Youth Movement in Mexico: A reflection by Nijohua
Throughout time, Mexico has faced a lot of intense situations where social Contract has been broken. There was a time when people were in a survival mode -- taking care, and protecting only those in their very closest social circle, ultimately, leading the Mexican society to grow up under an environment where empathy to strangers was no longer part of it. Nevertheless, the continuous episodes of violence, discrimination, and injustice have awakened manyyoung students' spirit to change their city. In the last few years, we have seen an increasing youth movement in Mexico, which is having a symbolic impact all over the country. Young people are asking, “How can we take an active role in improving the wellbeing of our society?”
In a virtual reunion organised as part of the Wayfinder 2020, a few young people in Ciudad Juarez formed a social innovation group called Nijohua and discussed the country’s different active social projects. The outcome was fascinating: We discovered that in ancient Mexico, the miners and natives movements were dissolved by The Spanish conquerors by using Catholic images such as Our Lady of Guadalupe (Santillan, 2018). We agreed that in the present times, the Catholic religion might be one of the region’s most significant youth movements. As Mexicans, we have seen the influence of churches in moving masses and giving as much as they can. They are the greatest models in the country that actually motivates people to act in favor of others.
On the other hand, the feminist movement has lately been taking a strong relevance in the state's decisions. Young female activists are making history; they are becoming one of many Mexican social movements that greatly impacted the country. Just to give an example, on March 4th, 2020, there was a national strike where women were encouraged to have “A day without them” (Villegas & Semple, 2020). Many female workers, wives, students and daughters disappeared for a whole day giving meaning to the importance of having equal rights and stopping sexual harassment. It was a movement with a significant impact that will be remembered as an historic event under the name of “#UnDíaSinNosotras” (“#ADayWithoutUs” ).
Through SIX Wayfinder we also connected with international organizations e.g., 100in1day and Youth Climate Lab. Thus, we learned about how these youth groups carry out their projects, how they use their resources to create an impact.
Discussing with them, we also confirmed that Social Innovation is only one movement. Culture, resources, lifestyle and more, may influence the decisions depending on the local context, but at the end of the day, there are always going to be people interested in helping others. As someone from the Youth Climate Lab said, “we just have to show the youth how the world they want looks and they will build it.”
As all these movements in Mexico and around the world have been fighting to improve their cities and the country, we have been inspired to replicate their steps. Juarez has suffered enough during the last decades. By creating Nijohua, we seek to move towards progress. We are imagining a city where we are not afraid, everyone is willing to help, and the surroundings are beautiful. We are continuously working, so our perfect city is not just a dream but a reality. One day, we would accomplish our goals, and we hope to inspire others to do the same as we were inspired by groups such as 100in1day.
Retrieved from a virtual meeting with Alejandra Flores, Lesly Gurrola and Antonio Castro, founding members of Nijohua.
References
Maria Luisa Santillan. (01/10/2018). Especial México 68. Movimientos sociales: acción colectiva y transformadora. 04/12/2020, de UNAM Sitio web:
Paulina Villegas y Kirk Semple. (21/02/2020). Un día sin mujeres en México como señal de protesta. 04/12/2020, de The New York Times Sitio web:
https://www.nytimes.com/es/2020/02/27/espanol/america-latina/un-dia-sin-nosotras-mexico.html
Reflection blog from Breadwinners
By Charlotte Gallagher
Breadwinners is a charity that supports the wellbeing of people with refugee status and young people seeking asylum through work experience opportunities, training and mentoring. Our Breadwinners sell bread at some of London’s best farmers markets as their first job in the UK. While young people seeking asylum (Risers) take part in an eight week work experience programme.
Like everyone, the onset of COVID-19 in March 2020 meant that we had to reflect, adjust and re-design the Breadwinners model. For some time, we withdrew from our markets in the interest of our Breadwinners and the nation. In that time, we quickly pivoted to e-commerce where our Market Stall Managers became Online Sales Representatives (Proofers). This meant lots of operational adjustment and collaboration with our bakeries, with the design and delivery of a brand new Proofers Programme.
The new programme had a tech focus and supported the Proofers to navigate new softwares, work with and complete databases, use new communication channels including email and an online phone calling platform while maintaining GDPR and making sure our customers received the best experience. This was not only a learning curve for our Proofers but also a new challenge for the Core team.
In this, there were of course many obstacles and barriers to overcome. A big part of all the programmes is supporting our Risers, Breadwinners and Proofers to become excellent problem solvers. The year of 2020 has presented unique and unexpected challenges, while we have all had to cope with technological fatigue and limited social interaction. These two factors can be a barrier to wellbeing which I am sure many will relate to.
Prior to the second lockdown, I was able to take part in a peer learning set with other local youth organisations as part of SIX Wayfinder 2020. After six months of working independently, it was refreshing to share problems and find solutions. Not only do we need to motivate ourselves, but much of the time we need to find a way to motivate others and our teams. Sharing challenges with others creates a space to think innovatively, take a fresh perspective, or even learn from their practices as they may have overcome a similar problem.
After the session, I felt much more motivated and empowered to overcome the challenges I was facing, equipped with the suggestions, experiences and understanding of my peers. In the following weeks I made a plan, implemented and facilitated some of the ways to make a change and adjust my approach to the problem. Although the issue is not solved, steps have been made in the right direction as well as greater learning and understanding.
I found the opportunity and space to reflect about issues, particularly with youth sector peers, a great way to refresh my mindset and find new motivation in a year it has been so important to be resilient.
Charlotte Gallagher, Programmes Manager, Breadwinners