Hekab Be Thanks Jessica Ulrich, her Family and her friend Kristin!

Jessica’s parents visited a school in Costa Maya while on a vacation cruise and she and her family were planning on returning there for a vacation, but the hotel they ended up staying at was about 3 hours away from the Costa Maya.  As such, they decided to look for another school to donate to.  They found out about Hekab Be from another donor that had shared their experience with Hekab Be online.  As it turned out, Hekab Be was only 20 minutes from where they were staying so it worked out perfectly.

Jessica’s inspiration: 


My inspiration for donating to the Akumal library came to a tangible vision when my parents came back from a cruise that stopped near Costa Maya, where they joined up with a church group that went to a small local school. The church group brought school supplies, and my parents told me all about it when they returned from their vacation. I felt compelled to do something to help children and adults alike receive supplies to aid in their learning. My ultimate inspiration is from St. Francis of Assisi who said, "Preach the Gospel and if necessary use words".

Hekab Be would like to thank Jessica, Kristin and the Ulrich family for their support and generosity!

Keith and Crystal Gravitt, Library Angels!

Crystal and her husband Keith Gravitt are relative newcomers to Akumal.  Their first visit was only last year but they quickly spotted the needs of the community, despite the fact that most first time vacationers don't focus on anything but vacation.

The Gravitt's quickly became a part of our new Library Angels program, and despite the economy, sponsored 2 children for the summer program in June and then a whopping 17 more children in July!!  We now have 19 very happy Akumal children who thank Crystal and Keith for the sponsorship and ongoing support!

Hekab Be Children Learn About Picasso!

Carol Current came to the library on a weekly basis for over a month to do art projects with the kids, she and the children had a great time! Read on to see what Carol has to say about her experience working with the kids at Hekab Be:

  My husband and I have been spending 3 months in  Aventuras for Akumal
for the past 4 winters.  The first winters I checked out books and did some shelving at the Hekab Be
library.  I was hesitant about working with the kids because I don't speak Spanish, but Carlos, the library
manager, assured me that the children needed to hear English spoken and he would translate for me.

And so this winter started preparing art lessons for the kids ages 2-13, who are in an after
school program which helps them keep up with their homework.  Carlos and his helpers, Reina and Nayla
do an amazing job working with the children.  The children listen and are attentive during the lessons.
They do their best work.  Their favorite art project I did with them was Picasso.  We talked about Picasso and his art and
they created their own self-portraits using colored markers.  One of the boys as he left the library commented ,
"And next week I am going to draw this, as he pointed to a self-portrait of Picasso."  They loved Picasso!
And I loved thinking up projects for them to do and getting to know them better each week.
They were a joy to work with and I look forward to spending time in the library again next winter.

 Carol 

In Loving Memory

Hekabe Be is sad to say goodbye to long time library supporter and friend, Terri Gerbrandt. Terri passed away peacefully at home after a long battle with cancer on January 27, 2011.

Terri and her husband Dave have been traveling to Akumal for many years and have supported the library through all of this time. They have always participated in all of the fund raising events and have always given generously to the library. No matter how much damage was done by the storms, we were able to rebuild and continue educating the local children with the help of all our supporters.

Terri was an amazing woman who had strength, grace, humor and courage and despite what she went through, was always there to help out others. She will be deeply missed but never forgotten.

Hekab Be will be hanging a plaque in the library dedicated to Terri’s memory.