Help marginalized Mexican children and teenagers

Hello to all of you Global Givers!

Exciting news! We are close to finishing our last year of working with marginalized children in Coahuila and have now shifted the focus on elementary schools; of course this is all possible because of your support. With our programs teachers are making a difference with their students, here is a testimony of that: “These are practices (activities of the Yo Quiero Yo Puedo program) that will help students to become well-adjusted in their community and as human beings in all of their relations” – Middle school teacher, 30 years old.

The state of Coahuila is found in the northeast region of Mexico, an area that has been negatively impacted over the last few years by drug trafficking, organized crime and poverty. Added to those issues, there are other risk factors such as obesity, diabetes, addictions, violence and school abandonment. At Yo Quiero Yo Puedo (IMIFAP) we are working towards diminishing the impact of those risk factors in our third and final year in Torreon, by carrying out a program in elementary schools called “I want to I can … learn, develop skills and have fun in school”. This program is designed to prevent the previously mentioned issues by acquiring knowledge, developing life skills, so that children can become agents of change by assuming control of their own lives and can contribute to their communities.

Over the last 3 years of implementation we have worked with teachers, parents and students and in the third and final year we have had:

• A total of 878 people participating directly, which translates to 28 teachers, approximately 850 students and an estimated 650 parents that will participate in training workshops.
• Over the next couple of months we will at least reach 1,528 participants directly which will result in around 4,584 participants reached indirectly, given our previous experiences with similar programs.
• Over the course of this third and final year 15 new teachers were involved with the program, bringing the total to 26; however, new members are expected to join during the coming activities that include workshops, end of project fairs and activities that students can carry out at home.

We continue to expand our work in elementary schools in two more towns in the state of Tlaxcala. Yo Quiero Yo Puedo (IMIFAP) with the support of science and technology company Dow Chemical Mexico, conducted a study focused on education in early 2015, which showed high percentages of absenteeism and school abandonment, low expectations in students regarding a college education and general rejection towards scientific subjects (math, chemistry, science, etc.) Therefore, we have continued our partnership with Dow Chemical Mexico and launched our program “I want to I can… think like a scientist”. This project aims to encourage scientific thinking through programs that accelerate skills and scientific thinking in children of surrounding communities. Workshops will take place and training manuals will be distributed to students from grades 4^th, 5^th and 6^th as well as, teachers. We expect to directly reach at least 618 people that include 18 teachers, 450 students and 150 parents; these numbers will also help us indirectly reach around 2, 472 people:  teachers, students, family members and other members of the community.

Your ongoing support is vital so we can continue to achieve and exceed results!