Jillian Mitchell Photography | Destination Wedding Photographer | Puerto Vallarta | Mexico | New England | Worldwide

Entreamigos is the non-profit in San Pancho that I have been working for/with for the past six years. It has grown from a one room makeshift space to a real live amazing community center serving both the children of San Pancho and their families. One of the highlights of this past year was the Circo de Los Niños. I posted the preparation for the circus here, but never got to putting up the actual show so here it is.

The reason this is coming now is we have an awesome opportunity to get a matched grant made possible by Loaded Skateboards. For every dollar that is donated Loaded will donate one as well. This is all going to help finish our new design center so please in this time of giving think of Entreamigos because every little bit helps!

This post is a long time coming. I went to Escuela del Mundo today to take their “school pictures” and realized I had never really written about them or what they do on my blog. Escuela del Mundo is a Montessori school in San Pancho that gives parents an alternative option to the public schools which when compared to the education levels in the U.S. are easily two to three years behind. The problem is it costs money to run a school and with no help from the government the school is funded completely on tuition, donations, and sponsorships.

I myself sponsor Javier (in the first photo below). Javier is originally from Oaxaca, but his family moved to La Penita and then San Pancho last year when Javier enrolled in the school. His family sells woven palm sombreros and baskets at the Malecon in San Pancho and Javier has been there selling as long as I can remember. It is amazing to see how much he is learning and only makes me yearn for more opportunities for the rest of the children who can’t afford to enroll. My dream would be to get all the Huichol girls enrolled so if you or anyone you know might be interested in donating or sponsoring a child please contact me or you can visit the San Pancho Life page for the school here.This was a group here for a yoga retreat and they helped out and volunteered! This is a great way to get involved and really take an interest in San Pancho. If you have a house here or just come on vacation I highly encourage you to contact them. You can also get involved at entreAmigos or Peace.Every year there is a ceremony where the kids write their deseos (wishes) for the New Year and everyone gathers and the wishes are burned so that they will come true. A tree is planted to mark the end of each year.

I’ve been watching these kids grow up for five years now and it’s amazing to see the transition that is happening now. Forty-eight San Pancho children are being trained by Cirque de Soleil for a show this Saturday. In less than a week they have learned to ride unicycles, walk on stilts, walk a tight rope, and more. I was there all last week until I had to go to a wedding in Cabo and when I came back it was incredible. In four days they conquered almost every task. I can only imagine what else they are going to learn before the performance this Saturday.

Here are some of my favorites from last week and yesterday. There will definitely be more.