Background
The Citizen Observatory of León (July 2016) tells us that León is the most important city in the State of Guanajuato, and is part of the group of municipalities that make up the so-called "Mexico's Diamond", in which 4.2 of the national GDP is concentrated, thus occupying the 7th place in terms of GDP contribution. Despite the progress made in infrastructure and the market, León stands out, according to the CONEVAL (2014), as the 4th municipality in the state of Guanajuato with the greatest number of people in poverty (600,145 people) and the 8th in extreme poverty (66,687 people). As a result of the COVID 19 pandemic, these figures have increased, without yet having the exact figure.
This educational project is mainly located in four rural communities: Ladrilleras del Refugio, Lomas del Suspiro, Los Sauces, Los López located in the southwest of the municipality. These communities have been characterized by issues such as: public, financial and socio-emotional insecurity; drug addiction; alcoholism; suicide and homicide; robbery (home and street, school facilities, churches); family and neighborhood break-ups; family violence; school dropouts; bullying; abandonment of elderly, children and adolescents; as well as health conditions such as malnutrition, respiratory diseases, eye problems, work exhaustion (long hours, low paid employment, abandonment of families due to working hours and fatigue) machismo, high rate of teenage pregnancy, sexual harassment and abuse and incest.
In addition, there is a habit to punish and hit children, and they in turn, replicate this behaviour in their relationships. The coexistence is based on competition, trying to devalue peers in order to stand out, moreover, this competition is regularly encouraged by adults, thus internalizing this form of relationship. Besides, it can be observed that in the four communities there is a lack of connection with the human and environmental community.
Today, with the global pandemic crisis, these communities have been affected at all levels, living together 24/7, increased rates of violence against women and children, and rising unemployment that causes feelings of frustration and hopelessness among men and women in the communities. Some mothers have faced the overload of tutoring their children with school homework, elderly are suffering from abuse and carelessness, young people are limited in continuing their studies because they do not have the necessary devices or access to internet, and children show a lack of concentration, motivation and commitment in distance learning.
Objective
To build with participants healthy relationships of coexistence; to develop skills and competences of citizen participation, of community organization, of cooperation and of integral care. In other words, from a personal perspective to a larger perspective as the family, the community, the things and the environment.
To ensure that teachers are passionate about education; that parents educate with tenderness; that children live happily to help rebuild communities with healthy, free and purposeful relationships.
Activities
The gateway to our educational collaboration in these four rural communities was their public primary school. Thanks to the project on students coexistence and the summer/December educational camps, the project staff have been getting closer to the communities and getting to know each other better. Until before the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic, project activities were experiential workshops once a week, where, using a playful and participatory methodology, teachers, mothers and children received tools to build relationships of healthy coexistence.
Workshops with participants are held once a week using a playful and participatory methodology, with which teachers, mothers and children received tools to build relationships of healthy coexistence. The workshops last 1,5 hours, and are planned on the basis of an initial diagnosis carried out with the different groups at the beginning of the school year.
The structure of the workshops is as follows: welcome, time for meditation or conscious breathing, community dynamics (socio-emotional technique), construction and revision of group agreements, cooperative play, reflection from the game, evaluation, follow-up tasks and closing. For each session, there is a specific content
As a result of the contingency, and consequently the closure of the schools, the project activities have shifted to the production of educational materials (a newspaper, a radio programme, short videos for health care with alternative media, videos for emotional care, listening sessions with mothers and teachers). These are produced on a weekly basis, and are sent by the teachers to the family in digital or printed form.
Outcomes
Mothers, teachers and directors have shown genuine skills to facilitate the formation of the entire educational community in participation and coexistence for a common good; their aptitudes have allowed progress. The participation of mothers was key because in the schools where the mothers responded best, better results were observed. The importance of participation was increasingly recognized. Students that took part in the workshops, shown familiarity with the methodology and as a result shown facility in making proposals and building agreements. In the COVID-19 distance work with families, it was possible to reinforce what had been worked on, and a space was created for teachers to listen and support each other.
People being served
People being served : Children and Young People
Age group : Children 0-17
Number of participants : >500
Schedule
Project status : Ongoing
Images
Overview
Society presence : Mexico
Focus of the project : Peace
JPIC Imperative : Transforming and Being Transformed
UN Sustainable Development Goals : 16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions, 17 Partnerships for the Goals, 4 Quality Education
