Young, old join hands in District 6000's love affair with a village in central Mexico.

It started in late 2001 with a Rotary Foundation Discovery Grant drafted by Ray Muston (Gov. 99-00) with help from Iowa State University officials Jerry Miller (College of Agriculture) and David Hansen (then director of a consortium of Big 12 universities involved in agricultural research and extension).

In February, 2002 the Discovery Grant team went to Xicotepec to meet Rotarians there and learn more about their projects and the needs in the Xicotepec area. This team, led by Jim Peterson (Iowa City AM), included Rotarians David Hansen (Ames), Nancy Pacha (Iowa City AM), DG 2002-03 Gary Pacha (Iowa City), Keith Hobson (Nevada) and Jane McCaslin (Fishers, IN).

The Discovery Grant team report submitted in the spring of 2002 served as the foundation for choosing projects undertaken by teams made up of Xicotepec Rotarians along with visiting youth and Rotarians.  The wide range of projects that teams have undertaken has helped to transform not only the community of Xicotepec but also the team members themselves. 

Beginning in 2003, D6000 project teams have visited Xicotepec each March to work on Rotary projects there.  There have been from 50 to 80 US project team members each year, half of which have been high school and college students.  Projects have ranged from construction of new school classrooms to washing windows at an orphanage to de-worming of primary school students.  Many educational, health care and community improvement projects have been completed, but there are many, many more needs in the Xicotepec community.

The joint efforts of D6000 and Xicotepec Rotarians have created bonds of friendship that transcend social, economic, religious, racial, age and cultural barriers and which embody Rotary's values and ideals. The intergenerational Xicotepec Project, still going and still growing, has touched the lives of many norteamericanos as well as Xicotepenses as it has involved Rotary and Rotary Foundation groups and programs such as Rotaract, Interact, Youth Exchange, Group Study Exchange and TRF Matching Grants as well as students from Iowa's colleges and universities.

For more information, login to Facebook and you will automatically be directed to the Xicotepec Project Facebook page via the link to the left.