Summary
Since 2016, Fundación Don Diego has focused on breaking the poverty cycle in the village located just southwest of San Miguel. Its work includes supplemental education, psychological and physical health programs.
The Foundation has built (and expanded every year) an Education Center with five classrooms, a library, a computer lab with 52 computers, and a multimedia room.
Our Foundation depends totally on private donations.
The Foundation works collaboratively with the local community and has two residents on its Board. It depends totally on private donations.
This is the situation in the community:
The village has 2100 citizens, of which 780 are school-age children. This community has the highest number of illiterate people in the State of Guanajuato. The number of students finishing High School is even less than the 27% average for all of Mexico. With substandard public education, they cannot compete with urban students for scholarships. Now they just join the unskilled and underpaid workforce. Some try to emigrate to the north, and some end up with problems with alcohol or drugs.
How do we want to solve the problem of poverty
Our Foundation has built an Education Center to complement public education and empower children and teenagers to continue their studies. We have installed computers and the internet to use technology to improve their skills and have a library. We have tutors and teachers to provide a comprehensive education. We help poor students to complete a High School curriculum online, using our computer lab and with the help of specialized tutors. We also provide psychological and emotional help.
The expected long-term impact
In the future, with a larger percentage of people in this community having completed higher level education, learning English as a second language, and skilled in today’s technology, a whole new world will be open to them. Their ability to compete in the professional and skilled workforce will change not only their lives but also the lives of their families. Thanks to the comprehensive educational opportunities that our organization is providing, values and self-confidence will have a positive effect.
