2018
The following Annual Reports were prepared for presentation at meetings of the Board of Directors of the Foundation. In some years when it was not possible for the Board to meet in person, the reports were submitted electronically. The reports are in English or Spanish.
Secretary's Report 2018
Work on the Foundation's website began in 2017 and continued into 2018. A volunteer (Quyen Kieu) worked with Rev. Melesio Peter, Diana Amelia Saavedra and Philip Mullins to create a new website for the Foundation. The existing website has limited capabilities and the host company (Virb.com) had stopped upgrading its service. The Directors wanted a website that better reflected their vision of what the Foundation could be. Unfortunately, in January 2018 the volunteer left Austin and work on the new website stopped. The Foundation's existing website has since been updated but it remains much as it was prior to 2017.
The President of the Pro-Moskitia Foundation devoted considerable effort to helping the Miskitu community in Port Arthur, Texas recover from Hurricane Harvey. Hurricane Harvey made landfall near Port Arthur in September 2017 and severely damaged properties belonging to the Miskitu community including their community center, the Good Shepard Moravian Church. Rev. Melesio Peter visited Port Arthur several times to help in recovery efforts and to attempt to build a stronger affiliate there with the expectation that the headquarters of the Foundation could be moved to Port Arthur from Austin, Texas. He also traveled to Madrid and Zaragoza, Spain to meet with the Miskitu community in Spain.
In May, the Foundation sent a small donation ($100.00 USD) to Wycliff Diego to help people injured during confrontations between the FSLN government of Nicaragua and Yatama, the Miskitu people's political organization. The Foundation's President visited Nicaragua and Costa Rica to visit Miskitu refugees there. In response to the Foundation's call for help, Ms. Lupe Munoz of Temple, Texas, bundled together donations of $300 that were placed in the Foundation's general account and used for travel to Nicaragua and Costa Rica.
In August, the Foundation began a partnership with an Italian-based non-profit called Tininiska. The Italian non-profit wanted to repair and revive a museum/cultural center in Bilwi that had fallen into disrepair. The Pro-Moskitia Foundation agreed to sponsor the project so that Tininiska could receive a small grant from a US-based non-profit. The Foundation is still working with Tininiska to provide funds for the project. The Italian non-profit is responsible for the project in Bilwi.
The annual raffle fundraiser raised $1,241.00 after expenses. This year the prize was a laptop computer. The winner preferred to receive cash instead of a computer. The profits from the raffle were deposited in the Foundation's bank account with ended the year with a balance of $6,898.18 in available funds.
The 2017 Annual meeting of the Board of Directors was deferred this year. The Secretary was out of country during the winter months in both 2017 and 2018 and none of the Directors submitted items for the meeting agenda. The Officers of the Foundation decided that, with no items on the agenda, a meeting of the Board was not warranted. Instead the Directors exchanged written reports.
Summary of Treasurer's Report for 2018
Expenses from checking account
Travel Expense (Spain, Port Arthur) 1,648.50
Relief Funds to Bilwi 108.00
Website Annual Fee 197.05
Misc. 101.00
Total expenses 2,054.55
Income to checking account
Income from Raffle 1,241.00
Unrestricted donations 300.00
Total income 1,541.00
Restricted Funds held in checking account
Tininiska 1,000.00
Year-end balance 7898.18
Savings account
Interest paid into account 0.53
Year-end balance 244.36
Raffle Ticket Sales 1,491.00
Cost of Raffle Prize awarded 250.00
Net income from raffle 1,241.00
In-kind donations
Website hosting 120.00