A group of women from New Tampa are headed to Peru Oct. 16Â to give students in a disadvantaged, mountainous area of the country laptop computers to enhance their educations.
The women are students of Hanaq Prana Yoga Studio, located at 10323 Cross Creek Blvd., Suite E., and the group is led by studio founder and director, Lorena Saavedra Smith, who is a native of Peru.
The group will spend a week at the Willa T’ika wellness retreat near Cusco, Peru, and will have a “packed itinerary” of doing yoga, experiencing the local attractions and serving the community.
“I’ve been planning this retreat since February,” says Lorena. “It’s a time of self discovery, time to reconnect, and for many of these women, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to visit such a fascinating country.” She says the 10 available spots for the trip were filled quickly and she has a waiting list of three or four women who will be first to attend next year’s retreat.
“We’re going to explore the ruins, enjoy the beautiful scenery, visit the (15th Century Incan citadel) Machu Picchu, taking in all this amazing energy from the mountains,” Lorena says. “Then, the service part is the last day of the retreat, so after we’ve cleansed the body, and taken in the energy, we can serve these kids.”
Tony Selvaggio, owner of eSmart Recycling, has provided 10 laptop computers to be donated for the trip.
“Tony has an amazing business of keeping old electronics out of landfills,” Lorena says. “Thanks to this donation, students in the small village of Cusco will have the opportunity to succeed academically with the access to technology that this donation of laptops will provide.”
The Briarwood model is available in the K-Bar Ranch community in New Tampa and just south of Wesley Chapel.
Celebrating its 40th year of building homes in the Tampa Bay area, Mobley Homes is a private company that touts its customer-first philosophy and devotion to excellence as the cornerstones of its business. Since 1976, Mobley Homes has been building homes for families in and around Tampa. In New Tampa, the company previously has built 1,000 homes in West Meadows and 400 in Tampa Palms, and has been building in K-Bar Ranch since 2007.
This level of customization is not unusual for Mobley Homes. “It’s what our clients appreciate,” she says. “This is probably the largest purchase you’re going to make, so as long as the lot can accommodate what you want, we’ll do it.”
Mobley Homes are currently for sale in four communities throughout the Tampa Bay area, including two located very close to Wesley Chapel.
New Tampa
In K-Bar Ranch, Mobley Homes offers a variety of luxurious floor plans in the Bassett Creek subdivision, all ranging from four to six bedrooms. Each floor plan is more than 2,500 square feet, with homes starting in the mid $300,000s and conservation views on most home sites.
Amenities throughout Bassett Creek include a community pool, basketball court and playground.
Stop by to see the model home at 19301 Yellow Clover Dr. (photo above). It’s the builder’s best-selling Briarwood model, a traditional two-story home that’s designed to fit virtually every size family.
Lakeside Oaks Reserve features 15 home sites in a brand new, gated, private subdivision located in the heart of what is considered “the original Carrollwood area,” off of Orange Grove Blvd. near N. Dale Mabry Hwy. Home prices start in the $400,000s. Many of the home sites are lakefront, so residents will enjoy relaxing water activities and breathtaking sunsets from their backyards.
Also in Carrollwood, Mobley Homes is selling villas in a new, private subdivision called The Villas on Twin Lakes. There are 18 maintenance-free homes, so there’s no mowing your own lawn in Twin Lakes. Homes start at 1,600 square feet and are priced in the high $200,000s.
The average age of a victim of human trafficking is just 12 years old. Only 1-2 percent of victims are ever rescued. Worldwide, an estimated 27 million people are currently in bondage.
These shocking statistics are according to A21, an organization that gets its name from its mission, which is, “Abolishing injustice in the 21st century.”
A group of local volunteers is supporting this organization and its mission by participating in A21’s annual “Walk For Freedom” with an event in Wesley Chapel on Saturday, October 15, 9 a.m., beginning at the Shops at Wiregrass mall.
“A lot of people aren’t aware that human trafficking is in our own neighborhoods and communities,” says event organizer Rachel Martinez. “We are hosting this walk to bring awareness to this issue.”
Rachel is a Wesley Chapel resident who participated in the walk last year, along with her family and about 100 others. She’s hoping that this year, even more will participate, so that many people throughout our community will see the line of walkers, dressed in black, as silent ambassadors for a cause they want others to care about, too.
“This year, the sidewalks are complete, so we can walk west along S.R. 56,” Rachel says. “We want people to see us in our shirts as we walk all the way to I-75.”
She also says that local churches have supported the walk by paying for necessary permits, and fund-raising efforts cover costs for items such as bottled water for the walkers. There’s no cost for participants to attend, although they are encouraged to purchase an official A21 Walk For Freedom T-shirt from the website A21.org.
Rachel became interested in supporting the mission of A21 when she heard the founder of the organization, Christine Caine, speak at an event at her church. Caine is a Bible teacher, activist, and evangelist from Hillsong Church, an Australian megachurch.
“Her story and her passion really hit home for me,” says Rachel, who adds that in her job handling statewide permitting for a construction company, she’s often on websites for various municipalities, and she’s struck by how often those local governments have task forces and resources dedicated to fighting human trafficking.
For example, the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO) has information on its website (PascoSheriff.com) that underscores Rachel’s concerns. The PCSO website says that human trafficking is an industry worth billions of dollars, and is one of the largest criminal enterprises in the world, second only to the illegal drug trade. And, there are more people held in slavery in the world today, than at any other time in human history.
The National Human Trafficking Resource Center ranked Florida third among all states in the U.S. in the number of calls received by the center’s human trafficking hotline in 2015, as it has in past years, and many of those calls were from the Tampa Bay area.
