The Directors of WOOMB International congratulate our inaugural recipient of the John and Evelyn Billings Award – Maria Garcia.

Maria first started her career with the Billings Ovulation Method® when she was certified as a Billings Ovulation Method® teacher with BOMA-USA and she became the Coordinator of NFP for the Archdiocese of Chicago.  In this capacity Maria was involved with teaching Hispanic couples the Billings Ovulation Method® and was concerned by the discrepancies in the information both in the English and Spanish material available at that time.

We first met Maria when she attended a WOOMB approved Upskilling Teacher Training Program in St Louis in 2000.  She impressed at that time as someone who was determined to ensure authenticity, particularly for Spanish materials and teaching. In 2003 she joined Gustavo Machado and Sr Beatriz Santos, both present this evening, in the Spanish Language Translation Team which was established to ensure that all Spanish material on the Billings Ovulation Method® reflects the Method as taught by Drs John and Evelyn Billings.

In her role on the translation team she proved to be a person who was dedicated and committed and with her outgoing personality was able to gently bring together people who shared her passion for the Billings Ovulation Method®.  Very quickly it was clear that although people in Latin America spoke the Spanish language, there were a number of different words used for the same term in different countries.  Maria was able to negotiate a compromise so that the word chosen would be the most appropriate word for all to understand.  In addition, different countries had their own literature and some were hesitant to change over, however with Maria’s guidance all Billings Ovulation Method® Affiliates in Latin America are now using the same approved literature.

One of Maria’s greatest achievements is as Coordinator of WOOMB Latinoamerica.  This coming together of Affiliates was first begun in Melbourne Australia in 2009 when Maria, who was representing the USA, and representatives from five Latin American countries, present at the OMR&RCA Conference, decided to work together under the umbrella of a new regional group – WOOMB Latinoamerica.  As a result of this initiative, WOOMB Latinoamerica has ensured that all teachers have been updated, authentic material is only used in the teaching and training, and this initial group has outreached to surrounding countries, so that we now have 12 countries in Latin America affiliated with WOOMB International.   As the WOOMB Spanish Liaison Language Person, Maria has been the main contact with the Directors and has been the catalyst for the success of WOOMB Latinoamerica.

Maria has also been very involved in her own national organization BOMA-USA, as past Chair of the Education Committee and by ensuring that the Hispanic community in the USA has access to Spanish speaking teachers and authentic materials in the Billings Ovulation Method®.

 The Directors have also had the pleasure of working with Maria on a number of occasions where she has acted as the bridge between the Directors and the participants through her skills in translating Teacher Training Programs from English into Spanish. 

This is a brief overview of Maria’s achievements with the Billings Ovulation Method® and WOOMB.  However, we know she would claim her greatest achievement is her role as wife, mother and grandmother.

We are so grateful that God directed Maria to this work and give thanks for all she has achieved.

San José , Costa Rica. 2018