Economic Growth Mexico Project #5695

Support 50 trainees on Social Development Projects

by Adeco Acciones para el Desarrollo Comunitario A.C.

Project Report | Jul 28, 2016
Change ahoy!

By Tlalana | Coordination Team

Looking ahead in the river Cuicatlan

As time goes by, the young people working with us and their collectives grow, learn, develop skills and change. Two of the projects that have been working with us these past 2 years are reaping the benefits of their enthusiasm and constant work and are ready to set new goals and improve their methods. Zekuollaz, from Chimalhuacán, Estado de México and Dkaya Ybaku from San Juan Bautista Cuicatlán, Oaxaca, are rethinking how they relate with their communities to promote change in a positive direction. This is why they have been focusing on learning more about public policy within their main topics, art and environmental issues. To fulfill this purpose we have been sharing with them prospective planning techniques and methods, which they have taken and modified to serve their needs and expectations.

We give you the outcome… so far:

Zekuollaz: one step closer to cultural hubs accessible to everyone!

As you might know this collective has been artistically active in their hometown Chimalhuacán, where cultural spaces are everything but present. As a reward for their hard work they are about to open their own cultural hub where they will hold workshops, exhibits, open activities and promote a space for other people to express themselves through art. As part of their project, they are always looking to work with the local government, NGOs and local artists in favor of opening their community to art and strengthening the local networks of friendship, collaboration and art.

Dkaya Ybaku: working towards the collective management of urban solid waste.

The young people in Dkaya Ybaku keep up their project of solid waste disposal and environmental education in Cuicatlán. For them, a clean Cuicatlán Biosphere Reserve is the future to seek and work for. This is why they believe that environmental awareness campaigns and workshops should expand in presence to increase their reach throughout the local population. They are preparing their next series of talks and workshops aimed at public servants, local leaders, school-age youth, local organizations and NGOs. Their purpose is to contribute towards a local, inclusive, comprehensive and holistic environmental policy that promotes reusing, recycling and reducing solid waste.

prospective planning workshop with Zekuollaz

Denis in front of piles of garbage

Recycling PET

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Apr 28, 2016
El chante de todos, an inclusive cultural space

By Tlalana | Coordination Team

Freshly painted community center

This year we are exploring new phases of our methodology with the collectives that have been working with us the longest. As an example of where a collective of young , self-managed projects can get, we present the following interview with El Chante de Todos.

El Chante de Todos is a cultural collective that formed in Mexico City, in the southwestern town of San Mateo Tlaltenango in 2009. After the process of facilitating and following up on the collective we now have a peer to peer relationship collaborating with them.

This time, Aldo and Mariana, two of its founding members, tell us about what they are up to.

Q: What are your plans for 2016?

A: Many things are happening. We will present to the public the documentary on the town’s festival on 2015 and the results of the local government project we won last year. There is also the 7th anniversary event, our participation in other film festivals around here and we will continue our Filocafé, Cafeté, Cine chavitos and Kuicalli.

Something very important this year is the inauguration of our community library Amoxcalli, because it is more than just a place with books, we want to create a place that promotes reading and the quest for knowledge.

Q:What differences do you find in the life of the collective between when you started and now?

A: We think that our projects are stronger, we are now related to other projects from our community and we have a better place. There amount of time and energy from the people in the collective has also risen.

Q: What are your needs or how do you think people could help with the projects of El Chante de Todos?

A: We want people to get involved and believe in the activities that we do and that is the reason behind our project. We need the support of our town’s people so that we can use the space we have to it’s full potential. We also want the authorities from our community to recognize the project. We believe this is a common need of projects like ours.

Music classes in "El Chante"

Arranging the books for the new library

We learn a lot through playing

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Jan 29, 2016
Filling the neighborhood with colours

By Tlalana | Coordination Team

Walls are now community canvases

Zekuollaz is a collective of young people that uses art as a way of developing their community in Chimalhuacán, State of Mexico. They consider that art can generate meeting spots that the people living there can use and benefit from, which is why they called their methodology "community walls" where the canvas used is the neighborhood's walls. Cristina and Julio, plastic artist and local graffiti artist, create and give life to this project and have already taken it to Oaxaca and Mexico City.

This time around they tell their own story of work and community experience in an interview, a tale where they share with us how they promote their local development through street art and how they live it.

Q: What do you consider to be the most interesting, amusing and exciting thing that happened this past year?

A: I think the most interesting thing this year was doing our "community walls" project for the first time and the positive response from our community.

Q: What is your "fill the neighborhood with colours" project about?

A: Chimalhuacán is a community that has really grown in numbers these past years. Most of the houses are under construction and have been for a long time, which means cement, bricks and metal sheets are what constitute 80% of the landscape, making it look almost completely grey. Filling the neighborhood with colors is transforming this grey space into a more colorful one, we relate color with life which means that we are filling the space with life and energy.

Q: How does this change the life inside the community?

A: Different aspects are improved. First we have the visual impact. When you paint a grey wall with colours and forms, the image that the street shows is very different. A painting that portrays what makes a little child from the community happy changes everything for the better for the people living in that street and people that pass by. Another aspect of this change is that it promotes communication between neighbors, which has come forward as a starting point of more complex ways of dialogue within the community.

Q: What was the response of the people in Chimalhuacán to the "community walls" project?

A: At first they thought it was a little weird that we wanted to start painting on their walls with a bunch of children, but the response was very positive. They immediately took part in the activities and they even brought refreshments and helped to look after the children. Some adults were even bold enough to paint alongside the young artists. Something cool that happened was that we started a friendship with some kids that we always saw pass by our street without saying anything. Now they always participate in our activities.

Q: What do you have planned for 2016?

A: This year we will continue painting walls around the neighborhood and have more workshops. We also plan on expanding the collective and maybe legally registering it to help the growth of the projects with resources from international and local programs.

Cristina and Julio

Young artists, happy with their work

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