Monterrey becomes the solidarity capital of Mexico for the first week of September when ExpoAyuda hits the airwaves and the press with a general call to the city to help with voluntary work.
Every year ExpoAyuda gathers together 200 Civil Society organisations engaged in education, health, welfare, emergency services etc. in the Monterrey area and has welcomed more than 100,000 visitors to the five gatherings held so far. Iwith.org was at the gathering and spoke to many organisations, in particular to the representatives of the Consejo de Desarrollo Social (Social Development Council) and the board of Vinculación con la Sociedad Civil (Link with Civil Society) with the objective of establishing ties with the associations of Nuevo Leon State that might later help them in joining the Information Society.
The solidarity sector in Monterrey plays an important part in the life of the city, as can be seen in the directory of organisations attending ExpoAyuda 2009, and is currently embarking on a process of professionalisation that will improve service and make its presence felt more keenly. The process is based on two fundamentals, training of the volunteer groups and incorporation of the Internet as a communications and awareness tool.
During this time we also started on an Internet-based HIV project with Dr. Jesus Eduardo Elizondo Ochoa and the Monterrey Vita Novus association.
The path we have begun to create should eventually lead to the construction of a HIV resource centre based on the medical experiences of the Spanish speaking world that aims to gather together the knowledge that at the moment is dispersed in the files of doctors and clinics of different specialisations.
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