Girls’ Empowerment to Stay in School in San Miguel

By Ann Kuffner 

UUFSMA Member

When girls in Mexico reach the ages of 10 to 12, statistics show that 75% of them lose their self-esteem. They miss up to 25% of their education and risk dropping out of school. Gender disparity and generational poverty are problematic especially in rural communities.  

The Secretary of Education of Guanajuato agrees with the serious nature of this issue. He has embraced an educational solution proposed by the Rotary Club of San Miguel de Allende. The result was approval of a curriculum and a signed contract last January.

Members of the Rotary Club of San Miguel and Carla Cadena Rios, a volunteer, will explain the Girls’ Empowerment Program. This program educates fifth and sixth-grade girls about their bodies as well as how to embrace being a girl becoming a woman. It teaches them to have self-confidence, self-esteem, and a positive self-image. They are taught how to be “sanas, seguras, y sabias,” healthy, safe, and wise.  It empowers them—through education and resources—to stay in school.

Funds being raised to support the program cover the costs of the teachers’ salaries and the reusable hygiene kits given to the girls. Volunteer drivers transport the teachers to the rural community schools of San Miguel five days a week to teach the program. From January through March almost 500 girls took part in the five-day/ten-hour program. The goal is to reach 2,000 girls in the first year.  

Unitarian Universalism is a liberal faith inviting its community to gather around a set of harmonizing values and principles for living. Our UU Fellowship welcomes people of all ages, races, religions, sexual orientations, and gender identity. Belief in a divinity is not the central issue around which we gather for worship and generous action. Rather, we come together with a belief in community, love, compassion, social justice, reverence for nature, and the spirituality of music, all within the interconnected web of existence.

UUFSMA donates generously to support nonprofit organizations that provide health, educational, and environmental services for underserved communities in the San Miguel region. Please support this work by clicking on the website home page Donate button. 

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In addition to continuing live Zoom services, UUFSMA has returned to in-person Sunday services. Masks are optional but a distanced area is reserved for those preferring. UUFSMA meets at the Hotel Posada de la Alde on Ancha San Antonio 15.