The Mexican state of Chiapas, located close to the Guatemalan border, is a territory of cross-border mobility, with growing intra-regional, national and international migration. In recent years, it has become a migratory transit area for Central Americans and Haitians, who go to other Mexican states and to the United States in search of better work and economic opportunities that allow them to support their families, escaping gang violence, persecution and seeking protection from organised crime.
In 2021, DVV International and the Secretariat for Gender Equality (SEIGEN) began their cooperation with the signing of an inter-institutional framework agreement that aims to develop a system of education and training for people who live and transit through this cross-border region. One of the purposes of the partnership has been to provide local people and migrants with new knowledge and skills to enable them to function in the social and economic life of the region. Through courses with a focus on human rights and workshops in trades, we seek to improve employment opportunities for people, boosting their job growth and/or encouraging entrepreneurship. In the framework of this project, we work in close cooperation with our local partner La Albarrada Skills Development Centre in Chiapas, its management team and its vocational trainers.
"There were times when I was able to work well, calmly. I was earning for my family, for myself. But lately it had been very difficult due to extortion by criminal organisations, a recurrent issue in my country El Salvador. I decided to migrate, because I was being extorted, they were asking for 20% of my crops, without caring that the pests had damaged them and I had lost everything. When I didn't want to pay, I had the problems that forced me to emigrate to Mexico, in the hope of reaching the United States. I have a family, I am the father of four children who I had to send to Guatemala for their safety. I am grateful that there are institutions that support us as migrants, people who make us feel like family. The training they have given us in La Albarrada has been very nice and the teachers have been very respectful; they have left me with great lessons to improve my life and seek better opportunities for my family. I am grateful for all the support and I know I have to work hard. I want to make a life in Mexico, with my family." – Roberto, a migrant from El Salvador who participated in the vocational training at La Albarrada-SEIGEN
Among the training offers that we support in this educational centre are workshops in trades such as bakery, food technology, carpentry, spinning and weaving, plumbing and gardening. The aim of these trainings is to promote greater opportunities for employment, entrepreneurship and economic participation of women and men in the state of Chiapas.
DVV International supports these activities by providing supplies and equipment, but also with pedagogical expertise. In the implementation of these workshops, we promote the incorporation of the human rights approach (economic, social, cultural, environmental and intercultural rights) and the gender perspective, with emphasis on the training of women in heavily masculinised trades such as electricity and plumbing.
In addition, we are promoting the professionalisation of the trainers and facilitators of La Albarrada. We support their training in Curriculum globALE, DVV International’s curriculum for the training of adult educators worldwide and in pedagogical methodologies that promote innovative and creative teaching-learning processes, adapted to the context of the region and the needs of the students.
"The workshop on innovation and creativity in teaching helped me to revisit some ideas and put them into practice in my classes. Listening to the students and asking them about their interests helps them to be more participative in the activities, makes them feel more confident and they get more out of the shared knowledge; for me, it helps me to better understand how they learn, it facilitates the teaching process [...]. As trainers of adults, we should be constantly updating ourselves, to be able to transmit our knowledge to those who are most interested." – Manuel, a trainer in the craft of saddlery in La Albarrada
Last but not least, we accompany the management team of La Albarrada in the administrative and pedagogical processes. We promote and support the strategic exchange of best practices in management and promotion of training activities, through the creation of spaces for reflection and meeting, both face-to-face and virtual, with other training centres at the local and state level and from other countries.
These exchanges have given rise to the creation of multidisciplinary work teams, which now contribute to the adaptation of DVV International’s Curriculum ManagerALE, a curriculum for managers of institutions of adult learning and education, to the local context and realities of Latin America and the Caribbean.
At DVV International we know that it is essential to continue to support the development and strengthening of training centres for young people and adults such as La Albarrada, because it is through them that we can achieve more just, self-sufficient and egalitarian societies, helping people to find a career, increasing their productivity and enhancing their development.
