EDUCATION

When school started in August 2024, we were surprised to learn that many of the children that come to our community center to eat a meal, don't go to school at all. So we frantically raised funds to pay for their enrollment, uniforms and school supplies. We also found many had no prior "pre-school" education because their grandmothers, who many live with, have limited education themselves, and no money for learning activities or toys. These young children were way behind even before starting primary school.

If children don't get registered at age 6 in primary school (which is for 6-12 year old's), they will forever fall behind and never catch up, even if they enter school a year or two later (because they are put into their age level grade).

We try to help these children with our tutoring program which is held three mornings a week with a professional primary school teacher and teacher assistant, that Poco a Poco pays for.

Many families in the San Pedro Itzicán area and the smaller villages, cannot afford the cost of outfitting their children to attend school, and some families don't appreciate the value of education, as the did not have it themselves. So they don't send their children to school at all - especially girls.

School is often financially impossible for some families especially single mothers who are working away from home and the children are being looked after by grandmothers.

Some municipalities (city halls) offer free school supplies, but this rarely happens in these areas. There are local primary schools in all the small towns and villages; and secondary and high schools in San Pedro Itzicán and in Mezcala. But children from the small villages have to travel to get to secondary school - another cost to those parents so few get further education after primary school.

Thanks to some generous donors, we pay some older students to work with the children who come to the community center. The children arrive at the San Pedro Community Center around 9:00 am, Monday through Friday, as the Community Center has become a safe place for them to be, to socialize and learn, before they get their lunch.

One young women, Mercedes, is running the class and works from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm each day - sometimes with over 80 children. Another student, works with the 2 to 4 year old children. They usually do some stretching exercises, games, as well as activities that help the children develop their motor skills, such as coloring, drawing, encouraging them to read books in the library, as well as teaching them the alphabet and numbers. The children are then organized for lunch; washing their hands before meals, tidying their work area, and getting their meal. The children are also getting life skill lessons that perhaps they are not getting at home.

In July 2025, we held a fundraising event to raise funds for education. We also receive funds from St Andrew's Outreach Program (the Anglican Church in Riberas, Chapala), to help pay for education costs. The Kanata Rotary Club of Ontario, Canada also contributed funds towards education. We are very grateful for all this help. In September 2026, the Rainbow Alliance group in Ajijic held an event that raised funds to pay towards school supplies. We are very grateful for their support.

These photos are from September 2025 where we gave out school supplies to over 45 children, and helped others with school registration.

receiving school supplies with Anita and Ana Laura.JPG

Since 2017 we have raised funds to support education as this is an important part of change for youth.

We have two young women taking university courses and we do need funding to help them both: Mercedes and Miriam who are in their 2nd year of education at URIT (Universidad Regional de Tequila). It costs approximately 38,000 pesos for each girl for the year, including transportation (around $2,300 US for the year). It takes around one and half hours to get to the school by bus to get to classes. Miriam is studying to be a teacher and Mercedes is taking a program in psychology. If you can help contact us.

The youth in these areas have many challenges in planning their futures, and the pressure is on them to support their families by working. Their parents often can't afford education for their children, and don't always understand its value. If a student actually passes the high school exams (prepa), they can't imagine taking a 4 year course in any subject. If they do anything, they opt for shorter college programs. But they still struggle, because their basic education levels are below urban school levels.

In 2022 and 2023, with the help of sponsors and Work, Play, Love, we helped five adults with their auxiliary nursing training. Unfortunately the school took a long time to provide the students with the final exams and certificates, but they finally got them in 2025. (One student who passed the exam prior to the others, is now working as a nurse in Chapala.

Because of the extreme poverty of many families, parents do not necessarily encourage their children to attend school as they want them to start working to help support the family. In the Municipality of Poncitlán, according to 2020 studies, estimates are that nearly 48% of the population did not complete primary school. Many never attended school. So among adults and youth, there is a high illiteracy rate.

Naturally this limits what work they can find. Many girls get pregnant in their teens, and they think that is their career. But later, many become single mothers and then they face huge challenges as they don't have the education to get good paying jobs.

Thus the cycle of poverty continues, because all they can find is work with very low salaries with no benefits, and often, insufficient money to feed their children or education them. We know that education is the key to changing lives.