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Nine Mexican Youth Transforming Their Communities

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Terry Cullen

Dec 13, 2022

Mexico

Categories:

Mexico, Youth, Community, Leadership, Civics, Community Activist

In this article, we learn about nine Mexican youths committed to transforming their local communities. The account first appeared on WorldLearning.org on October 31, 2019.


The United States Department of State, the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City, the U.S. Government, La Secretaría de Educación Pública (Mexico), and private funders sponsor a program in Mexico called Jóvenes en Acción (Youth in Action). It is a ten-month civic and leadership program. It includes a four-week exchange experience in the United States with a host community. One of the program goals is to prepare youth to become leaders, responsible citizens, and contributing members of their communities. Another goal is to nurture youth with knowledge, skills, and confidence to become citizen activists to address issues in their hometowns and schools.


This particular article showcases nine youth leaders and their projects. The diversity of leadership projects that youth have undertaken due to this program is wonderful.


Meet Caesar Gonzalez Corona (16 years), who taught young children how to sort and recycle the trash in San Gabriel, Jalisco.


Then, there is Gonzalo Velazquez Hernandez (17 years), who held cultural conversations in his community (Atlacomulco, State of Mexico) to address racism.


Or, check out Gadiel T Huerta (17 years) from Puebla City, Puebla, who taught young children in poverty English as a second language to improve their chances of success.


Diane Vaillard Ahrens (15 years) hosted after-school financial literacy workshops for students in Boca del Río, Veracruz.


Meet Carlos Chavarin Garcia (16 years) of Magdalena de Kino, Sonora. He taught people how to be environmentally friendly and plans on building an eco-friendly house as a demonstration project.


Andrea Pineda Alcantara (17 years) provided free English classes to impoverished children in her hometown of Santa Maria del Tule, Oaxaca.


Alan Arriaga Ortiz (17 years) worked with his community of Coyoacan, Mexico City, to address flooding issues and ways to recycle that water.


Nidia Ramirez Chale (15 years) from Meridia, Yucatan, is all about preserving cenotes (freshwater sinkholes) because of their importance as a water source for local communities.


Valeria Fonseca Jimenez (16 years) is from Corregidora, Querétaro. Her interest is an anti-bullying campaign providing space for listening to victims and increasing local awareness.


Leadership skills must be both taught to and nurtured in our children. Showcasing your local youth's excellent work is a valuable way to inspire them to continue this into adulthood. Consider finding space in your community's digital bulletin boards to promote their efforts, whether it be a local government, school, or neighborhood website. Organize as a community and honor those youth with awards and events. Approach local businesses to help those students offset costs for higher education with scholarships and apprenticeship programs. Encourage schools to create leadership clubs and connect them to local philanthropic groups on a diverse range of issues. Create local programs to build a student leadership group in skills such as public speaking, critical thinking, local governance, financial management, innovation, and more.


Think long-term about your hometown. Investing in our youth is critical for changing and growing a community's well-being. Unfortunately, so many hometowns neglect their youth and waste the potential of a generation. Poverty, lack of education, food insecurity, malnutrition, crime, repression of women, and racism disproportionately affect our youth. Become a leader yourself today and nurture and leverage your greatest local asset.


"A thirst never quenched should cause me to ask where I'm getting my water from."
― Craig D. Lounsbrough


To learn more about Jóvenes en Acción and to donate, please visit the second source link below.


Picture - A cenote in the Yucatan Peninsula courtesy of Jared Rice on Unsplash.

Source:

Source:

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Catalog #:

1222.100.03.121322

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