Thursday, January 10, 2008

Charlemos Spanish tonight, bilingual health volunteer Scarlett Martin to speak

Spanish conversation group meets across from Belcourt Theatre in Palette Gallery

Twice-monthly Spanish conversation group Charlemos Spanish announced tonight's meeting with speaker Scarlett Martin:
Volunteer interpreter of Spanish, Scarlett Martin, will talk about her work with Siloam Family Health Center at the Thursday 10 January meeting of Charlemos Spanish.

Sister Cities of Nashville’s Spanish conversation group, Charlemos Spanish, meets the second and fourth Thursday of the month from 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at Palette Gallery and Cafe at 2119 Belcourt Avenue in Hillsboro Village. All levels of Spanish-speakers, from beginner to native, are invited. The event is free and open to the public.

Scarlett Martin is a bilingual mom and volunteer interpreter at Siloam Family Health Center (www.siloamhealth.org). In addition to having studied Spanish, Mrs. Martin and her family have spent one month per year in a Spanish-speaking country for the past ten years. Mrs. Martin became interpreting at Siloam in January 2006.

Siloam is a clinic for the uninsured whose purpose is to provide affordable, high-quality health care to those who slip through the cracks in the health care system because of time, money and language barriers. More than 79% of Siloam’s patients are refugees and immigrants representing 100 different homelands, and over 50% of the patients speak Spanish as their first language. All of the interpreters at Siloam, like Scarlett, are volunteers that donate their time and ability to serve the underserved of our community. Siloam’s mission is to share the love of Christ by serving those in need through health care. (See related stories here and here.)

“As many of the Spanish interpreters are students there is a constant turnover; volunteer coordinator, Beth Eichelberger, is always looking for volunteers”, said Elizabeth Worrell Braswell, president of Charlemos Spanish.

Charlemos Spanish was created in December 2006 by the Spanish Committee of Sister Cities of Nashville, a nonprofit organization, founded in 1990, dedicated to the promotion of global understanding through educational, professional and cultural exchanges.

Sister Cities of Nashville has selected two Spanish-speaking sister cities: Mendoza, Argentina, in the wine country of Argentina, and Girona, Spain, thirty minutes north of Barcelona. Nashville has developed successful student exchanges with both cities. Sister Cities is currently exploring a relationship with Chihuahua, Mexico.

Mayor Karl Dean is the Honorary Chair for Sister Cities of Nashville.

Charlemos Spanish is for persons who wish to:

* Speak Spanish on a regular basis
* Make bilingual friends
* Learn more about Hispanic culture.

The founder and president of Charlemos Spanish is Elizabeth Worrell Braswell. Ms. Braswell is an online Spanish instructor for Austin Peay State University and a board member of Sister Cities of Nashville.

For directions and more information on the gallery go to: www.palettegallerycafe.com

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