Centro de Esperanza Infantil (Oaxaca Street Children Grassroots)

Jodi Bauman, an American expatriate living in Oaxaca, informally founded the Centro de Esperanza Infantil in 1985 so that she and several friends could help the children that they saw on the streets every day. Since the beginning, they have worked particularly with children of the Triquis, a desperately poor indigenous group in Oaxaca. In the late 1990s, CEI became a formal non-profit ("asociación civil"); it now employs 2 staff, many volunteers, and serves more than 400 children.

The majority of CEI’s work occurs through a padrino system (sponsor a child). Brochures recruit tourists in Oaxaca hotels to visit the Centro; some tourists work as volunteers, and many agree to sponsor a child for a year. The money goes largely to school expenses (uniforms, books, etc), but also to medical care, if possible. Though CEI has been able to serve some 400 children through this program, there is still a long waiting list.

In addition, CEI hosts a children’s soup kitchen that serves some 70 children each day. A volunteer nurse also works out of the center several days a week.

CEI discovered that once it enabled children to go to school, younger siblings often remained abandoned in their own houses because of parents at work. In response, CEI opened a kindergarden, largely run by volunteers.

Funds come from individual padrinos ($100-175/year) and from donations to the general fund through Esperanza Internacional, an affiliated German nonprofit.

Contactos: Tanibet Flores (Director), Jodi Bauman

streetchildren@spersaoaxaca.com.mx

Centro de Esperanza Infantil A.C.
Crespo # 308 Colonia Centro
Oaxaca, Oax.
C.P. 68000 Mexico

52 951 50 1 10 69

www.oaxacastreetchildrengrassroots.org

US office:

Oaxaca Street Children Grassroots
P.O. Box 29226
Brooklyn Center
MN. 55429