Quieres ir a Mexcio? Colombia? You can!

Alex in a Sombrero? Have my prayers been answered?

Wait... This picture comes with a disclaimer:

"Now, we understand that a fundamental principle of our organization is to not promote cultural stereotypes and we're aware that some might consider the sombrero to be a tokenistic Mexican stereotype. That being said, we will have you know that the sombrero that Alex is wearing in the above photo is an actual piece of CISV Mexico, given to Alex by his Mexican friend Sebastian when they were JCs together in 2002. We feel that given this circumstance, the sombrero is a fair gimmick."

There you have it. An actual piece of CISV Mexico, in all it's glory.

Now that were all in a festive mood, let us see where this new-found enthusiasm for mixing CISV and sombreros can come in handy...

Hola JB Canada.

February 2nd to 5th. Mexico City. JBers from around the world. One collective goal: Meet the needs of JBers head-on.

The International Training Forum for the Americas is an international workshop created for the National Associations (hey- that includes us!) to solve our collective needs. There are plans in the works to...

• Study and discuss how we analyze our work
• Study and work on planning techniques and project management
• Introduce and discuss communication tools
• Talk about fundraising, board operation, as well as recruiting and retaining volunteers and members.
  

So what does this have to do with all of you? Well, we were really hoping that the lovely JB Canada could some representation in all of this joy.

But hey... I totally thought of another exciting upcoming CISV event that could involve sombreros...

It's AIM 2006 in COLOMBIA!

I know it's a little early to be thinking about these sorts of things, but the fact of the matter is that Canada is actually co-hosting AIM this year. Which means we will need some mad representation. And any and all interested JBers from Canada are more than welcome to come party with CISV international. It will be taking place this august, and more information will be coming soon, so keep those looking-balls open for more updates.

JB Canada is way to cool not to be represented at these events. And any JBer can take part. Yes, even you. Love CISV? Want to get more involved? Want to sing the pony song in a sombrero? Not to sure about the last one, but please e-mail your wonderful NJRs at njr@ca.cisv.org and we will fill your heads (and e-mail inboxes) with pre-camps and registration information.

I hope the holidays have been festive, and the candy-canes peppermint-y.

love,

kathy and alex