Cozumel News June 15, 2015: The Cozumel DIF Community Pharmacy is open, Cozumel Mayor Supervises Emergency Shelters, 3rd ITU World Championships Cozumel – Playa del Carmen 2016, Cozumel to Host The Sea Walls Festival: Murals for Oceans 2015, Cozumel Children and Youth Fishing Tournament, Cozumel Mayor Inspects Areas Affected By Rain and in Aurita´s Corner my updates for the week.
The Cozumel DIF Community Pharmacy Is Open
Great news, Cozumel has another option for Medicines and Laboratory Tests at affordable prices. Now open to the public is a community pharmacy that is operated by the System for Integral Family Development (DIF) of Cozumel, chaired by Mrs. Gina Ruiz de Marrufo, which aims to offer medicines at affordable prices. The Community pharmacy is open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday to Friday and is located in the CTM colony, next to the Church of San Pedro and San Pablo.
There, people can find low cost basic medicines, as well as nutritional accessories, medical counseling and laboratory tests at low cost. Among the studies conducted are of CBC, General urine, blood chemistry 3 elements, blood chemistry 5 and 6 elements, pregnancy tests, group and RH and febrile reactions. (No clue what these are so there might be an error in the translation?)
With the services offered through the Community Pharmacy, DIF Cozumel system is working towards to expanding health services available to the public, especially for the most vulnerable.
Cozumel Mayor Supervises Emergency Shelters
Mayor, Fredy Marrufo Martin, accompanied by representatives of the Naval Sector, Military, Municipal and State Agency conducted an inspection of emergency shelters on June 11th.
“We are making prior checks to evaluate the spaces that serve as shelter or refuge, and identifying minor adjustments that need to be made to get them ready in the event they are needed,” said the Mayor.
The group went to the “Octavio Paz” High School located on Avenida Leónides García between 35 & 37 Sur in Colonia CTM, the place where Canul Lucio Andrade, Head of the Directorate of Civil Protection reported to have a capacity to shelter eighty people distributed in four salons.
Also visited was the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses, located in the 65th Avenue between 5th Street and Hidalgo Adolfo Lopez Mateos Colony, with a capacity to provide shelter for 160 people.
To conclude the day of supervision, the Mayor went to the Center of religious Worship Jehovah’s Witnesses in the Transverse Road, Colonia Emiliano Zapata, which has a capacity to provide shelter for 60 people.
As for preventive measures, Marrufo Martin, invited the community to remain attentive to the information issued by Civil Protection, media and official bulletins, likewise, requested the support of the people to keep free of litter the front of their homes, in order to prevent debris from clogging the sewers and prevent flooding.
3rd ITU World Championships Cozumel – Playa del Carmen 2016
Mayor, Fredy Marrufo Martín, along with the Secretary of Tourism of Quintana Roo, Laura Fernández Piña, were part of the official press conference presentation , “3rd International Triathlon Union (ITU) World Championships Cozumel-Playa del Carmen 2016” held in Mexico City.
The Mayor said that thanks to the support of the State Governor Roberto Borge Angulo, the Municipalities of Cozumel and Solidarity, will host this championship that will put them in the eyes of the world.
The “3rd International Triathlon Union (ITU) World Championships Cozumel-Playa del Carmen 2016” will take place September 11 to September 18, 2016. At the event will be the ITU elite world champions (with the participation of the 150 best Tri-athletes in the world including medalists from Rio 2016), plus Junior Titles, under 23 and Para triathlon.
It was announced at the presentation that 10 000 competitors from more than 100 countries on five continents will be present, and it is estimated to result in the presence of about more than 30 thousand visitors generating an economic impact of 500 million pesos between Cozumel and Solidarity. International media coverage will deliver information to five continents and at the same time promote the State of Quintana Roo.
Note that in Mexico the ITU Triathlon World Championship was held in Cancun in 1995 and 2002, the World Triathlon Championship Relay in 2006, and ITU World Cups 2013 and 2014 in Cozumel.
Cozumel Mayor and the Secretary of Tourism of Quintana Roo, Laura Fernández Piña symbolically received the Triathlon World Flag at the event on behalf of the Chief Executive of the State, Roberto Borge Angulo who made it all possible.
Cozumel to Host The Sea Walls Festival: Murals for Oceans 2015
In order to promote the care of the marine environment, the City of Cozumel, headed by Mayor, Fredy Marrufo Martín and the organization PangeaSeed will conduct The Sea Walls Festival: Murals for Oceans from July 17 to 26.
