Education before work

We continue work in te streets in Mexico City, the last months in ednica the crew continues to work at fixed points to reduce child labor. Sales is the third most frequent activity for working children in public spaces. Child labor is defined as any work that deprives children of their potential and dignity; is harmful to their physical and psychological development; and interferes with their schooling and development.

In its study "La infancia cuenta en México. Child labor 2021", the Network for Children's Rights (REDIM) points out that in Mexico 4 out of every 10 people aged 5 to 17 who work contribute some income to the household, while 1 out of every 4 children and adolescents who work do so because their household needs help.

They learn about their rights: On Wednesday afternoons, outside the market, the educators attract and concentrate girls and boys who would otherwise be with their parents at work. There they do different activities, teach them about their rights and help them improve their knowledge and school skills. 

Breaking these generational cycles of child labor, from a vision that does not stigmatize families, requires an intervention that can last for years. In the case of the program promoted by Ednica, it is a minimum of eight years. The work of the educators every Monday and Wednesday is just the beginning of a cycle that goes through several stages but starts at fixed points.

Bertha Bocanegra explains that the model contemplates four phases: the first is bonding and trust, the second is skills development, the third is preparation for independent living, and the last is follow-up. This is followed by discharge. "This model of interaction is very ambitious, but it also implies that it is going to be developed over a long period. Our experiences have allowed us to confirm that this stage of these four phases takes a minimum of 8 years to develop, but there are longer cases, up to 15 years, depending also on the age at which the first contact is established,"

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• ednica in the news

We continue working with kids and adolescents who work in the streets in Mexico City, ednica´s crew spoked in june about the children work by the World Day Against Child Labour conmemorated in june 12th. The educators explained the challenges they face on a daily basis when working with children who are marginalized and excluded in Mexico City. You can visit our social media and watch again this webinar.

In ednica we know that child labor violates the rights of children and adolescents. During the month of June, several events were held to raise awareness of this problem and to generate different alliances with civil society, government and the general public. Children attending the community centers made infographics with details on how their rights are violated. You can consult them on the organization's social media, this material is created by the kits

Alliances with companies have also been important to strengthen all the efforts made by the ednica team through the educational processes in the streets. In May, an alliance was established with Bitubi Consulting, a human resources company that will provide us with a monthly cash donation to continue guaranteeing that educators can go to the streets and support children who work in public spaces.

However, alliances with other organizations allow for moments of recreation, in which children and young people played with members of Laboratorio de Creaciones Circenses A.C. to access the right to recreation, in this way they learned about the work of another organization that also performs various supports with children who work on the street.This month we continue to invite people to donate to get all the school supplies, so that in August children who work in the public space can enter classes with everything they need.

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• Thank you for your help!