Mexico
After working in Mexico for 23 years, we are transitioning our programs to a Mexican nonprofit organization called Amextra.
Situation Report
Despite great gains in economic development, some Mexican families continue to live in severe poverty. Poor rural farmers migrate with their families to large cities in search of work and become squatters on the outskirts of town. Using cardboard, scrap metal and old wood, they build small shacks on pieces of undesirable property.
Life is difficult for everyone in these impoverished communities, but children often suffer the most. 25% of the children in squatter neighborhoods work instead of attend school. Without an education or hope for a better future, many teens escape into alcohol, drugs, crime, gangs and other destructive activities.
Our Work
Medical Teams International has a long and extensive history with our neighbor to the south. We've sent more volunteers to work in Mexico than any other country. An estimated 700 volunteer teams have provided medical and dental care, built schools and latrines, poured concrete floors for families living in the dirt and delivered food baskets.
Children’s Ministry and Community Health Education: This program works to improve the physical and spiritual development of children and families in 6 marginalized communities in the Central Valley of Oaxaca. Our partner organization, Manos de Vida (MDV), helps communities mobilize health committees and train community health promoters at the grassroots level.
Community Health Education empowers communities to take ownership of their health through:
- Health education
- Latrine construction
- Concrete floors construction ("piso")
- Home gardens
- Growth monitoring and counseling of families with malnourished children
Our community health work addresses the root causes of poor health and aims to create sustainable change in 6 slum communities outside of Oaxaca.
Additionally, our volunteers will continue to support community-sponsored projects in this region.
Tultitlan
This past year, we transferred operations of our Tultitlan Community Center to a Mexican nonprofit called Amextra.
Amextra will work to increase access to education, improve health, eradicate violence and alleviate political division. Medical Teams International will fund Amextra until their programs are established and self-sufficient.
Our Partners
- Medical Teams International - Mexico, aka: Manos de Vida (MDV) focuses on integrated community development in the poorest “colonias” (neighborhoods) in the urban communities of Oaxaca. MDV implements holistic children’s ministry and community health/development programs. Our community health promoters pay particular attention to the most at-risk families: those with malnourished children under the age of 5.
- Amextra is Mexican nonprofit that has served marginalized communities since 1984. Amextra works in more than 350 communities in 10 Mexican states and serves an estimated 100,000 people each year.
RELATED LINKS