 The idea started in 1998 when the co-founders of the original organization “Feed the Children Vallarta” noticed that the families living inside of the city dump were not sending their children to school. The children were helping their parents pick through the garbage to find anything of value. When asked why, the mothers complained that they did not have clothing, shoes, school supplies or showers so they couldn´t send their kids to school. After addressing some of these needs and getting most of the children to school, the teachers at the local kindergarten said that another problem was that these children were coming to school without breakfast and by 10 am they were hungry, they could not concentrate and their attention was on their stomachs, not the teacher. So it was decided to supply a breakfast to the 30 children at the Magisterio kinder school.
The program was a great success, with the teachers reporting that after a meal the children were more focused, had better concentration and attention, and were learning more. As a result, it was decided to expand the program to include the primary school in Magisterio with its 300 students. Again, the same results, with the students learning more with much improved behavior and grades.
Over the past 10 years we have continued to expand the program and today we feed a meal to 1,800 students in primary and kindergarten schools surrounding the city dump. According to the Principals and the teachers, the direct results of our programs are; better attendance (36% increase), better concentration and better grades. In 1998 70% of these children did not complete grade 6. Today, more that 90 % complete grade 6 and go on to secondary school. Our goal is to make sure that all of these students complete secondary school and continue on to high school.
“HOT MEALS” PROGRAM
Perdon y Amidstad started helping the children living in the dump in 1995. Their main emphasis was to feed hot meals to the children in the afternoons and to ensure that they received some help with clothing, shoes and other necessities. In 1998, Perdon y Amistad became a partner in the Children of the Dump organization, and the hot meals program was continued. Food is donated by restaurants, hotels and businesses in the local area, supplemented by food from the Children of the Dump kitchen. Each week we feed hot meals to over 1,500 children who live around the dump. |
