Libros Para Niños: Advancing literacy for all in Zihuatanejo

Summer abrogation successful Mexico means millions of the country’s residents flock to fashionable beaches. Including those successful Zihuatanejo-Ixtapa, Guerrero, connected Mexico’s Pacific Coast. 

But summertime at the formation isn’t a abrogation for dozens of section families, galore of them single-mother households. Instead, section vendors sell everything from sombreros and hammocks to handmade necklaces and toys. Their children, aged 5 to 17, enactment alongside them.

The bulk of families that Libros Para Niños helps are from Mexico’s Indigenous communities.

During this clip of year, vendors question from distant upland cities and villages successful Guerrero, similar Chilpancingo and Chilapa, to merchantability gum, snacks, handicrafts and different wares. Others get from Mexico City and Michoacán. For many, each time is simply a situation to gain wealth for food, elemental lodgings and eventually, autobus fare backmost home. Many of these seasonal migrants talk an Indigenous connection specified arsenic Nahuatl oregon Mixtec arsenic their parent tongue.

In mid-July, Marta, property 28, traveled implicit 1,000 miles connected a two-day autobus travel from her colony 2 states distant successful Chiapas. Her boys, Dylan, property 5, and Edward, property 8, locomotion agelong hours with her successful the blistery prima each time arsenic she works to merchantability the embroidered covering and woven bracelets she has made. They rent a elemental country with nary kitchen, nary refrigerator and nary AC. Tzotzil is their autochthonal language. Children similar these are present my students. I’m a unpaid thoroughfare teacher.

Literacy, connection diverseness and entree to acquisition for all

According to the 2020 census by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI), 6.1% of Mexico’s colonisation aged 3 years and implicit are registered arsenic speaking an Indigenous language. Nahuatl continues to beryllium the astir wide spoken, with 22.5% of Indigenous connection speakers, followed by Mayan (10.6%). Many of these Indigenous radical unrecorded successful poverty.

As a vocation writer and educator, I person had a 25-year narration with Zihuatanejo and Mexico. I archetypal came to Zihuatanejo from Boston, Massachusetts, for a yoga retreat abrogation successful February 1999. I kept coming back. Not lone for the beauteous beaches, caller seafood and vibrant section culture, but due to the fact that I took a photograph of tiny children selling gum and wondered: “Why aren’t these children successful school?”

My curiosity led maine to conscionable a pioneering educator, Marina Sánchez Hernández, who had begun a rustic schoolhouse for astir 90 section moving Indigenous children. Others began to assistance Marina, raising money, doing repairs, bringing successful schoolhouse supplies, and creating consciousness to assistance execute her imagination of a permanent, multilingual Netza School.

Lisa Martin, handing retired supplies to children of marketplace workers.

At the time, I was a subordinate of Rotary International. So I wrote respective important grants to assistance the Netza School go a reality. Today, the six-language Netza School is celebrating 30 years and serves implicit 400 students. It teaches not conscionable successful the nationalist connection of Spanish, but besides successful Nahuatl, Mixtec, Amuzgo, Tlapanec, and immoderate English. Marina’s imaginativeness of entree to acquisition for each has go a reality. Not lone that, but a 2nd multilingual superior schoolhouse modeled aft the Netza School is present serving implicit 325 children daily. 

Literacy, learning kits and backpacks alteration lives now

In December 2024, I launched Libros Para Niños-ZIH (LPN-ZIH) arsenic a elemental assemblage outreach project. We manus retired books, pencils and implicit learning kits, positive idiosyncratic hygiene supplies similar toothbrushes, toothpaste and manus sanitizer to immoderate kid oregon household successful need. Since its inception, LPN-ZIH has assisted implicit 150 children and families. 

I besides person a fistful of women whom I americium teaching to work and constitute successful Spanish. By giving them basal acquisition and learning materials, they tin survey and signifier on with their children. (Yes, we larn immoderate English, too).

LPN-ZIH’s existent campaign, Project Mochila, has a summertime extremity of providing 100 prime caller backpacks filled with books, learning immunodeficiency and indispensable schoolhouse supplies for moving children similar Dylan and Edward. Books and schoolhouse supplies are costly successful Mexico, but indispensable if learning is to instrumentality place.

I assistance children similar Evan, property 4, successful our Mercado Municipal and Jade, property 3, retrieve from compartment telephone addiction and hole for kindergarten by providing them and their parents with an alternative. Books, crayons, basal skills booklets, and learning immunodeficiency that they tin support and usage regular astatine location oregon successful their places of business. When kindergarten clip comes, these children are prepared mentally and emotionally and person a prime backpack with the indispensable supplies to win successful school. 

Some of the beneficiaries of the Libros Para Niños scheme.

I travel up with periodic visits and conversations with my marketplace and formation children to spot however they are progressing. I connection a mini acquisition of 15 to 20 minutes, provender them much books, and sometimes crystal cream. First books for young mothers and parents are besides offered. I promote them to usage books and accepted learning immunodeficiency with their children. Not cellphones, which tin negatively interaction cognitive and social-emotional development, including delays successful connection acquisition, memory, attraction and problem-solving skills. Blue airy emissions tin besides disrupt a child’s earthy slumber cycle.

The outgo of going backmost to school

The New York Times precocious reported that successful the U.S., parents of children successful kindergarten to precocious schoolhouse walk an mean of $144 connected basal back-to-school supplies. Add caller clothing, sports instrumentality and books, and that full jumps arsenic precocious arsenic $850 per child.

In Libros Para Niños-ZIH’s existent backpack project, a new, afloat loaded backpack for a peculiar kid costs US $40 oregon 750 pesos. We travel up with the children and families to support them motivated and engaged and springiness them much books and supplies, arsenic needed. 

Literacy creates societal inclusion. More hours spent learning and successful schoolhouse summation the chances of occurrence successful aboriginal life. As a vocation pedagogue successful North America and an activistic successful acquisition for each successful Mexico, I person witnessed the evidence. Children who I met 20 years agone arsenic chicleros have been capable to implicit precocious schoolhouse oregon assemblage and are dedicated parents, accountants, teachers, nurses, doctors and engineers. Becoming skilled, life-long learners and having respect for their connection and economical diverseness has made each the difference.

You tin help. LPN-ZIH welcomes donations of books and schoolhouse supplies if you program to sojourn Zihuatanejo, and fiscal contributions that assistance america get backpacks, books, learning immunodeficiency and idiosyncratic hygiene items. We enactment year-round, but our summertime extremity is 1 100 backpacks by August 20, 2025. Obtain accusation oregon donate by contacting maine directly.

Lisa B. Martin is an award-winning planetary advocator for planetary literacy, an author, and a multilingual educator. Her forthcoming memoir, THE ZIHUA DIARIES, chronicles her 25 years of journeys into Mexico, engaging with its affluent taste diverseness and its people. She besides hosts play ZIHUAwriters meetings and organizes creativity, penning and taste retreats for idiosyncratic transformation.