UPAVIM
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION

"UNIDAS PARA VIVIR MEJOR!"

Board of Directors

Barbara Lorraine, President

After a career in teaching, and a second career in real estate, Ms. Lorraine began her third and most important career in 1984 when she made a trip to Nicaragua. The trip so influenced her that she decided that upon returning to her home in Maryland, she would go back to school and get a nursing degree and return to work in Central America. She began nursing school in the fall of 1985, graduated in 1987 and left for Guatemala to study Spanish at the end of August of that year. In January of 1988, she visited La Esperanza, a poor community on the outskirts of Guatemala. In June of 1988, she returned there to work in the local Catholic church health clinic. Shortly thereafter, she organized a group from the community of La Esperanza to receive a Sister Parish group coming from Bemidji, Minnesota. Out of this meeting with the Bemedji, Minnesota group, UPAVIM was born. For the next 15 years, Ms. Lorraine lived and worked with the women of UPAVIM as an advisor and leader. With her assistance, the women of UPAVIM have been able to create a dental clinic, health clinic, laboratory, pharmacy, elementary school, tutoring program, nutrition center and scholarship program that is funded by international craft sales and donations from around the world.

Ms. Lorraine is the visionary leader of the Foundation who has spent over 15 years living in Central America working hands-on to create a better life for impoverished and marginalized people in Guatemala City.

Greg E. Norman, Vice President

Mr. Norman graduated with a Master's degree from the Institute of Latin American Studies at the University of Texas in August 2004. He received his undergraduate degree from Rice University. His thesis focuses on the efforts of communities in Guatemala to use information technology to promote their development. His thesis is available for download here in English and available for download here in Spanish. (both in pdf format).

He first became involved with UPAVIM in 1999 when he began an 11-month volunteer commitment as a teacher at the tutoring center that UPAVIM maintains for the children from La Esperanza, a poor community on the outskirts of Guatemala City. During the year he lived in La Esperanza, he developed many close relationships with the women and children of UPAVIM, and these relationships have motivated him to continue supporting their development, whether he is in Guatemala or in the United States. Mr. Norman is an asset to the Foundation because he provides the Foundation with unique academic knowledge and expertise combined with a passion and love for and desire to help the people of Central and South America.

Mary Joan Ferrara-Marsland, Vice President

Mrs. Ferrara-Marsland majored in Art at St. Mary's College of Maryland with a concentration in weaving. After working for different weavers in Maryland and California, she went on to further study in the mountains of North Carolina at the Campbell Folk School, Penland, and Arrowmont - all well renowned schools in crafts - as well as further study at a production crafts program in North Carolina with a specialization in weaving and textiles. Following a one-year employment stint in a weaving studio, Mrs. Ferrara-Marsland joined the Peace Corp and was sent to Botswana in Africa where she worked with people with physical disabilities and operated an income generating craft school that benefited the local community in which she lived. Following her years of service in the Peace Corps and an additional two years conducting a project in Botswana for the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Botswana, Mrs. Ferrara-Marsland returned to the United States and became the primary distributor of UPAVIM's crafts in the United States.

Mrs. Ferrara-Marsland's unique training in crafts, combined with her desire and willingness to help disadvantaged people around the world, make her an invaluable asset to UPAVIM and the Foundation. Mrs. Ferrara-Marsland is responsible for all phases of distribution of UPAVIM's products, including importation, customs, marketing and sales. She serves as a vital link between the women of UPAVIM and the consumers in the United States that purchase their craft products. With such an extensive knowledge of the development of craft programs, Mrs. Ferrara-Marsland brings invaluable knowledge to the Foundation to further its desire to assist multiple groups to raise revenue by selling crafts into the United States consumer market.

Michael T. Norman, Secretary and Treasurer

Mr. Norman is an attorney with the law firm of Matthews and Branscomb, P.C. in San Antonio, Texas. He received his law degree from the University of Texas at Austin and his undergraduate degree from Austin College in Sherman, Texas. Mr. Norman's legal practice focuses on general corporate matters, mergers and acquisitions, entity formation and securities law compliance. In addition, Mr. Norman is involved in numerous community activities, including serving on the Vestry of St. Luke's Episcopal Church in San Antonio, Texas, and the Board of Trustees of St. Luke's Episcopal School.

Mr. Norman has provided legal assistance to the Foundation with regard to entity formation and by preparing its application for recognition as a tax-exempt entity by the IRS. Mr. Norman is the brother of Greg E. Norman, another founder and board member of the Foundation. Through Greg E. Norman's experience with UPAVIM, Mr. Norman was exposed to the needs and challenges of impoverished persons in Central and South America. Mr. Norman is using his business and legal skills to serve as the treasurer and business manager of the Foundation.