Beneficiaries: 363 children and youth
Completion date: July 2024
Country: Mexico
Executive summary
In the San Filipe community of Mexico, 68.6 per cent of the population lives in poverty—with 26.5 per cent of families living in extreme poverty. This mostly rural community lacks many basic resources such as health care and educational services.
Caregivers often have to work long hours in order to provide for their families and children often lack the support they need to empower their holistic development, such as access to computers. Children and young people in this community do not have regular access to safe, comfortable educational spaces where they can learn with their peers, connect with leaders and plan for their futures.
Our church partners in San Filipe are working hard to provide a safe space for children to learn, grow and develop emotionally, physically, cognitively and spiritually. The ME0120 Compassion centre currently has three classrooms, but with 363 registered children, there simply is not enough space to facilitate the growing number of participating young boys and girls. Currently, the different children attend the centre on different days in order to cope with the classroom restrictions, but now teachers and cooks must see to two classes each day and the work is getting more and more complicated. Sadly, teachers are facing behavioural, cognitive development and attention problems in the classroom. They are unable to give the children the attention they need and crave to help them thrive and many children are losing interest in the program.
This intervention will provide the resources needed to complete the construction of three additional classrooms for the Emmanuel Church in the San Filipe community, including a computer lab. These classrooms will provide safe educational spaces for all 363 registered children as well as centre staff, volunteers and leaders. The additional classrooms will allow children to be separated by age groups so tutors can deliver age-appropriate content and adequate attention to each student. With appropriate spaces to learn, children and youth will develop creativity, critical thinking and problem solving skills. Armed with these skills, children will be free to grow and develop into who God made them to be and help them have a successful future.
Summary
Background
Compassion has been working alongside the Emmanuel Church in the San Filipe community for eight years. With a starting enrolment of 150 children and youth, the program has grown to 363 registered children and youth, with an additional 50 friends who attend alongside registered participants.
Centre staff and volunteers hold activities on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays to facilitate the large number of registered students in their limited space. The program offers students classes on values, crafts, computer studies, Bible classes and games. For older students, staff teach lessons on income generation to help prepare students for life as young adults.
Students much attend the centre on different days, in order to accommodate all of the students, but the increased workload for tutors, cooks and volunteers is proving to be difficult in delivering the holistic development programming. Sadly, many students have lost their values and interest in knowing the Word of God. These children and youth need appropriate attention and input from caring Christian mentors who can speak encouragement and positive messaging into their lives so they can have a better future.
The need
The Compassion centre in San Filipe, Mexico, is bursting at the seams. Originally serving 150 children and youth, it now attends to 363 registered beneficiaries, along with 50 additional children from the community. While the number of beneficiaries has more than doubled, the teaching space has not. All 363 students are crammed into three classrooms and attend on alternate days and times to accommodate all of the children. Teachers and staff do not have the capacity to give appropriate attention to each child and teen and sadly, many are losing interest in the program.
Your gift will ensure that children enrolled in programming at the Emmanuel Church in San Filipe, Mexico, will have access to three new classrooms, including one computer lab, where their holistic development will be enriched, encouraged and empowered. Each student will have a safe, age-appropriate space to participate in group activities, learn with their peers and receive love and care from centre staff and volunteers. This intervention will also ensure that the resources of the Emmanual Church will not have to use all their time and resources to run multiple classes per day, allowing them to focus on other community efforts while providing care and support to the young people in their community.
What your gift will do
Your gift will provide 1,792 children in Mexico with new, age-appropriate classrooms and the materials needed to build them, including:
-
Construction materials for
- Black work
- Foundations
- Columns
- Walls
- Roof
- Plastering
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Finishes
- Electrical installations
- Hydraulic installations
- Paint
- Tiles
- Windows and doors
- Manuel labour
Logistics
- Local contribution: US$8,892.99
- Handling of funds: Compassion Mexico will work with Centre leadership to ensure this intervention stays within budget.
- Monitoring and follow-up: Compassion centre staff and church leaders will work with an architect to guarantee the construction is completed according to plan and to ensure that it complies with national safety standards.