Education for 250 working children in Chiapas

During the last months of the year, our intervention with children and adolescents in Chiapas consisted of recognizing and strengthening their identity as working children, but mainly, knowing and asserting their rights.

The violence registered in San Cristóbal de las Casas during 2022 was increasing, where a girl and an adolescent died from stray bullets, recruitment to criminal organizations is increasing in adolescents and children up to 10 years of age , causing them to drop out of school, their home and family, as well as to start consuming illegal substances, damaging their physical and mental health. 

Education and access to decent work are some tools to prevent risk situations for them, however, it is necessary to reflect more on the subject among adults. For this reason, on December 10, we held a local meeting of working children, with the aim of having them share their reflections on "why they work" and "how they can improve their work and play spaces", as well as learning to organize and demand respect for their rights.

You can learn more about this meeting in the following league https://fb.watch/hAbSXh3j3C/

During this 2022, more than 240 working girls and adolescents from three public markets participated in educational activities.

We invite you to follow us on our social networks @melelxojobal and learn much more about our work.

On behalf of the entire Melel Xojobal team, we wish you a Happy New Year 2023, and we also appreciate your constant solidarity for this project. We hope to be able to count on her again this year. 

Our best wishes to you and yours. 

During this long process of pandemic, working indigenous children have suffered the consequences of a political, economic and social system that does not take them into account. One of the most serious consequences is the serious educational gap they are facing, since for two years they have not attended school regularly. Melel Xojobal has been present at this time to be able to accompany this process of school reinforcement with advice within the markets. Thanks to your collaboration we have been able to deliver school supplies and maintain educational sessions. This school year (August 2022 to July 2023), the children will return to normal face-to-face classes, at Melel we are very attentive to continue accompanying the emotional situation that the school load can cause, as well as meeting those who will not return to school for various reasons. reasons: family, economic, discouragement, etc. As of September 2022, we will increase the presence of our work in the markets, to identify those children who do not go to school and offer this support. We are sure that people like you are interested in the well-being of indigenous children, so we invite you to learn more about our work on our social networks and on our website: @melelxojobal www.melelxjobal.org.mx Your economic and active collaboration in our networks greatly supports making more people aware of the rights situation of working children and motivating them to join our cause.