01 Sep Innovation and Resilience to Empower Youth in Times of Crisis
Sept. 1st, 2020 | Monterrey.- Fundación Comunidad, in the state of Morelos, has proved these past few months through the Fondo Jóvenes program’s intervention model, how digital transformation and resilience are essential resources when facing crises.
Comunidad has contributed to the development of communities and groups of young people in their state through the Fondo Jóvenes program for the past 11 years. This year however, in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic and responding to the new necessary health measures, the organization found in technology the vehicle to continue its efforts in capacity building and supporting the initiatives of its grassroots organizations.
“The confinement and the sanitary measures that we have adopted, have not been an impediment to carry out the community actions that have come from the innovation of youth groups. On the contrary, it has been an opportunity to turn to look at ourselves, rethink ourselves and return to valuable activities that had been lost when falling into modernism and capitalism ”, said Jennifer Arias, director of Fundación Comunidad.
For more than a decade, Comunidad has successfully implemented the Fondo Jóvenes program which has impacted about 14,570 young people in Morelos, about 2,914 benefited directly and 11,656 indirectly in 16 municipalities of Morelos.
In this new era, Comunidad has partnered with the Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos (state university) to implement a strategy that will allow them to work with the realities of their communities from different angles.
While continuing to carry out current and on-going projects, the new work model has allowed for the recognition that young people might have limited access to technological tools during the pandemic. They have created a kind of inventory to learn about the technological tools that each of their groups have access to, such as the internet, computers with cameras, cell phones and other resources, as well creative strategies grassroots groups have been coming up with to generate access.
Some of the most outstanding projects within the Fondo Jóvenes are: CiriÁn + Arte = comunidad, a community development project that has been active in the Coatlán del Río community for more than 6 years to bring children closer to science and culture.
Another is Yankuik Kuikamatilistli, a cultural project with 10 years of existence in the Xoxocotla community that tries to mitigate violence and create a space for encounters for girls, boys and young people through culture.
“We believe it is essential to work with youth because, through their creative work they provide alternatives and projects that generate dialogue and meeting spaces for the younger generations in their communities, with different purposes and methodologies for approaching the community and for intervention.
“They are agents of change who seek to resignify their concept of being young and ways of influencing. Rescuing and creating safe spaces where youth can express themselves in different ways, dialogue and create together ”, said Jennifer Arias.
Comunidad has taken on the challenge of innovating its communication strategies and putting its level of organization to the test, both with positive and palpable results. An example of this is the recent humanitarian aid initiative implemented by some grassroots groups to collect food in order to support vulnerable families during the health crisis.
Finally, Comunidad has begun a process of reinvention to adapt to this new reality and face the challenges the Coronavirus pandemic will leave behind. According to its program coordinator, this reconversion process has left great learnings for the foundation, especially in the use of technologies and the way in which experiences are communicated.