New Life Mexico works in partnership with Dirección de Protección a la Infancia (child protection services), a division of DIF (social services) Puerto Vallarta with the following seven programmes:
ESCI: Child Sexual Exploitation
Albergue Vida Nueva: New Life Street Kid Shelter
Red Juvenil: Kids at Risk
Propadetium: Working Kids
PAIDEA: Pregnant Teenage Programme
Programa 10-14: School Education Kids aged 10-14
PAFIC: Children With Parents In Prison
NLM has been working with Dirección de Protección a la Infancia since April 2002. NLM’s local representatives working "in the field" remain within the auspices of assisting the children with their rehabilitation under DIF’s direction. NLM is not accountable for DIF’s management or social responsibilities.
ESCI addresses the issues of sexual exploitation of children. Prevention workshops are given in schools. Victims are given psychological support and a secure environment. Working alongside the relevant local authorities New Life Mexico supports the ESCI programme.
If you believe there is a child or children being sexually abused in your neighbourhood or in your condo building in Puerto Vallarta, and you wish to stay anonymous, you can pass the information on to New Life Mexico to forward on to the appropriate authorities. It is not New Life Mexico’s jurisdiction to decide whether the person is innocent or guilty – however, we do provide a channel for information to be passed on to the authorities.
Albergue “Vida Nueva” (New Life) was opened in September 2001 as a shelter for the street children in Puerto Vallarta. The Centre is governed by DIF Jalisco State and managed by DIF Puerto Vallarta. It is a rehabilitation centre for children (aged 8–18 years) who have been living on the streets or have been abused and are unable to live with their families. The Centre has capacity for 40 children and the children are placed in the Centre by the legal division of DIF.
Drug addiction, alcoholism and sexually transmitted diseases are some of the major risks all children face in Mexico. The children in the deprived areas of Puerto Vallarta are particularly susceptible to these problems as the overwhelming majority suffer from varying degrees of economic, social, physical and emotional abuse. These children are consequently classified as “at risk”.
Parental support is often limited due to illiteracy, alcoholism or drug dependency. Parents who do work are often committed to long shifts and below poverty line wages resulting in a lack of appropriate child support. Whilst alone the children, as young as seven, are bored and find themselves easy prey to drug dealers whilst playing in the street. Drugs are easily accessible and cheap.
To prevent children from finding unsuitable activities on the streets Red Juvenil (the DIF programme for ‘Children At Risk’) organises different activities on a weekly basis that give encouragement and direction to children in difficult situations.
These regular meetings are designed to provide children with a safe environment in which they can meet other children from similar backgrounds, partake in a range of sport and craft activities with additional access to music therapy and discussion forums.
Sports, crafts and music therapy enable children to build self-esteem, learn the importance of working within a team and express their imagination. The Programme has initiated a number of sports teams (basketball, football, volleyball) which encourage children to participate and adjust their commitment to the group. Debates and discussion forums on difficult topics (ranging from family values to drugs), give children the opportunity to discuss matters that concern them. The children are advised on how best to contact a social worker without an adult’s knowledge should they need to.
During the weekly sessions, children are occasionally asked to complete individual questionnaires related to their education, living conditions and family environment. A standard question, for instance, would be “describe your family”, and possible answers range from “loving” to “indifferent” and “violent” thereby alerting DIF to possible cases of abuse. The ‘Children at Risk’ programme currently supports over five hundred children in over six deprived districts of Puerto Vallarta. A further fifty are expected to join the groups before the end of the year.
NLM Involvement with Red Juvenil
New Life Mexico passionately believes that education and health assist with breaking the cycle of poverty. NLM supports the Kids at Risk programme with physical donations for school and hygiene kits. If you are visiting Puerto Vallarta and would like to assist this programme, please see our list of needs under Physical Donations.
What is a Working Kid?
“Child Work” is the official DIF (social services) name given to all economically profitable occupations or activities that children undertake. Child Work can be formal or informal, and it can be carried out in open or closed places such as supermarkets, stores, homes, factories, building sites, farms and on the streets.
Child work is inappropriate if:
The child is too young and it is the only activity he or she does.
The child spends too many hours working.
The work he or she undertakes produces physical, social or psychological stress.
The child works and lives in the street.
The salary is inappropriate.
The child has to undertake too much responsibility.
The work blocks the child’s access to education.
The work damages the child’s dignity and self-esteem.
It obstructs the full social and psychological development of the child.
Child labour, exacerbated by the growing tourist industry, is extremely common in Puerto Vallarta. Either before or after going to school, children work to support their financially deprived families. While some pack bags in supermarkets or lay bricks on building sites, others are pushed into street working life from a very early age.
Coexisting on the streets leads them to missing school and eventually dropping out of full time education altogether. History has shown that these children are then likely to leave their homes and live on the streets permanently. More vulnerable then ever, they become easy targets for drug dealers, which can lead to drug addiction and prostitution.
The DIF Working Children Programme supports children who are forced to work due to their families’ economic hardship. The aim is to support these exposed children while simultaneously trying to prevent child labour.
All of the ‘Working Children’ come from disadvantaged ‘colonias’. Most families based in this area suffer from severe financial hardship by earning less than the minimum wage. The reality is that destitution, teenage pregnancy, illiteracy, poor academic performance, gang rivalry, child labour and prostitution are common.
PROPADETIUM, the ‘Working Children’ program has been set up in order to support children who are forced to work. ‘Child Work’ is the official DIF name given to all economically profitable occupations or activities that children undertake.
