Health and education for children in Chiapas

Arrumacos Educational Center wrapped up the 2017-2018 educational cycle at the end of June. The participating girls, boys, and mothers, along with the volunteers, educators, and cooks went to a local park, Rancho Nuevo, to celebrate the year together. They played games, shared a meal, slid down slides, and spent time enjoying one another’s company.

All who attended took the opportunity to recognize the energy, time, love, and perseverance that was required throughout the year for everyone involved in the program. In addition, the group celebrated the graduation of Diana and José, who will begin preschool in the fall. With pride and joy, the Arrumacos team sends off Diana and José with the hope that the abilities they developed and strengthened during their time at Arrumacos help them to build good lives for themselves, filled with dignity, peace, and liberty.

The team at Melel wishes the best of luck to the graduating children and looks forward to starting the new educational cycle in August with new and returning participants.

Stay tuned for updates about the new cycle and educational projects in Arrumacos in the coming year!

The primary objective of the social inclusion program in our early childhood education center, Arrumacos, is to contribute to the development and formation of indigenous boys and girls between 0 and 4 years old while encouraging them to exercise their rights to health, education, and citizenship, as well as the right to live a life free of violence.

With that objective in mind, we attempted to promote the exercise of these rights by strengthening and developing the physical, cognitive, vocal, and socio-affective skills of each boy and girl in Arrumacos. After reevaluating this project in the middle of 2017, we decided that it was too focused on development; it set the exact same standards and achievement goals for each and every child, concentrated on controlling and disciplining the boys and girls, and reinforced the idea that the parents and the educators had the responsibility and authority to make capable these currently incapable beings [the children]. From this view, children are seen as incompetent and incomplete subjects and only adults are seen as fully-capable people. 

After that realization, we saw the necessity to restructure our methods into a project that would view the boys and girls as subjects acting on their rights; not solely as objects that need stimulation, protection, or care. We began to view them as political actors that understand their surroundings and are capable of making decisions and changing their immediate environment, that have the right to be heard, to express their ideas, make decisions, and meet as peers from an early age in active, complete, and valid places. In that way, we changed the entire plan, structure, and methodology that we use in Arrumacos.

As a result of this process of evaluation and restructuring, we have completed two new educational projects in Arrumacos:

1. What makes us us? Knowing ourselves (identity project), including:

• Identification of personal image
• Knowledge of friends. What does each child like and dislike?
• The parts of our bodies
• The differences between boys and girls

2. Exploring the world (creativity project):

• Experimentation with textures and forms
• Knowing the sky, water, earth, clouds
• What are seeds and leaves like?
• What animals we see in nature

Currently, we are working on developing a project about feminism that includes young children. In this project, we plan to speak about the histories of women that are part of the lives of the boys and girls in Arrumacos, particularly their mothers and grandmothers—recognizing their importance, sharing their stories, acknowledging their achievements, and honoring the impacts they have had on the lives of their children.

Links:

• http://www.melelxojobal.org.mx