC/USMCEF/EPA Border program. Discussions also covered program participation, equipment, and establishment of AYUDA as a new SEC for San Elizario and the main point of contact for the other organizations. Training issues and Website information requirements were also discussed. USMCEF delivered two computer systems and software to AYUDA to support the program.

The meeting also covered site and community requirements and suitable community-level environmental program; and, coordinating the program kick-off at the site in conjunction with a co-sponsored community environmental awareness and health fair on Saturday, March 1, 2003 with additional support from EASI representatives operating in El Paso.

Meeting: 17 January, 2003, with Freddie Dowling, Aging Services Administrator with the El Paso Dept. of Community and Human Development

During the meeting Karen Caron explained the Border program and participation of the El Paso SEC volunteers, to demonstrate at the March 1^st kickoff event the use of the Trimble units for wellhead protection, as well as the water model they have to show how easily wells can be contaminated.

Meeting: Saturday, January 18, 2003, at AYUDA

During this visit Karen Carol of EASI and Gloria Melendez, AYUDA discussed going over plans for the training and for the kick-off celebration and environmental fair tentatively set for March 1st as well as various programs that AYUDA was involved, a list of these programs can be found on the AYUDA information pages http://www.usmcoc.org/pro/env1ac.html hosted on the USMCOC website.

At the same time that these discussions were going on, the representative from USMCOC/USMCEF checked out the delivered systems and troubleshoot some of the computers at AYUDA that were not working properly.

During discussions it was mentioned that AYUDA would like to start a water monitoring aspect, modeled after EASI’s Pennsylvania program and conduct testing of the river and irrigation canals, to tie into this environmental education dissemination program.

Step Three – Volunteer Recruitment and Community Outreach

Over the next few weeks EASI and USMCOC worked with AYUDA to ensure that a corps of volunteers were identified and recruited from local organizations and the local community. In addition, a supporting corps of highly trained volunteers and experts from El Paso were contacted to establish communications with AYUDA and assist them, as necessary, in developing action plans to work with small business owners and local schools and community organizations. Several action plans for the new SEC were proposed to distribute environmental information produced by EPA and other federal agencies and the development of community-based bilingual environmental programs that benefit and educate the local population.

At the same time in support of community outreach, AYUDA and EASI coordinated efforts in recruiting support and participants for the environmental fair on March 1^st. EASI also began to utilize its staff and the staff of its partner organizations to provide ‘train the trainers’ programs to senior volunteers forming a nucleus of professional trainers to work with projects in the local communities (many of these individuals are often retired professionals with many years of experience working on environmental projects, training individuals, and working with government agencies).

AYUDA as a SEC receives assistance from EASI , its ambassadors and the USMCOC and USMCEF will use the Border 2012 Program and the Seven Principles of Environmental Stewardship for the 21st Century as a guidelines for identifying local community-based environmental education programs and environmental projects for community involvement, participation and implementation. This assistance began with the support for action plans and participation in the Outreach Program on March 1^st provided by the EASI Ambassadors in El Paso which began during this period and was confirmed during the second sight visit at a meeting with EASI Ambassadors and volunteers on February 28, 2002 in El Paso.

The US-Mexico Chamber of Commerce went on-line, providing help desk support to handle requests via phone, fax, or e-mail for assistance from AYUDA in both English or Spanish. In addition USMCOC created appropriate web pages to support the site and began to research and identify environmental web sites, sustainable development initiatives that meet community needs, and environmental information, publications and lesson plans that could be posted on the developed web pages for the site in both English and Spanish.

These web pages can be viewed at http://www.usmcoc.org/pro/env1ac.html

Step Five – Second Site Visit, Selection of Implementation of Action plans for Community Outreach and Education

Community education and outreach includes both the formal and non-formal education sectors. The formal approach will include presentations through local schools, colleges, and universities to both students and faculty, and will usually occur during scheduled school activities. The non-formal sector includes all forms of educational outreach beyond traditional schools. This will include presentations at youth programs, religious gatherings, and meetings of fraternal clubs, local federal and State organizations, retirement groups, fairs, and festivals. The non-formal education program will include the use of all local media outlets to reach the whole community.

AYUDA, EASI, USMCOC and USMCEF in conjunction with Al Coy at EPA Region Six worked together to coordinate the Environmental Fair and Outreach Event for March 1^st. Several Organizations were asked to participate to include:

Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission

El Paso County Attorney's Office

El Paso County Solid Waste Management Fund

Public Health Department
Environmental Quality Division

El Paso City County Health
& Environmental District

Texas Department of Health
Office of Border Health (OBH)

EPA, Region Six
EASI & USMCOC/USMCEF

(For additional information about these organizations simply click on their hyperlinks)

Second Site Visit to AYUDA in San Elizarion and El Paso 27 feb – 2 March
Meeting at the Texas Water Authority Building in El Paso with representatives from the EASI SEC in El Paso and members from the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) on the 28 February

At the meeting a briefing was provided on the El Paso City/County Health and Environmental District—Wellhead Protection (WHP) Project by EASI, El Paso and RSVP representatives.

Following this briefing, Karen Caron, Project Manager, EASI; and a USMCOC/USMCEF Representative briefed the attendees on the Region 6 Pilot U.S.-Mexico Border Environmental Information and Education Initiative in support of 2012 Border Program, its goals and objectives. Following the briefing several topics related to the Event on March 1^st were discussed to include coordination, scheduling and volunteer support.
Some discussion was also held on the possibility of testing wellheads in San Elizario and training AYUDA volunteers so that they could participate in the WHP program.