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Child sponsorship update from Tuxtla Gutierrez, Mexico
SOS Children in Mexico
Mexico is the third largest country in Latin America. Its capital, Mexico City, is one of the world's largest cities and it is the most populous Spanish-speaking country in the world. Some 36 per cent of the population are children under the age of 18. Due to poverty many children migrate, with or without their families, within rural areas, from rural to urban areas, among urban areas, and to the United States. This results in family instability and a large number of working children. Approximately 24 million Mexicans live in extreme poverty.
The charity began working in Mexico in 1971 when the first children’s village was built in Mexico City in the La Villa de Guadalupe district, close to the famous Basilica de Guadalupe. In addition to the seven family houses, it has two youth houses where the older children can live while they are studying and taking their first guided steps towards independence. The sports field for football, basketball and volleyball is a meeting point for children from the SOS Children's Village and their friends from the neighbourhood. SOS Children's Village Mexico City also offers workshops on pottery, silkscreen printing and painting.
Over 600 children in the community are supported through SOS childminding programmes. Local mothers form childminding committees and they set up community homes where the children receive the care and nutrition they need, and they provide them with a basic education.
The second Mexican community is on the Yucatan Peninsula in the small town of Hampolol, 10 miles from the provincial capital of Campeche in what is one of the poorest and hottest regions in Mexico. SOS Children Hampolol is five minutes’ walk from the centre of the town and only fifteen minutes from the coast. There are ten family houses as well as a youth house. All the children attend local nurseries and schools.
In 1985 a major earthquake in Mexico City killed thousands and left nearly 30,000 homeless. Following an immediate emergency aid programme, SOS Children built a children’s village in Huehuetoca, near Mexico City. SOS Children’s Village Huehuetoca has twelve family houses for 109 children. It also has a room for education support classes, an auditorium, and a multi-purpose hall with a library.
Tehuacán is a small town south-east of Mexico City, and the Children's Village is in the nearby village of Coapan. As well as the twelve family houses and a youth house, there is a day care centre which offers a wide range of services to disadvantaged families in the neighbourhood including child care, counselling and job training. Carpentry and dressmaking skills are taught in the vocational training workshops.
The fifth Mexican SOS Children's Village was set up in the town of Tijuana, which is close to the US border and to San Diego, California. Many people from the south of Mexico have moved there, since they hope to find a good job or emigrate to the United States, which is very risky and in most cases, illegal. Many of them become poor and destitute. As a result of the terrible social and economic situation in the area, many children are abandoned, mistreated and abused. There are 12 family homes at SOS Children’s Village Tijuana, along with open space where vegetables are grown and the children can play.
The construction of SOS Children Comitán in Chiapas in southern Mexico followed a three-year SOS emergency relief programme in Comitán after the 1994 anti-government uprising, which led to many families having to flee their homes. Opened in 1999, the children’s village has 16 family houses. The SOS Social Centre Comitán runs a day-care centre, which consists of six group rooms, a dormitory and a multi-purpose hall. It cares for 150 babies and children, both from the SOS Children's Village and the local community. Furthermore, the SOS Social Centre supports the local community through different measures of family strengthening, for example by organizing childminding programmes or special workshops for parents.
SOS Children’s Village Tuxtla Gutiérrez is in the south and focuses on children with special needs. There are nine family homes for 70 children. The SOS Social Centre comprises a medical treatment centre, four training workshops, eight houses for outpatient treatment and the SOS Therapy Centre for children with special needs. The therapy centre offers different types of occupational, speech-, hydro-and physiotherapy. In the training workshops, the children's practical abilities are developed through activities such as pottery, painting and gardening, according to their special needs.
The newest SOS Children’s Village in Mexico opened in Morelia in 2006 and has 14 family homes for 126 children and there is a small football pitch here too.
At present we support over 2,700 people in Mexico through eight SOS Children’s Villages, seven SOS Youth Homes, one SOS School, one SOS Vocational Training Centre and seven SOS Social Centres.
In 2004, we came across a six-month-old baby called Alejandra. She was born a perfectly healthy baby, but she had been beaten so badly by her parents that she sustained massive head injuries. As a result, it looked unlikely that she would ever walk or talk.
Alejandra came to live at SOS Children’s Village Tuxtla Gutierrez, which cares for children with special needs, soon after her first birthday. When she arrived, she was not able to move an inch, not a single part of her body; her gaze was searing, her eyes reflected total desolation.
Today, Alejandra is able to move her arms and play on her bed. Every day her SOS mother Maria carries Alejandra to the SOS Therapy Centre in the town. The love she receives from her SOS family has helped Alejandra eat better, sit up by herself and achieve progress. And she looks happy - that is the most important thing.
Local Contacts
SOS Children in Mexico
Patronato Nacional Aldeas Infantiles SOS de México IAP
Apartado postal 228
11551 México D.F.
Mexico
Tel: +52/55/5203 6956, +52/55/5203 6986
Email: sosoncmex@prodigy.net.mx
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