Physical Health Mexico Project #13115

Support our Centre for Disable Children in Mexico

by Action Change (Formerly GVI Trust)

Project Report | May 11, 2015
Celebrating the Anniversary of our Partners

By Tyrone Bennett | Head of Alumni Services

Dear supporter,

In Mexico, we have two partners that we work with very closely to help provide a save environment for Children in Mexico. This past month we were lucky enough to celebrate important milestones with the different organisations and our volunteers.

Save The Children

GVI has been working in partnership with the Save the Children Ludotecas in Playa del Carmen Mexico since 2013, when our community projects began operating in this area. However, the history of Save the Children activities in Quintana Roo dates back 10 years. The main targeted issues pertaining to Save the Children here in Quintana Roo are health and nutrition, education and child protection. With 30% of the state’s population being under the age of 14 along with high rates of child abandonment, addiction and vulnerability to risk factors, the work of Save the Children is now more than ever, dire and crucial.

To celebrate the achievements in the last 10 years and to thank the supporters and partners a cocktail party was held on the 20th of March. GVI representatives had a chance to meet local Save the Children leaders and staff in a ceremonious atmosphere and took the opportunity to reflect and strengthen our partnership in Playa del Carmen.

Integral Care Center

On the subsequent day, another partner, Integral Care Center, celebrated an anniversary commemorating the seven years of service they have provided in order to accommodate the needs of disabled children and youth of Playa del Carmen. Having started in 2008 as a group of parents coming together a few times a week and training themselves to provide their kids with the best possible support, Integral Care Center has since been transformed into a facility that provides complex and intensive support, catering to the needs of disabled children. The school operates five days a week and provides a range of support therapies such as horse, dog and water therapy.

GVI commenced the cooperation with Integral Care Centre 2 years ago, since then many volunteers had an opportunity to contribute and dedicate their time and skills to help to improve the lives of the school’s students and at the same time gain a lot of experience and unforgettable memories themselves. It was therefore a big honor for us to be able to be part of the 7th birthday celebration together with all the founders, teachers, students, supporters and friends of Integral Care Centre.

The anniversary celebrations of our partners here in Mexico have been a great way to reflect on our existing work in the volunteer programs here in Playa del Carmen. It has also been a great opportunity to share, plan and discuss our future plans and visions.

Thank you for your continued support.

All the best

GVI Mexico

Links:

www.gvi.org

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Feb 23, 2015
How Your Donations Have Been Spent

By Sophie Birkett | Head of Operations

Uniforms donated

Dear Supporter,

We're delighted to bring you news of how your amazingly generous donations have been spent over the past month.

At the Equine Therapy Centre and Sepcial Needs School, donations have contributed towards much needed therapies, resources and centre maintainance:

The donation helped to pay a training course on horse handling for the 3 teachers at the Special Needs School. Twice a week they provide horse therapy to the children.
A wheel chair was bought to help moving some of the children in the Special Needs School, specially for the children with cerebral palsy. The chair is a great help for the teachers.
In order to continue with the integral development of these children, a garden was installed in their school so they could learn to grow plants and to look after them.This will benefit their development and will be able to provide new skills to them.
Most of the children at the Special Needs School come from families with low income; part of the donation money was used to buy then new uniforms for the new school year.

At the Save the Children Toy Library (Ludoteca), funds raised were used to supply drinking water to the children that attend the ludoteca, Playa del Carmen is a very humid place and it is important they keep hydrated. We also bought some cleaning products to continue having a safe and clean environment for the children that attend the ludoteca. And some furniture to safely storage the different toys and other teaching resources they have, the previous one were very wobbly and they were not safe for the children.

One of the children at the ludoteca has a hearing problem along with a speaking problem. With the money, a hearing device was bought for him to improve his life quality and to facilitate communication. He is currently also learning some hand signal communication.

Thank you for continuing to support this project into 2015.

All the best

GVI Mexico

Links:

http://www.gvi.org

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Nov 25, 2014
Day of the Dead 2014 with Save the Children

By Sophie Birkett | Head of Operations

Dear Supporter,

Celebrated on the 1st and 2nd of November is an event that dates back from pre-Columbian times; Day of the Dead, or “Dia de los Muertos”. Although the name is suggestive, and it’s timing very similar, Dia de los Muertos is not at all similar to the celebrations of gory Halloween. It is actually a very special, beautiful ritual, where the living remembers their departed relatives lovingly.

Xcaret Park in Playa del Carmen honors this great tradition by celebrating the Festival of Life and Death Traditions every year on October 30th and 31st and on November 1st and 2nd. Xcaret provides families from all around the world including locals the opportunity to partake in activities exclusive to these days. This includes: the Hanal Pixan ritual (food for the souls), cuisine of the region, workshops, crafts, gifts and altars, visual arts exhibitions, theater, dance and gala concerts. As a large sponsor of development of boys and girls with Save the Children in Quintana Roo, they invited the children from the Ludotecas to come participate and enjoy these activities for themselves absolutely free.

50 children in total from the 2 remaining Ludotecas in Playa del Carmen partook in two dif-ferent activities organized by Xcaret. The first was a march down 5th Avenue, the main tourist strip/ popular spot in Playa del Carmen. Children from the Ludotecas and local schools from all around the city dressed up in white, with their face painted in the traditional style singing and marching to a catchy tune.

The second event took place the very next day where 2 volunteers and staff accompanied 3 parents and 2 ludotecarias and 30 children to the giant Xcaret theme park. The group was split into two and they each went to separate activities in the park. They all had a memorable time, however, the best moment of the day as commented by many was the amazing face painting done to our very own volunteer by 5- year-old Andres.

Because of the little number of supervisors from Save the Children, the staff and volunteers we provided were essential to ensure these activities proceeded as planned for the enjoyment of the children. Thank you for supporting this project and allowing these children to experience all that other children in the region would have been able to.

All the best

GVI Mexico

Links:

http://www.gvi.org

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