Promoting awareness is an integral part of the overall concept. Careworkers provide workshops in schools located in “high risk” zones where they discuss various issues such as child labour, family values, living with violence and drugs. These discussions also provide an opportunity for DIF to invite children to attend weekly recreational sessions where they can take part in different activities. Emphasis is on games and didactic activities, arts and crafts and specific projects such as campaigns to protect the local environment. DIF’s additional task is to seek, co-ordinate and monitor financial assistance for these children by distributing grants (“becas”), vital school equipment and materials their families cannot afford (shoes, uniforms, rucksacks, stationery and books).
NLM Involvement with Working Kids
New Life Mexico has actively supported the ‘Working Children’ programme and fundamentally believes that education can break the poverty cycle. Given the lack of school supplies and sanitary materials these children have, New Life Mexico has provided back-packs, stationery and hygiene kits.
In addition New Life Mexico also organizes special craft days at Christmas, Mothers Day etc. This allows the children to take part in activities such as decorating small boxes, painting their own t-shirts and making beaded jewellery. The children produce some amazing pieces of artwork, and are thrilled with the finished results. Enabling children to be creative (while completing a project that also can be given as a gift or worn by the child) is one of our objectives with the Craft Days.
NLM support the Working Kid Programme with hygiene kits and school supplies when available from physical donations. If you are visiting Puerto Vallarta and would like to assist this programme, please see our list of needs under Physical Donations.
Prevencion y Atencion Integral del Embarazo en Adolescentes (PAIDEA) educates young people to understand the risks and consequences of teenage pregnancy. PAIDEA, the teenage pregnancy programme is run by DIF in order to support young mothers between the ages of eleven and eighteen. These young girls, who are either pregnant or already mothers to children under the age of two years old, live within financially deprived families. The young mothers who attend this programme often live with illiterate parents, who for the most part are unemployed. In addition 90% of PAIDEA’s work is running an education programme, through secondary schools to prevent teenage pregnancies.
Some of the young girls are referred to the programme by either a doctor from the regional hospital or a careworker, whilst others attend on a voluntary basis. When a pregnant young girl joins the programme, she is integrated into a group called “Creciendo Juntos”, (Growing Together) where a life plan is implemented for each of the mothers incorporating the birth of their baby. The young mothers are taught that they need to perform as responsible adults, albeit that they are themselves just children. While some pregnancies involve two ‘child parents’ most are the result of sexual abuse or rape, making the pregnancy even more difficult to accept and deal with.
The trauma of becoming a teenage mother is often exacerbated due to difficult living conditions. As the mothers are living in financially deprived families, food, hygiene, clothes and shoes are an issue for the mother prior to pregnancy. Once the baby has been born this causes further financial strain on the mother and her family. The initial PAIDEA support programme lasts for four months.
The girls meet for one and a half hour sessions weekly. Group discussions are based on pregnancy and its different stages, the birth, the mother’s health, the baby’s health and general well-being. In addition the girls learn how to look after babies with workshops on feeding, hygiene, nutrition, etc. The girls also attend consultations on safe sex and the use of contraception. After giving birth girls can attend other support programmes. Their babies are monitored by DIF until the age of two, or while the mother remains a minor. DIF will ensure that the babies are in good health by administering necessary inoculations and other essential treatments.
Many of the girls feel too embarrassed to attend the PAIDEA workshops, and thus sadly, it is expected that less than 200 girls will benefit from this programme this year. DIF are working hard to encourage the teenagers to participate in ongoing programmes and will expand to accommodate them.
Spreading awareness amongst children about the risks of teenage pregnancy and the commitment involved in becoming a parent is crucial to PAIDEA. In order to do so, careworkers visit secondary schools where they launch prevention campaigns by discussing various issues such as physical changes, self-care, sexual hygiene, reproduction, sexually transmitted diseases, the risks of unprotected sex and the importance of contraception. Such topics are very rarely discussed within families, which is why the “escuela para padres” (school for parents) has been opened to consolidate the awareness campaign. This education centre is a way to help families improve communication and strengthen family bonds, the primary aim is to avoid children becoming pregnant.
NLM Involvement with Pregnant Teens
NLM supports the Pregnant Teen programme with hygiene kits each month for each mother. When a child is born NLM gives the mother a baby layette. If you are visiting Puerto Vallarta and would like to assist this programme, please see our list of needs under Physical Donations.
School Education Kids aged 10-14
Programa 10-14 offers primary school education for children between 10-14 years old who cannot be incorporated into the normal school system. The reasons vary from behavioural issues to illiteracy caused by non-attendance at school as a result of poverty. All study plans are designed to suit the level and advancement of each student. There are currently forty-five children in the programme.
NLM Involvement with Programa 10-14
New Life Mexico passionately believes that education and health assist with breaking the cycle of poverty.NLM supports the 10-14 programme with physical donations for school supplies and hygiene kits. If you are visiting Puerto Vallarta and would like to assist this programme, please see our list of needs under Physical Donations.
Children With Parents in Prison
PAFIC’s intention is to improve the quality of life of the children whose parents are in prison. These children are living with extended family. Through workshops and psychological support, the children learn to try to live full and inclusive lives.
NLM Involvement with PAFIC
The children in this programme are living with extended families whilst their parents are in prison. These extended families are often very poor and then have the additional burden of further children to support. NLM supports the PAFIC programme with physical donations for school supplies and hygiene kits. If you are visiting Puerto Vallarta and would like to assist this programme, please see our list of needs under Physical Donations.