Melissa Angulo Gámez, head of the Dirección de Desarrollo Urbano , explained that the festival will have the participation of 25 international artists who will paint large-scale murals with a theme of ocean issues, the conservation of marine flora and fauna, at various points of the city.
“This environmental group selected Cozumel as the venue for the Festival of Urban Art, considered as the most important in Latin America because the artistic work embodied in the murals inspire people to protect the oceans,” said the official .
The project was immediately welcomed by the Mayor who has shown a strong interest in developing activities for the care of the natural environment, as well as promoting environmental awareness.
Melissa Angulo said that the Mayor has been one of the leaders on this issue, which led to granting facilities for the PangeaSeed Foundation to realize the project in Cozumel. The project is a way to raise awareness and educate the community as well as domestic and foreign visitors of the conservation and preservation of endangered marine species.
It is emphasized that PangeaSeed has gone to places like Japan on behalf of the shark, in Sri Lanka on behalf of the stingrays, in San Diego where murals were painted on the issue of overfishing, in Miami on behalf of white sharks and manatees, in Vietnam on behalf of fish and urchins, in Isla Mujeres for the conservation of the giant manta rays and whale sharks, among others.
The Sea Walls Festival: Murals for Oceans has captured the attention of international media such as The New York Times, The Huffington Post, radio, national press and television, and in addition, the murals become a tourist attraction.
Cozumel Children and Youth Fishing Tournament
The System for Integral Family Development (DIF) of Cozumel, chaired by Mrs. Gina Ruiz de Marrufo, invites children to participate in the Children and Youth Fishing Tournament to be held on Saturday June 27 at 8:30 a.m. at the Monument to the Flag.
She said that the tournament will allow troll and bottom fishing in two categories. Eligible to enroll are children from eight to 12 years of age, and young people in the youth category from 13 to 17 years of age.
Participants in the aforementioned categories must present credentials or school certificate with photograph and a copy of birth certificate. It is mandatory that on the day of the event they come prepared with their own fishing cane, or rod and reel and fishing bait. kits for the participants will be distributed on Friday, June 26, at the DIF Cozumel facilities from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Mrs. Gina Ruiz de Marrufo said that entries can now be made at the offices of DIF Cozumel, Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The deadline to enroll is June 23. The judging panel will consist of authorities from the City and Cozumel DIF. Prizes will be awarded to the first three places in each category, as well as the biggest fish of the competition.
Eligible fish for participants that use the trolling method are Wahoo, Tuna, Barracuda, Dorado, Sierra and other species. Blue Marlin, Sailfish, White Marlin and Shark do not qualify. Bottom fishing will be open.
Cozumel Mayor Inspects Areas Affected By Rain
Last Saturday, the mayor, Fredy Marrufo Martin, accompanied by personnel from different City Departments, toured the main avenues, streets and neighborhoods of the island, particularly the area considered at risk, in order to support families that could have been affected.
At an early hour the Mayor met with the directors of areas such as Civil Protection, Public Safety, Public Works, Utilities, and Urban Services Commission of Water and Sewerage -CAPA- among others to launch the work needed to support families.
Along the way, the Mayor invited the neighbors in each area to take the necessary precautions such as not to leave their homes unless absolutely necessary, to protect children and the elderly to avoid getting sick by weather conditions if they do go out, lead the necessary precautions to prevent accidents and avoid wetting pedestrians.
He also asked to support the work of the various workers of municipal government that were out since the early hours cleaning the grates of absorption wells, cleaning between neighbors the street and grates where some garbage was accumulated to prevent flooding and allow the flooded streets in the area to drain faster.
The emergency number 066 was made available to the population if a family has a need to transport a sick or elderly person to a safe place, in case the home was flooded.
The first point we arrived the mayor was on the 30th Avenue and 29th Street south of the San Miguel II, place where a brigade of the Directorate of Public Works, headed by Humberto Suarez Castillo was at work draining flood waters.
Subsequently, Marrufo Martin and Suarez Castillo went to the streets 50 with 23 South in San Miguel I Colony, 15 with Adolfo Rosado Salas, 25 with eight north and Inviqroo area, where the sewers were cleaned.
They also went to the Colonies of Miraflores, CTM, Nueva Generación I and II, Flamingos I and II, Emiliano Zapata, areas in which the different brigades did their part to assist and safeguard the integrity of the Cozumeleñan families.
