Disaster Response Mexico Project #32466

Rebuilding homes and businesses in Morelos

by Amextra, Inc.

Project Report | May 17, 2019
Weve reached the final stretch!

By Stephanie Ahlgrain | Fundraising and Alliances Coordinator

As of May 14, 2019, we have officially began construction on 35 of the 37 permanant houses proposed in this project. We are thankful to Mexican donors, international donors, and especially to GlobalGiving for the support in making these 35 families´ dreams a reality!! Some homes are just missing their windows and doors, while others are recieving other final touches. Construction on the last two houses is scheduled to begin in June of 2019. While we expected to be completed with the permanant housing construction project late last year, we are proud of the local team who has managed to find solutions for every problem that has come up, all while taking into account the ideas and needs of the benefitted families and local communities. We couldn´t have a better team to accompany families in their reconstruction process!

In addition to the reconstruction project, things are taking off with the Values for NonViolence and Income Generation projects. On March 22, 11 young people from the Social Work Major at the local college in Tetela del Volcán were trained in the Values Model for Nonviolence that Amextra has developed and worked with for over 15 years in various schools, churches and community centers. The purpose is for these students to reproduce the model in a local elementary school. The goal is for 70% of children participating in a series of workshops to recognize their value and the value of their peers, which will be reflected in their more respectful treatment of their peers and teachers.

On March 25th, the first session of the fruit liquor and homemade jams workshop was held. Ten people from the community attended this income-generation workshop. The person who taught the workshop is a member of a family that in March 2018 received materials to help rebuild the family's winery, that was damaged in the earthquake. In this winery the family packs fruits from the Tetela del Volcán to take them to sell in towns in the state of Puebla, Cuautla, Morelos, and Mexico City.

As for our plans in the next few months, we are currently looking to hire an agronomist to initiate pilot productive projects in the communities. The objective is to teach and accompany families for organic food production. The goal is for families to return to healthy and quality eating habits by planting their own vegetables and cereals. This project will serve a double purpose, as it also helps people take care of their health and the environment where they live!

Thank you for being a part of this journey! If you are interested in continuing to support this project, we are currently seeking donations to be able to continue teaching the education for non-violence model to 10 social workers, supplies for the next income-generation project, and help with the wages for the new agronomist who will join the team. Also, if you truly believe in this project, consider sharing with your friends and family!

Wishing you the best,

Stephanie and the Amextra team

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Feb 19, 2019
Starting 2019 strong as a community

By Stephanie Ahlgrain | Fundraising and Alliances Coordinator

Eggs produced from the income generation project

Since the beginning of the permanant housing construction project in Tetela del Volcán in February of 2018, 25 families who lost their homes in the September 2017 earthquake have begun or completed the construction of their new dignified and comfortable home. Currently, we are helping the families of four women: Elena, Sandra, Elodia and Martha.

In October of 2018, the business reactivation project was completed. Currently, we are supporting the 53 beneficiary families with follow-up of their projects, and taking note of the the progress and impact that this project has had on each family. In January, most beneficiaries worked to keep up the business and looked for sales strategies so that they generate profits to invest and can keep their income constant. The sale of organic eggs, atole, tamales, bread, tortillas, pozole, tlacoyos, lunches, juices, smoothies and groceries, allow the families to have money to reinvest and support the family expenses.

In the town of Jojutla de Juárez 89-year-old Ms. Elena attends to a small candy store on the edge of her home, which was reactivated with Amextra´s help. Elena says she is very happy to work again and have her own income. She says that working makes her feel good and that she loves to be in contact with people.

One of the most important parts of our project is that members of the town itself make up the Tetela del Volcán work team. Local volunteers have been helping each other build homes and learning how else they can support each other, too. Having this team of 8 volunteers has helped us complete the construction projects more quickly as well.

The permanent housing project will benefit Mr. Guillermo and Mr. Eduardo during the month of February. Also in February a series of workshops to train social work students in the Amextra Forming Values for Non-violence model will begin. The objective is to prepare the professionals with tools that they allow them to reproduce the model in the town´s elementary schools. The ultimate goal is to educate the new generations in tolerance, solidarity, respect for human rights, nonviolence and peace, to make them champions of these topics now in the classrooms as well as later in life as adults.

Working on Ms. Elodias house with local volunteer

Students of the Education for Nonviolence Program

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Nov 21, 2018
21 new homes under construction

By Stephanie Ahlgrain | Fundraising and Alliances Coordinator

Thank you for for being a part of this journey of community transformation! In the past 14 months we have worked with more than 600 people in Tetela del Volcán and Jojutla, Morelos through the delivery of food and hygiene kits, temporary housing, post-traumatic stress workshops, scholarships for youth, reactivation of businesses, risk-management workshops, personal finance workshops and the construction of permanant homes. Here´s an update from the four main activities since our last report:

Risk-Management Workshops

In August of 2018, the first of 5 workshops on Disaster Risk Management was held. 41 beneficiaries attended and actively participated in this workshop, which will allow them to create a mitigation plan for the risks faced by their community and their home!

Reconstruction of Homes

The reconstruction process of 37 permanent homes began in March 2018. Through this project a basic house model is adapted to the needs of each family, adjusting the dimensions according to the number of its members and the characteristics of their land. Currently, 10 houses are 98% completed; 9 more houses are advancing in the foundations, and 2 have already been turned over to families!

Business reactivation

We have exceeded the business reactivation goal! Due to the interest of the beneficiaries in this program and also because the cost of reactivation was lower than anticipated, 48 families have been supported for the reactivation of their small businesses.

During the month of April 2018, 26 small businesses were reactivated by means of materials distributed to rebuild 20 families´ chicken coops. That same month, a family in Tetela del Volcán was supported with materials for the construction of a cellar to select and pack fruits from the community of Tetela del Volcan.

In the months of June to September 2018, 19 families were provided items to reactivate: 2 economic kitchens, 1 juice shop, 1 bakery, 2 pizza shops, 2 dairy shops, 1 poultry shop, 2 tables and chairs rental business, 1 wheat atole business, 3 mini-grocery stores, and tools to work in the cleaning of gardens and roofs in Jojutla, to 2 beneficiaries.

Personal Finance Workshops

The first of these workshops, called "The seasoning of finance, recipes for your business", took place on September 27th and 28th, 2018. The purpose is to teach how to maintain and manage the businesses that have been reactivated as well as those that have remained in the community, with the vision of making them grow, using effective tactics. In the course of the workshop, those who already have a fixed establishment recognized some situations that are not favorable for the business and created strategies to improve their relationship with customers

During the next three months we will advance in the the construction of the 37 permanent homes (all 37 homes are on track to be completed in the first semester of 2019), provide 3 more personal finance workshops to families who received support for the reactivation of businesses, continue accompanying 60 individuals in the identification and mitigation of disaster risks, and work in local elementary schools to train teachers in the Amextra Education for Peace curriculum. We look forward to sharing with you more photos of the families your donation benefits every day!

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