- With the program “Time to play” (“Tiempo para Jugar”) more than 800 children from Chiapas are benefitted because it improves the parental skills of their caretakers with innovative techniques and promotes positive interactions through play as a tool for integral development.
- FEMSA Foundation and Un Kilo de Ayuda, along with U-ERRE’s Innovation Accelerator for Infancy, have implemented this project during the last year in 24 communities of los Altos of Chiapas.
San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico. February 27th, 2020. – This Thursday, after a year of work, preliminary results of the program “Time to Play” were presented. This initiative has been implemented in 24 communities of los Altos of Chiapas by FEMSA Foundation in Alliance with Un Kilo de Ayuda and in collaboration with U-ERRE’s Innovation Accelerator for Infancy to improve the parenting skills of parents and caretakers of children aged 0-5 years.
This program, which promotes the positive interactions through play as a tool for the integral development through home visits, workshops and focus groups, is being implemented since March 2019 and will close activities in March 2020. More than 800 children in their infancy were benefitted, while the participation of the communities is of more than 800 main caretakers and more than 60 game fairies, mothers of the same communities that were trained as facilitators for the project.
The relevance of projects like “Time to Play” comes from the fact that during infancy, which encompasses pregnancy and the first five years of life, changes that accompany the growth and development of children take place and cement the bases of their future. In this period, the interaction with the environment and the creation of emotional relationships with caretakers allow the generation of new neural connections and strengthen all manner of abilities that will be determinant in their future. This is why the quantity and quality of the experiences they live during this phase will lay the foundation not only for the children’s future but also for society’s.
“For children to grow up healthy and develop their capacities to the fullest, we need to strengthen the capacity of the adults that take care of them, in their families and their school centers. ‘Time to Play’ has been a great opportunity to support the parents and caretakers of 800 girls and boys in Chiapas. We believe that this project has a great potential to benefit more families and close development gaps in the country,” said Eva Fernandez, Manager of Social Investment in Infancy of FEMSA Foundation, an organization sponsored by the Business Units of FEMSA, Coca-Cola FEMSA and OXXO.
The model has proved to be replicable and adaptable to different contexts, since it was implemented as part of the project portfolio of U-ERRE’s Innovation Accelerator for Infancy in the State of Mexico and is now being replicated in Chiapas thanks to the alliance of FEMSA Foundation and Un Kilo de Ayuda.
67% of children younger than 5 years of age in these places does not attend any initial education center for their care, learning or early stimulation, which is why it is even more relevant that their parents increase their knowledge on child development and know the ways in which they can mold and guide play for the positive development of boys and girls.
“More than two years ago we were selected with the initiative ‘Time to Play’ which we implemented satisfactorily in Mexico State and is today a reality in San Cristobal. In this area of los Altos of Chiapas we had great challenges to overcome, such as the different native tongues and customs and traditions, to be able to sensitize and interest the parents and caretakers on the richness of play when learning and to improve the care practices on children 5 and younger,” Pedro Reverte, General Manager of Un Kilo de Ayuda explained.
FEMSA Foundation works to promote the development of infancy and aims to build resilient communities in which caretaking and initial education services are of better quality, parents and caretakers have positive parenting skills, and public spaces have the perspective of infancy. These projects of social investment are supported by the Business Units of FEMSA, such as Coca-Cola FEMSA and OXXO.
About FEMSA
FEMSA is a leading company that generates economic and social value through enterprises and institutions and aims to be the best employer and neighbor of the communities where it is present. It participates in retail trade through FEMSA Comercio, which englobes the Proximity Division, a chain of small stores of which OXXO is a part; a Health Division which includes pharmacies and related activities; and a Fuel Division that operates the OXXO GAS chain of service stations. In the beverage industry it operates Coca-Cola FEMSA, a public bottler of Coca-Cola products; and in the brewer sector it is a stockholder of Heineken, a Company present in more than 70 countries. Additionally, through Strategic Businesses FEMSA, it offers logistics services, refrigeration at selling points and plastic solutions to FEMSA companies and external clients. Through its Business Units it employs approximately 300 thousand collaborators in 13 countries. FEMSA is a member of the Dow Jones Sustainability MILA Pacific Alliance Index, the FTSE4Good Emerging Index and the IPC Sustentable de la Bolsa Mexicana de Valores (Sustainable Prices and Quotation Index of the Mexican Stock Market), among other indexes that evaluate its performance in sustainability.
About FEMSA Foundation
Since eleven years ago, FEMSA Foundation generates positive impact in people and communities through social investment projects for sustainability. We seek to ensure water safety and the sustainable use of water in Latin America and we take action to help early childhood development. We have also incorporated the diffusion of Latin American art and culture through the Programa Cultural FEMSA. For further information visit the website www.fundacionfemsa.org or follow us on Facebook (FundacionFEMSA) and Twitter (@FundacionFEMSA).
About Un Kilo de Ayuda
With more than 30 years in Mexico, we work through different strategies to improve the conditions in which children 0 to 6 years of age develop so that they become healthy productive adults and the building blocks of a better country. www.unkilodeayuda.org.mx | @Unkilodeayuda | 50 00 16 58