According to the weather synopsis of Civil Protection, the anticyclone system dominated in the Atlantic Ocean recorded high surf with winds from the east and southwest. A low pressure system located over Belize produced the isolated showers and thunderstorms in the island, which was estimated around 75-125 liters of water per square meter over 48 hours.
Aurita’s Corner
Update on My Projects
I was very worried about the affect of the rain in the Fincas. After Church on Sunday, my son and I decided to take a chance in the rain and drive out to our family of five with a Sunday meal of two rotisserie chickens, tortillas, refreshment and desert. I figured that tiny toy size motorcycle they own would have been impossible for them to get out for food on Saturday.
The road was worse than usual and the puddles everywhere covered craters deeper than normal. Our old van creaked and complained all the way there and back. I saw many houses in the water, and many sat just above the water level, but the yard all around them flooded.
We found Grandpa, Mom and the 2 children safe and dry. Dad had ventured into town on a work call. Our van cannot make it up to their house the as the road is blocked by a truck and too narrow. This picture shows their house from where we park.
I could only take a couple of pictures because my granddaughter fell asleep in my arms on the way there. It was a slow tedious ride as we tried to do the least amount of damage to our van.
We stopped to help these two young men jump their car that had flooded on Saturday. We made it home just as a belt broke in our poor van making it difficult to steer and smoke everywhere. Thank you Lord! If it had happened in the Fincas, I do not know what we would have done!
Cozumel Free Glass Project
I am still looking for takers of FREE GLASS! It would be wonderful if a church group took it upon themselves to come and build windows for the poor. As I reported, Peninsula Grand contacted me to donate free glass. They had replaced perfectly good glass on all their balconies with a stronger more weather resistant glass. I accepted the donation without completely thinking it through. It has cost me money for labor to move it and money to transport it. I have had to move it twice already. I have about 400 panes of nice quality glass size 70.5 by 76.5 centimeters. They are FREE to all local low-income families that need them for windows.
Now, if you are not a low-income family, they are yours for the cost of a donation to window project. We can utilize these funds to pay to have windows built and installed in homes. If you have any ideas of how else to distribute this glass, please contact me I am at a loss. You can reach me at auraholguin@thecozumelsun.com or 987-118-4453.
My On-Going Garage Sale
This week only my on-going garage sale will be open Monday through Friday. The store will be closed Saturday the 20 and 21st for family birthdays. My darling husband Charles turns 65 Saturday and our little Granddaughter Gigi turns four on Sunday.
I need donated second hand clothing and kitchenware, pots, pans, dishes, forks knives, etc. Go through your homes and give me everything that you do not need. I will send someone to pick it up if you wish, call me at 987-120-5903 (casa) or 987-118-4453 (cell) U.S. # 386-445-8702. Even better, come by and visit! I am at #1081 35 Avenida entre Calles 17 & 15 Bis.
Note: Low-income families have access to the clothing, house wares and other items that I am selling FREE of charge. I will use the money I do make to subsidize the spending related to my projects in the community including food and other necessities
I have hundreds of paperbacks, DVD movies and VHs movies. I would love to have an exchange library in this area in the future. Again, I need help getting all this done!
Please Support The Cozumel Sun and The Sun Sponsors, They Make It Possible!
Remember to give back to our wonderful Island! The Volunteer & Donate Section of The Cozumel Sun has information on Volunteer opportunities for you: Juan Pablo II Senior Home, Friends of Cozumel, Cozumel CAM School for Disabled Children, The Cozumel Sea Turtle Rescue Program, The Humane Society of Cozumel, Rancho Universo Horse Sanctuary and Horse Therapy Centre, The Cozumel Blood Drive, and the Three Kings Day Toy Drive.
Note: If you are coming to Cozumel on vacation, or are returning to Cozumel from vacationing in the United States, check out the wish lists of the various non-profit organizations. Many of the items are not available in Cozumel and usually, others that are available are extremely expensive here due to the high cost of transporting goods to the island.
If you are already part of one of these wonderful organizations, please proof the information that I have taken from your website and Facebook page. Please contact me with any changes and updates. I am a one-woman operation and really need your help in order to provide my readers with the most current information available. Thank you for your assistance!
Thank you The Cozumel Sun Sponsors!
Follow us at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/183235381875444/ or https://www.facebook.com/TheCozumelSun or https://www.facebook.com/cozumel.sun. Have a wonderful week everyone!
