Para Los Niños

The Para Los Niños program was founded to help underprivileged children in Mexico obtain an education. We believe that education is the key to the future. But for many Mexican children wavering on the subsistence poverty line, or for those who have handicaps, education is often not within their reach. Para Los Niños helps to give these children the chance of a brighter future. This year Para Los Niños is helping children at two schools: the Sor Juana Elementary public school and the Groupo Los Pargos private school for handicapped children.

Gifts given to the children through Para Los Niños are tax deductible. 100% of the gifts given through Para Los Niños go directly to the children. All of the administrative support, both here and in Mexico, is provided free by volunteers. This is a gift you can truly feel good about giving.

There was a time when knowing how to fish may have been sufficient, but for today’s children to have a chance in the world, they must know the basics of reading, writing and arithmetic. This is the goal of the Para Los Niños program. Education builds self respect, a light for the future, and empowers the children to help themselves. Education provided to disadvantaged children is multiplied many fold when you realize that it is a gift that they will in turn give to their children.

Sor Juana Elementary School

Sor Juana Ines de las Cruz is a public elementary school in an impoverished neighborhood of Mazatlán. Children in Mexico cannot go to school unless they have shoes, a school uniform and pay a five dollar enrollment fee. Many children in the poorer barrios can not meet even these simple requirements, and so are not allowed to attend school. At the Sor Juana School, Para Los Niños helps the children through the Friends of Mexico Foundation. This is a group of retired Americans and Canadians living in Mazatlán who decided to do something about the situation.

In their first year, the Foundation provided the entire first grade class of 39 children at Sor Juana School with uniforms, shoes, school supplies and backpacks. They also bought the teacher's supplies, none of which are provided by the government. In addition, volunteer members began teaching English at Sor Juana School to give the children an opportunity to learn a second language.

The Foundation continues to support the original first grade children, who are now entering third grade, and the class behind them, now entering second grade. In addition, they are outfitting the incoming first grade students and the teachers. They are currently helping about 115 students at Sor Juana School. This number will increase by approximately 40 students every year. They have observed that children as old as nine years of age are entering first grade as a result of the program. Enrollment in first grade has increased by more than fifty percent due to the work of the Foundation.

The Foundation has provided books for the school library, repainted blackboards and repaired many of the desks.  Next they want to repair the roof and screens, provide more teaching aids, paint classrooms, add new blackboards, and buy better desks. 

Encouraging parents and students is an important part of the work.  The foundation offers scholarships as well as prizes for attendance and good grades.

Los Pargos School

The Pargos School provides basic services to disabled and special needs children. The school has set up its own special education program providing primary, secondary and preparatory education to children regardless of disability. Although disabled children are given basic medical treatment in Mexico, they received almost no rehabilitation. Most did not go to school because of non-acceptance by teachers, difficulties in transportation, or overprotection by parents. One of the goals of Los Pargos is to convince the government, the public schools, and society in general to accept, respect, provide opportunities, and help meet the needs of disabled children.

The Pargos School consists of approximately 60 families with disabled children. It includes children with all kinds of challenges such as physically disabled, mentally handicapped, seizure disorder, deaf, and blind.

Many of the teachers at the school are disabled graduates of the program, some who are continuing with their formal schooling and some of whom have jobs. This makes them good role models for the children.

The school provides dignity, caring and leadership skills. Some of the students have gone on to the state university system. Others have never progressed beyond the primary grades, but they feel the pride and happiness of making small daily gains and receiving praise and hugs for a job well done.

The school is operated entirely from donations; no educational funds are available from the government for these children. All of the teachers are volunteers. School is held from four to eight in the afternoon as all of the teachers either have full time jobs or are students themselves. There is no payroll, no budget and very little money. They have had their electricity turned off for lack of money to pay the bill and there is almost never gas for the bus to get the children from their homes to the school. But despite all of this, the children are very polite, upbeat, have lots of smiles.