Migration: roots of belonging in Lacandon Jungle

Violence, poverty and limited access to social services and quality education affect the lives of children and adolescents. This forces them to make the difficult decision to leave their countries.

Migrant children are vulnerable to situations that may violate their rights, such as:

be stopped

Being exposed to organized crime or human trafficking

Suffer violence and discrimination

go hungry and cold

Not having access to health services

As a fundamental part of the response to the detention of children and adolescents in immigration stations, in Xilotl AC. We seek to attend to and promote the importance of play with the aim of fostering an environment in which mothers and fathers also interact with their daughters and sons, favoring bonds of trust and facilitating the expression of feelings and emotions. We implement and recover public spaces in 3 communities of the Selva Lacandona using reused resources such as tires, wood, etc.

We invite you to get involved and promote the importance of play and recreation like any other right.

The last few months we have:

Recovered 2 recreational spaces (Tazas and Cureña) with the help of teachers and children from the communities.
Implemented talks with the children of the communities of Las Tazas and La Cureña in order to make their rights known.

Links:

• http://xilotl.org.mx/wp1/juventud-y-ninez/

Resilient childhood and youth, indigenous cosmovision

Today we want to thank you for the generous contributions to our project “Migration: roots of belonging in the Lacandon Jungle”. With your help, we have been able to intensify activities with girls, boys and young people from indigenous Tzeltal communities of the Lacandon Jungle, promoting development based on their own worldview, culture, traditions, language, and their system of uses and customs so that they actively develop in their environment and for the good life in your community.

The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected families in the municipality of Ocosingo, Chiapas. Although in the state as well as the communities in which we work, the rate of infections has been lower compared to the rest of the republic, we carry out all our activities with strict adherence to the recommendations of the secretary of health to maintain the safety and integrity of our groups goal and the team itself.

During the last months:

• We have achieved rapprochement with more girls and boys from the communities in which this initiative is present.
• We carry out spaces for dialogue with playful and recreational activities dealing mainly with issues around the rights of children, violence and types of violence in 8 communities. Painting has been an important tool since through it girls and boys express their concerns and creativity while reinforcing their self-esteem, potentiating their capacities-skills and prioritizing community identity.
• With the closure of schools, the technological gap has deepened so we work with groups of children and young people, we provide spaces with the tools so that they can follow the transmission of their classes in addition to expanding their knowledge with additional content provided by the team by Xilotl.

We are facing a complex situation at the national and international level, however our purpose is to strengthen the resilience capacity of children and young people so that they do not migrate from their communities in these circumstances, this is possible thanks to your collaboration.

***Versión español***

Niñez y juventud resiliente, cosmovisión indígena

Hoy queremos agradecerte por las contribuciones generosas a nuestro proyecto “Migración: raíces de pertenencia en la Selva Lacandona”. Con tu ayuda hemos podido intensificar actividades con niñas, niños y jóvenes de comunidades indígenas tzeltales de la Selva Lacandona promoviendo el desarrollo basado en su propia cosmovisión, cultura, tradiciones, lengua, y su sistema de usos y costumbres para que se desenvuelvan activamente en su entorno y para el buen vivir en su comunidad.

La pandemia por la COVID-19 ha afectado la manera desproporcionada a las familias del municipio de Ocosingo, Chiapas. Aunque en el estado como las comunidades en las que trabajamos el índice de contagios ha sido menor con respecto al resto de la republica realizamos todas nuestras actividades con un estricto apego a las recomendaciones de la secretaria de salud para mantener la seguridad e integridad de nuestros grupos meta y del equipo mismo.

Durante los últimos meses:

• Hemos logrado el acercamiento con más niñas y niños de las comunidades en las que esta iniciativa tiene presencia.
• Llevamos a cabo espacios de dialogo con actividades lúdicas y recreativas tratando fundamentalmente temas en torno a los derechos de la niñez, violencia y tipos de violencia en 8 comunidades. La pintura ha resultado una herramienta importante ya que a través de ella niñas y niños expresan sus inquietudes y su creatividad a la par que refuerzan su autoestima, potencializan sus capacidades -habilidades y dan prioridad a la identidad comunitaria.
• Con el cierre de escuelas, la brecha tecnológica se ha profundizado por lo trabajamos con grupos de niñas / os y jóvenes, habilitamos espacios con las herramientas para que puedan seguir la transmisión de sus clases además de ampliar sus conocimientos con contenidos adicionales proporcionados por el equipo de Xilotl.

Estamos enfrentando una situación compleja a nivel nacional e internacional, sin embargo nuestro propósito es fortalecer la capacidad de resiliencia de niñas/os y jóvenes para que no migren de sus comunidades en estas circunstancias , esto es posible gracias a tu colaboración.

Links:

• Te invitamos a conocer nuestras iniciativas