天美麻豆

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With its high rates of drug cartel deaths and femicide, Ciudad 闯耻谩谤别锄 has often been described as one of the most violent cities in the world 鈥� if not the single most dangerous city.

鈥淲hen you speak about 闯耻谩谤别锄, you have to speak about violence,鈥� said Luis Mendoza, who has been living in the city across the border from El Paso his whole life.

鈥淲e have to think about where the roots of the violence are and where we can prevent violent behaviors and situations from happening in the future,鈥� added Mendoza, who serves as the chief operating officer for the 闯耻谩谤别锄 . 鈥淪o you really have to work with youth and children.鈥�

Now, the foundation鈥檚 Escuelas de Bienestar, or wellness schools, are using sports and play to deter young children from entering a life of violence while helping them develop self-awareness and skills to interact and communicate with others, and teaching them how to manage emotions and build relationships through physical activities.

鈥淲e know that sports and play is a very powerful tool for organizations, individuals, teachers, schools, and other foundations to affect social change,鈥� Mendoza said. 鈥淭he problem is we have kids at school that are expressing or replicating cycles of violence or unhealthy behaviors. We have teachers that don鈥檛 have a curriculum or they don鈥檛 have tools to connect with the kids. That鈥檚 when we come into play.鈥�

From 2008 to 2012, the city of 1.3 million was widely deemed the most dangerous place on earth. Murders shot above . In 2022, 闯耻谩谤别锄 reported 1,045 homicides, a 26% compared to the previous year.

A by the World Health Organization found that youth violence is a global public health problem that ranges from bullying and fighting and can escalate to severe sexual and physical assault and homicide.

鈥淲orldwide, an estimated 200,000 homicides occur among youth 10 to 29 years old each year, making it the fourth leading cause of death for people in this age group,鈥� the study showed, noting that youth homicide and non-fatal violence often has a lifelong impact on a person鈥檚 wellbeing.

The foundation 鈥� a sister organization to the Paso del Norte Community Foundation and the Paso del Norte Health Foundation in El Paso that work together to improve the quality of life in the region 鈥� searched through available programs and partnered with to find a way to help the youth of 闯耻谩谤别锄.

A United Kingdom-based nonprofit, Coaches Across Continents teaches active citizens and strengthens organizations to create sustainable social impact in their communities.

鈥淭hey reach underserved communities, and it鈥檚 not about learning something that鈥檚 in the school curriculum,鈥� Mendoza said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 about learning topics that are important for their health, human development, communications, and tough topics that sometimes they don鈥檛 have the tools to manage.鈥�

Coaches Across Continents is partnering with FPDN to train physical education teachers in 闯耻谩谤别锄 so that they’re able to meet the needs of their students while addressing challenging topics such as human rights, drug use, drug prevention, sexual health, violence and emotional health and well-being.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a train-the-trainer model to teach teachers on how to use play to develop those life skills and to address social topics that are hard to talk about in other educational settings,鈥� Mendoza said. The teachers are going to talk about nutrition, mental health, human rights, women鈥檚 rights, and other topics, in addition to sports.

Physical education teachers are oftentimes seen as less sophisticated than other educators. However, Mendoza said these educators need to be acknowledged for their impact on their students.

鈥淭he power that PE teachers and coaches have on the development of children and youths is enormous,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e have learned that they want more training to diversify their classes, so they鈥檙e not only focused on gym class but on sports and play. They want to be able to use their tools to strengthen abilities and skills.鈥�

Since the inception of Escuelas de Bienestar in 2017, 303 participants have joined the program impacting 77,018 school children in 闯耻谩谤别锄. About 60% of those enrolled in the program work as PE teachers, while the remainder is church youth groups, community centers and other groups that work with children regularly.

The trainers sign-up for a three-year commitment and receive training on developing games to use with their students while receiving support from the foundation.

鈥淎fter those three years, the data shows us that (the trainers) already know how to make up games by themselves without the accompaniment of the 贵耻苍诲补肠铆辞苍 or coaches and they are able to improvise,鈥� Mendoza said.

As part of the three-year commitment, participants must attend at least one yearly training where Fundaci贸n Paso Del Norte facilitates members of Coaches Across Continents who fly across the globe to offer training in 闯耻谩谤别锄.

鈥淭hey would work with my program officer and my coach locally, and both of them would deliver the training for teachers,鈥� Mendoza said. 鈥淚n this four-day training, these two coaches are in charge of facilitating the whole methodology.鈥�

Besides the in-person training, participants have access to an international information hub where members from all over the world upload new games, materials, tools and resources for all to use and incorporate into their classes.

Mendoza said connecting with Coaches Across Continents was an easy process resulting in a fruitful relationship.

鈥淯sually, they want to work with communities that have a challenge in human rights and social development with some sort of a problem that the sports and games could be useful to use as a tool,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t was not difficult.鈥�

The lack of resources for teachers is a worldwide phenomenon affecting instructors in lower-income places . Escuelas de Bienestar is conscious of this when offering training to ensure the programs succeed with their available supplies.

鈥淲e would have loved to give every school that we work with a full kit of PE class material,鈥� Mendoza said. 鈥淲e couldn鈥檛 do it with every school, but we did invest resources to fully equip 20 schools in 闯耻谩谤别锄. And every teacher participating in our program gets a donation of soccer balls that (don鈥檛 go flat).鈥�

The organization received 5,000 soccer balls from, 4,200 of which have been distributed throughout the program.

鈥淸Sting, the singer] started this organization with the objective of getting soccer balls to the poorest communities and underserved communities around the world because he believed that playing could change the world,鈥� Mendoza said.

The , the project鈥檚 flagship product, is an ultra-durable ball that doesn鈥檛 need a pump and never goes flat, even when punctured. Its design allows withstanding the most demanding playing conditions.

鈥淭he organization understands that the context of the kids is so different,鈥� Mendoza said. 鈥淲e have kids that play in the streets.鈥�

In 2023, FPDN is reviewing the previous years of the program and learning how to continue helping the children of 闯耻谩谤别锄. It plans to survey program participants and other instructors outside of its network to evaluate its impact and identify resources and tools they have. From there, it will make adjustments.

鈥淭his year, we are very excited to explore how the program could be sustained in the community in one way or another,鈥� Mendoza said, adding that the foundation plans to host one workshop in 2023 as opposed to the three it held in previous years.

Based on the findings for this year, the program will be updated and modified to provide support year-round available for every teacher in the country to access it and learn from the years the program operated.

鈥淲e don鈥檛 want to mention it as an exit strategy or as it is phasing out,鈥� said Mendoza. 鈥淲e prefer to communicate that this year we鈥檙e exploring how the program can become self-sufficient at some point with the help of teachers and community.鈥�

This story was co-published with as part of our joint .

This first appeared on and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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