Bienvenidos
a
Welcome to
VIVIR JOVEN
MOVIMIENTO
DE
APOYO A MENORES DE Y EN LA CALLE, A.C.
A Movement for
Assistance
to the Youth from and on the Streets
ACTIVITIES
OF VIVIR JOVEN 2009
Presented by
Juan Manuel Perez Martinez, Director of Vivir Joven, A.C.
(translated by Morgan Zo-Callahan)
We would like to thank all those who have generously
supported our institute, both morally and financially.
This has enabled us to carry on with our
activities and to grow into 2010. We
would not be able to serve our less fortunate brothers and sisters
without your
help. Our goal is to empower those who come to us become independent
and strong
as well as learn and benefit from being in a community where we help
and learn
from each other. We are partners with you in the effort to improve the
lives of
the most needy in our region of Veracruz, Mexico. We
deeply appreciate any financial support you might send us and
assure you that we will do our very best to use any donations wisely,
as well
as compassionately. We particularly want to thank West Coast Companions
for its
ongoing annual donation to our organization.
We
have
prioritized our services. We have shut
our offices due to the worldwide economic crisis, but continue all the
activities planned for this year in Orizaba, Veracruz & in the
mountains of
Zogolica, Veracruz. We have activities
at schools & church centers & go out to meet the people
directly where
they live.
l. Service to Parents & Families in the
Cathedral
of Saint Michael the Archangel
Every Friday from
4:00 to 4:30 & every Saturday from 10 to 11:30, we teach a group of
parents
about healthy family life & human rights. We’ve done this for six
years. The parents go to the cathedral for
catechism and we add our workshops about the values of family life and
how to
communicate well within the family. We encourage the families to know
their
human rights and to realize the value of organizing around what means
the most
to these families.
We’ve
seen positive results: more harmony in the
families we come to know, more education for
children through high school years.
The
parents & volunteers help us in the collection of
food and basic domestic supplies, as well as sweaters and jackets for
the cold
season. Our collections go to Casa Hogar Franciscano, which distributes
what
we’ve collected to those in most need.
We’ve continued to provide school supplies.
2. Workshops of Desarrollo Humano (Human Growth
& Personal Development) in Mariano Escobedo, Veracruz and in the
Chapel of
Chicola
Acknowledging
our work in the Cathedral of Saint Michael
the Archangel, we’ve been invited to give workshops for 60 mothers of
families
on the last Saturday of every month from 5:00 to 7:30 in Mariano
Escobedo. Most of the fathers of these
families are in
the United States. At our workshops, we teach, support and encourage
these
mothers who want to grow both as individuals and as parents.
At
7:30, we go to the Chapel of Chicola to give workshops
to 50 couples who are preparing for First Communion or Confirmation at
the
church. Our workshops include such themes as Self Esteem,
Communication,
Solidarity, Human Rights, Community Organizing.
3. Supplying Roofing Materials (Lamina) for
Poor Families
in Rafael Delgado, Veracruz, Zongolica Mountains
This
year we been able to help indigenous families with
50% discounted roofing materials in the mountains of Zongolica. We’ve
teamed
with the government of the state of Veracruz to make this discount
possible. This is particularly
important during the rainy & cold season, which begins in November.
This
program continues to grow. Zinc laminas are 3.06 meters long and 90
centimeters
wide. We’ve provided 50 families with packages of 10 laminas each for
the rainy
season of 2009.
4. Organizing Workshops for Teens in the
City of Tequila
in the Zongolica Mountains 
Starting
in August of 2009, we’ve been working with 16
university students who originally came from this area to serve the
city of
Tequila, which is very poor in several areas: economic, labor,
educational,
health, living conditions & human rights.
Entire
families from Tequila have left for the city of
Orizaba for small jobs; some families go for short times to the city to
collect
clothes, shoes or money to care for their children; some bring
crafts/small
items into the city to sell. Many adult
men try their luck in the United States, very often leaving their
families to
fend for themselves as they find it difficult to send money back to
Tequila to
help their families economically.
There
is little work in Tequila and the salaries are very
low. Unfortunately, this particular mountainous land is not very good
for
growing crops.
We
are giving workshops and talks on an ongoing basis.
We, along with the group of 16 university students, are enthused to be
serving
the indigenous people of Tequila.
Our
goals are:
a. to create in
2010 a civil association committed to community organizing
b.
To create economic projects where families can
organize more efficiently their production of products such as crafts, clothes, sandals, etc.
c.
To continue with the surveys, which we are doing, to
stay sensitive to the most pressing needs of the community.
d.
To continue to identify leaders in the community to
implement projects of community organizing which meet needs &
economic
improvement.
5. Counseling at Centro Luz Marina
Centro
Luz Marina is a center, which principally
serves indigenous women who have been abused.
Its director is a nun from Spain. We provide a professional
counselor
once a week to support this principal work and also to counsel the
relatively
small number of men who come to the center for therapeutic help.
Usually the
counseling is offered for a 4 to 6 month period.
Vivir Joven is grateful for your
financial assistance. For more information please contact
Juan Manuel Perez Martinez: perezjuanama9@hotmail.com.
Tax-free donations may also be
made through WCCI, an
organization of former Jesuits. Checks, which should indicate
that they are intended for the work of Vivir Joven, may be sent to Dave
Van Etten, the treasurer of WCCI at 702 Cree Drive, San Jose, CA, 95123.
