At a gathering a year or so ago I was speaking to some friends about the excitement of being in Mexico at this time, the conclusion became that change is not happening quickly enough and that we need to stop talking and do something about it. As an enthusiast of Cabo and of Mexico we invite you to help.

In Mexico things are changing and its evident by the appearance of new cars, retail outlets, consumer power, upward mobilityand a middle class growing based on access to liquidity and political/economic stability. This was not the case when I was a young man contemplating what my profession and place of residence would be. I thought I had to go to the USA to enjoy these elements of a liquid capital market that makes increased purchasing power possible, upward mobility, stable currency and a voice in politics through a voting system that is more than a charade. Although my decision to return to Pedregal and live in Cabo preceded the advent of what I’m describing, its appearance and growing presence continues to fill me with optimism to see the change we are living and pride to be Mexican.

During this gathering, as often happens, some dear friends and I turned to complaining about the lack of speed and torpidity of this change. The conclusion of the evening was this: ‘do something about it’. We began to discuss what elements were necessary for Mexico’s fledgling middle class to bring about the best and most efficient change. The conclusion was simple in the end: Education. An educated people who understand causality, basic economic principles and have the ability to add value and become agents of change in their sphere of influence is necessary for a middle class to become competent voters and add value in shaping their future through the democracy we are experiencing. The most direct manner for us to do this, we decided, was to find a way to support the education of those students who can be agents of change through continued quality education. Mexico’s public school system is very lacking and as a result many talented children received aborted educations that leave them lacking in the tools to fulfill their potential and exact true change in their community.

David Ocanas and his wife Jessica, Leslie Bost and I decided to stop our esoteric discussions and get to it. We set out to establish a program through which we can positively impact the lives of excellent students through a combination of economic, social and scholastic support. The program was named Galento. Galento is a support center for talented kids who can, through better education, become accomplished citizens that can help better their community, family and themselves. Galento comprises of scholarships to excellent students for private schools, big brother support, private tutoring, internships and the tools to take advantage of these opportunities.

The plan began to form and in this incubation period we found Cabo’s Kid Smart Optimist Club which already supported kids that are selected based on their need and talent. Rather than spend a great deal of time in crafting the plan we decided to follow our innitial motto: do something about it’ so with the help of El Camino school and the support of Optimist Club of Cabo we pre selected a group of Optimist Club’s students based on pure scholastic achievement then refined this list through personal interviews with the candidates and their family and for the past year have supported a couple of great young men through their 8th grade in El Camino. We’ve used this time to fully understand what a formally constituted scholarship program requires in terms of resources and execution. Galento is being supported by Coldwell Banker, Capella Pedregal, Pedregal and the Diaz Rivera family. We are now accepting contributions from the general public in an attempt to help more students and to begin to build an endowment fund to have the ability to send these kids to Mexico’s best Universities.

For more information please contact David Ocanas or Juan Diaz Rivera at Pedregal’s office or write Leslie Bost at les_bost@yahoo.com.

Juan Díaz Rivera