Health and education for children in Chiapas

Dear GlobalGiving Donor

We are excited because we have 5 new graduates from the Early Stimulation Center! And they all are entering into pre-school this August. It may not seem like the biggest achievement in the world, but considering that Chiapas has one of the lowest attendance rates in pre-school, especially indigenous children, it is a big deal.

Attending  pre-school raises the probability of going into primary school  to 50% and as we all know, the more years a child stays in school the better the chance to break the poverty cycle.

Also, the first years in life are the most important ones for development in all areas: cognitive, psychical, social and emotional; and school plays a big part in this.

For many of us, a simple step in life such as going to school may seem easy but for the families we work with it´s not. Sending kids to school it´s a sacrifice in many ways: it costs money (families with 5 or 7 members make an average of 120 USD at month); it takes time, public schools are usually a long way from where family lives live; classes are not taught in their native language and sometimes they don´t even have a birth certificate that is required to enrol a child in school.

We work to mitigate all those risk factors and prevent school dropout.  At the nursery we provide nutrition, early stimulation and social development. For parents and guardians we provide assistance to obtain birth certificates for their children, help to enrol their children in school, provide scholarships if necessary and run workshops related to parenting and children’s rights.

This  model has been working for almost 20 years, contributing to improve the development of more than 600 children in their early years.

And none of this could happen without the generous support of the people and foundations who believe in what we do. So, as a GlobalGiving donor you are part of this! Thanks to you our 5 graduates already have a better chance to remain in school than they would have if they were not at Melel.

Thank you

Best wishes