Mexico, the southern neighbor of the United States, is also the twelfth largest economy in the world, a country with large cities and diverse natural wealth. However, it is one of the most unequal countries in the world: 1% of the population owns 21% of the country's income and the 10 richest people in Mexico accumulate the same amount of wealth as the poorest 50% of the population.

    To live in a country with so much inequality is to swim against the current, the circumstances they face will hardly allow them to change their future, this added to the problems of violence that have occurred in the country for some years, particularly the war against drug trafficking in which, during the last decade, tens of thousands of people have died and, most times, it has been the only option to get out of poverty.

    The lack of opportunities due to inequality has an obvious root: the quality of education. While the people who can afford it send their children to schools that provide them with the tools that will enable them to develop in the best possible way in the future, the other large part of the population faces a very precarious situation educationally, an education that does not allow Mexican children to change their reality and progress.

This causes the rich to get richer and richer and creates an unbreakable circle of poverty, a life sentence.

    As you can see, the most vulnerable sector, as often happens, are children, who are at the mercy of hundreds of complex problems that, in a few years, when they are no longer children, will not have the tools to change. In Mexico, 10% of children suffer from a growth deficit due to malnutrition, 8% do not go to school, 16% of girls between 15 and 19 years old are married and 1 out of 7 of the same age range has had children. In Mexico, 46% of the population lives below the poverty line.

    All of this is further aggravated when these children do not have parental support and are forced to spend their childhood alone on the streets or in orphanages. To learn more about the situation of orphanages in Mexico, we recommend you read our article "Orphanages in Mexico need your help”.

    Mexico is a country with many problems, some even seem unsolvable, but in Fundación Esperanza Contigo we believe that the only way to face all these problems is to focus on the root, we must help Mexican children, especially those who are in such a vulnerable situation as children without parental accompaniment.

How to help Mexican children?

    The children of Mexico need opportunities to get ahead and break the cycle of poverty. At Fundación Esperanza Contigo we believe in 5 essential factors to help the most vulnerable Mexican children and change their future:

1. Education

    We believe that education is the key that opens hundreds of doors of opportunity. It is the most useful tool with which we can provide our children to face a changing and competitive future.

    At Fundación Esperanza Contigo we have created the Educational Programs Commission, in charge of analyzing, elaborating, and approving educational programs focused on learning techniques, science, and technology with which we are sure that our children will create a successful and productive life plan.

2. Health

    To care for a good education is only possible by covering the most basic needs first. At Fundación Esperanza Contigo we have a Physical Health Commission that takes care of our children's illnesses and deficiencies, as well as preventing any type of illness by instilling healthy habits of hygiene and nutrition. Besides, we work every day so that our children have the best quality of life possible, last March 2021, we received a donation of telemedicine equipment for disease prevention.

3. Emotional support and accompaniment

    This is an area to which we rarely pay the necessary attention because there are other needs to be covered that may be more evident, but not more important, especially when we are talking about children who have suffered abandonment or violence. It is essential to attend to their emotional development so that they become full adults capable of giving themselves the life they deserve.

At Fundación Esperanza Contigo we have an Emotional Health Commission made up of experienced psychologists who will help our children to take action in the face of any psychological, family, or social problem.

4. Opportunities

    In a country with so few opportunities for the less privileged, the situation is exacerbated when there have been deficiencies throughout a child's life. That is why at Fundación Esperanza Contigo we know it is not enough to prepare them in the best way and in all aspects, it is also necessary to give them all the opportunities that are within our reach and guide them in their start in the working life to empower them and make them feel confident of all their abilities.

    We have the Mentoring and Professional Development Commission, in charge of employing young people who graduate from orphanages in the labor market, with the support of the companies that are committed to our Foundation.

5. Happy children

    The children of the orphanages must be happy, they must forget the problems that surround them and play and develop in their childhood like any other child. That is why we have the Recreational Activities Commission with which we organize guided visits to museums, amusement parks, and entertainment places, promoting culture and tourism, so that children know the world outside of orphanages and make their insertion into society as successful as possible.

    We also created the Art and Culture Commission, with which children develop their creativity, strengthening their identity, values, and freedom.

    Help the most vulnerable Mexican children by donating through Fundación Esperanza Contigo, learn about our sponsorship and volunteer programs by clicking here.