Los Niños

Los Niños is a volunteer group formed to help disadvantaged parents in Zihuatanejo,
Mexico provide an education for their children. This website has been developed to share
the story of these beautiful children and their dedicated parents, and to solicit your
contributions. We in the local community are doing all we can, but we desperately need
your help as well. Your participation in this project can change the future of these children.

The Nueva Creación School

Up a winding, dirt road, high in the hills above beautiful Zihuatanejo
bay, is the community of Colonia Vicente Guerrero. It is one of the
poorest neighborhoods in the city. Most of the residents are
families lured here from poor rural villages, indigenous regions
and worn-out farms to look for work. Many live in hand-built,
one-room houses with dirt floors; some lack electricity, running
water and sanitary facilities.

Although not rich in any material sense, the families of Vicente
Guerrero possess a wealth of dignity and pride, combined with a
strong community spirit.

Like we parents the world over, their
primary concern is for the future of their
children. They recognize that the only
realistic way to break the cycle of poverty
is education. Regrettably, their
“unofficial” community did not qualify for
government school funding. If a school
were to be built, they would have to build
it themselves.

The parents held meetings, recruited
volunteers and formed work teams.
Using picks and shovels, they cut away
and leveled two rocky patches of steep
hillside land donated by a sympathetic
government agency. One plot for the
school; the other for a small children’s
play area.

In the fall of 1999, with scavenged and
donated materials, the parents worked
evenings and weekends to realize their
common dream. They improved the dirt
road and built a lighted walkway to make
it easier for the children to climb the
steep hill. Within a few months, a
makeshift, four-room schoolhouse,
furnished with a few handmade and used
desks and donated blackboards, was
ready to receive their 87 bright-eyed,
young scholars.

The mayor of Zihuatanejo, impressed by
their commitment, contributed partial
salaries to hire three idealistic, young
teachers. Three additional teachers
work as unpaid volunteers.

The deservedly proud parents named the school Nueva Creación, which means
new creation. News of this new school spread like wildfire, and the enrollment
quickly swelled from 87 to 102 and now, 170 eager children. The classes are
growing by two or three new children every month. The parents are overwhelmed
and need your help.

Sadly, the school has an appalling shortage of every resource necessary to
educate these deserving children. They desperately need books, school supplies,
desks, uniforms, sanitation, shoes for barefoot kids, nutrition, building materials
for classrooms, salaries for additional teachers, athletic equipment; the list goes
on.