Help 455 At-Risk Children in Mexico Stay in School

Dearest friends and donors,

Here at EDUCA we want to share our profound appreciation for the donations that have kept this project running and these children in school.  We thank and recognize the effort each and every one of our donators has made; thanks to all of you we are almost reaching our goal of $41,000 USD.

 At this point in the “Ethics, Empathy, and Wisdom” program our first cohort of teachers has attended and completed the training required to launch off our third phase of the program, at the end of September.  Using as a base the core concepts taught to our kids during the first two phases, which include the ability to become a self-observer and develop loving kindness, we will begin phase three.  Phase three has as its objective to teach the children how to integrate this newly learned concept of loving kindness into their everyday experiences. 

 One strategy used to get these lessons through to the kids is to create spaces in which the child is able to apply the attitudes and abilities being taught in the classroom.  For example, during training teachers practiced using an ecological simulator in which the kids are given an imaginative ecosystem, which they must inhabit for 30 virtual years.  They are given specific conditions, they must coexist and protect Mother Nature, and at the end of the 30 years they must return the ecosystem as close to the conditions that it was given to them.  During this exercise every day or session is the equivalent to five virtual years.  The children in this program are evidently learning and practicing social and environmental responsibility, lessons that are in much need in our ever-changing society in which environmental degradation and consumer individualism pervade human action.

Your support is what makes this early education program possible for these children, help us raise the remaining $5,199 USD so that we can begin to implement this amazing program in more marginalized schools throughout Mexico.

 We greatly appreciate your support!

 Kind regards,

 EDUCA Team

Links:

• Educacion Universal para el Desarrollo Etico

First and foremost, we would like to express our continued feelings of gratitude towards everyone who has supported this project. Your donations continue to make a significant impact on the lives of children who would otherwise not have access to the wonderful learning environment and resources that are provided by our “Ethics, Empathy, and Wisdom” program.  Your donations continue to allow schools like SEDAC to not only provide basic necessities for these at-risk children such as breakfast, psychological services, and school supplies, but to also equip them with skills that will make them well-rounded conscientious adults. 

As we hear back from teachers in our SEDAC pre-school, it becomes evident that the seeds of change each one of you has helped us plant within each child through our early education program is coming to fruition.  Teachers have noted a significant change in the attitudes, concentration levels, meditation and tai-chi skills of their students.  The gap between home and school environments has also seen a decrease as parents have become more involved in their children´s schooling and partake in the lessons taught through the program.  Home has become a space in which children teach their parents the lessons learned in school, improving communication and understanding within the home.  What follows is a teacher’s testimony about a student,

“One of my most notable successes was that of Elian Alan, who during the past two parts of the program had not been able to achieve focused attention and concentration during meditation, and who during active participation demonstrated very little if any desires to participate. The child also had little continuity between lessons and his mother was not very supportive, which only influenced his lack of interest in the class.  However, by the end of part two we were able to talk to his mother about the importance of her support in the home and surprisingly we were able during this period to get Elian Alan to integrate himself into the activities and even more, complete his meditations and visualizations with a pleasant attitude, this I say due to the smile I observed.”

-Andrea De Leon Diaz

These are some of the results of the first phases of the early education program “Ethics, Empathy, and Wisdom”.  Our teachers now find themselves in phase II, part six of the program.  During this phase of the program they will teach their students what the essence of compassion is, what it means to be and act with compassion.  Here in EDUCA, we are very excited to see the results that this holistic and ethically responsible curriculum will have on these little ones.  It becomes apparent, as with the case Elian Alan, that these kids are transforming themselves and using what is taught in school to lead a better lifestyle and teach their parents, friends, and siblings along the way.  Your continued support will therefore not only have an impact on the lives of these children, but it will impact the lives of many others as well.

Kind regards,

EDUCA Team

Links:

• "Ethics, Empathy, and Wisdom". Program.