April 17, 2020
On March 20, Mexico closed schools nationwide to prevent the spread of COVID-19. A few days earlier, on March 17, Crecemos had already sent home the children who come regularly to the educational center located in one of the poorest neighborhoods in Oaxaca, Mexico. In their bags, Crecemos staff helped them pack homework, instructions on how to wash hands and keep social distance and their musical instrument.
Socorro del Rio, Executive Director of Crecemos and friend to many of us, prepared an update for each of us. She reminds us that together we can face the challenges and use them as an opportunity for something good: “We know that we can all keep going forward because we are accompanied, because we are not alone and because by facing this situation we are trying to strengthen the connection with all our families.”
Date Crecemos closed: March 17, 2020
Date Crecemos is scheduled to reopen: April 30, 2020. We have decided to remain closed until this date following Government guidelines to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
a. Background/ number of infected people. To date, we are not aware that any of our beneficiaries or staff members have tested positive for the coronavirus. Mexico is going through the second phase of the epidemic, and the Government’s recommendation is to stay at home. We are expecting that the economy will be hit hard and our beneficiaries will suffer the most since 90% of the families we support do not have jobs with fixed salaries. They have temporary jobs or work as street vendors.
b. Our activities:
• Early childhood stimulation/Psychomotricity
• School support
• Reading strategies workshop
• Basketball
• Drawing/Painting workshop
• Recreational Activities
• Artistic Activities / Music
• Healthy nutrition
• Nutrition check ups
• Workshops on nutritional education /Pequeños Cocineros
Crecemos’ COVID-19 response has four main components:
1. Academic: using recommended reading material, children will be able to exercise reading, memory, understanding, creativity, spelling, and writing.
2. Family relationship: Crecemos is sharing important safety information and giving psychological and emotional support, because, with the change in families’ routines they may experience stress and consequently, violence can occur.
3. Nutrition: Crecemos is calling families with children under six with malnutrition, sharing important resources so they can continue from home what they learned at Crecemos in offering adequate eating habits. The resources include cookbooks, infographics, videos, audios, etc…
4. Preventive Health Measures: Crecemos is sharing trustworthy data about COVID-19 spread and prevention because many families do not believe the pandemic is real or that it will affect them. Crecemos is also sharing guidelines on basic hygiene practices necessary to avoid the spread.
Through mobile phones and social media networks, Crecemos will keep in contact with families. In Monte Alban, where our main center is located, 95% of families have a smartphone with access to internet. On the other hand, the connection with the rural communities will be very limited because of poor internet and phone service.