“It’s big, big money, but maybe by bringing awareness to this issue, we can nip it in the bud,” Rachel says. “Maybe kids will learn something that will keep them safe from an unfortunate situation.”
To register to participate in the walk, visit A21.org/WesleyChapel or email FL4Freedom@hotmail.com.
Hunter’s Green Elementary (HGE) media specialist Nancy Elliott celebrates the unveiling of a new mural in the school’s media center.
As students returned to school on August 10, they probably couldn’t help but notice that the media center at Hunter’s Green Elementary (HGE) had undergone a major transformation.
Previously, the walls were decorated with banners, representing books that had been enjoyed by students during the school’s 25-year history.
“They were nice, but they were kind of old and dated,” says PTA president Jamie Priest.
It was the vision of HGE principal Gaye Holt to transform the walls to come alive with pictures that would inspire students as they visit the media center.
“The media center is the hub of the school, and we want our kids in here,” said Holt during her remarks at the official ribbon-cutting ceremony for the school’s newly painted mural on Thursday, Aug. 25.
“The media center has been transformed into a warm and inviting area for students as they choose a book, learn new things and explore their world through technology,” said HGE media specialist Nancy Elliott during her remarks.
The ribbon was cut by (left to right) Hillsborough Country Public Schools supervisor of library media services for K-5 John Milburn, Elliott, HGE PTA president Jamie Priest and principal Gaye Holt.
From fiction and fantasy to science and math, the mural represents many different genres of books that can be explored in the media center.
“Nonfiction is a big part of reading,” Elliott explained later. “Math and science are a big part of our curriculum and I felt that they should be represented in our mural.”
Priest added, “Every time I look at the mural, I feel like I see something new.”
“I love the variety of it,” agreed Elliott, pointing out a kid investigating, a dolphin that looks like it’s about to swim right off the wall, a space ship soaring through outer space and realistic-looking animals such as a giraffe, panda and elephant.
Elliott is just the second media specialist in the school’s history and has b
een in the position for 10 years. She helped to design the mural with local artists J.P. and Vanessa Parra of CAP Murals, who worked all summer on ladders and scaffolds to create it. It was finished the day before school started.
“It was the shortest summer,” said Holt, “but it was my favorite. I came up to the media center to visit three times a day because it amazed me.”
The process of painting the mural was commemorated in a media center display that shows the before, during and after of creating such a significant piece of art.
The mural was funded in part by the PTA, by the media center budget and by the school budget. The PTA contribution included a legacy gift from the class of 2015, and a large butterfly was painted in the mural as, “an extension of the memorial butterfly garden” planted outside in memory of Nick Wolf, a fifth grade HGE student who passed away shortly before he would have graduated from the school.
“Our school is taking big steps forward,” says Priest. “This is another step, and something I think the kids are going to remember, even after they leave this school.”
John Phillips has lived in Cross Creek for more than 10 years with his wife, Cristy, and their two dogs, Princess and Zack. After a career and quite a bit of international travel, he finally checked a long-standing item off his bucket list.
He’s now the published author of a novel, entitled The Dark Hurts.
“About 14 years ago, when I was doing a lot of international travel, the story developed in my mind,” says Phillips. “I wrote the first three chapters one night in Japan when I couldn’t sleep.”
It’s a fictional book, set in San Francisco. Phillips describes it as being about the many different emotions in life. He says it’s the story of what a disaster can do, not only to a city, but also to a particular family.
The Dark Hurts Offers Some Light
In the process of promoting his self-published book, he was contacted by Focus on Women magazine, a Baltimore-area publication. He says his book was chosen to be featured on the magazine’s website by a panel of its readers. The Dark Hurts will be featured in the magazine’s online bookstore, and proceeds from the sale of the book will be donated to the Afghan Women’s Fund, a charity the magazine supports with its sales.
The Dark Hurts
“I’m pleased they’re using my book as a tool to raise money for a good cause,” says Phillips. “I’m more than happy to have a part in helping these women who have been through horrific experiences – they’ve been raped, mutilated, kidnapped and taken away from their families. It’s my understanding that the Fund has returned several Afghan women to their families.”
Phillips is originally from Southern England and has a son and grandchildren in England. He says he moved to the U.S. in 1998 and is now a U.S. citizen.
Writing Now A Lifelong Goal
His life is now dedicated to being a full-time author. He has two more books in the works, including The Piano Man, which will use the Polk County Sheriff’s Office as a setting. Phillips has met with Polk Sheriff Grady Judd to learn about the agency, and Sheriff Judd even sent Phillips a picture of himself with The Dark Hurts.
“I’m delighted with the response to my book,” says Phillips. “It was released six weeks ago, and has several five-star reviews on Amazon.com in both the USA and the UK.”
He says the reviews help him to see that his book is having its desired effect on readers, including one that says, in part, “[Phillips] has a gift for writing emotion onto the story. He is descriptive and thorough, without stalling out the story. There are layers here that intertwine into an awesome tapestry, solid and masterful. It is a great read and I look forward to more.”
To learn more about the book, or to enter the author’s selfie contest to win prizes such as a travel voucher and an Amazon gift card, visit Facebook.com/authorjphillips.
A group of women from New Tampa are headed to Peru Oct. 16Â to give students in a disadvantaged, mountainous area of the country laptop computers to enhance their educations.
The average age of a victim of human trafficking is just 12 years old. Only 1-2 percent of victims are ever rescued. Worldwide, an estimated 27 million people are currently in bondage.
