In Barrio Chamizal, we are responding to the reality that our neighborhood schools & residential areas do not have buffers between them and the industrial areas which constantly expose our children to contamination.

At La Mujer Obrera, through free play and exploration our goal is to help children develop cognitive, socio-emotional, and physical skills while strengthening their cultural identity and connection to land. We have seen children in Barrio Chamizal building confidence through encouraging civic engagement, culturally responsive cooking classes, free play in natural settings, garden-based art education, multi-day camping trips, visits to natural areas, and hands-on regenerative agriculture education.

A key aspect of our youth’s development is immersing them into a collective experience of strengthening our community. As stated above, children and youth are never excluded from organizational activities. They march alongside us in protests, sit on our panels and speak during press conferences, share their opinions in meetings, help host workshops and tend to the land alongside their family and community members of all ages.

Our planning meetings and platicas are strategies to reenvision the structures and limitations around us, introducing our youth to civic engagement, empowering us to create the community that reflects our idea of a dignified living and helping us to see that the solutions to environmental, housing and educational stressors comes from our practices and values as a collective.

By forming community bonds and a sense of belonging, our children know they are not alone while dealing with the many adversities they face. These experiences help provide a sense of control and stability for our youth in coping and building resilience to the negative impacts our community faces. La Mujer Obrera provides spaces for youth to learn the tools needed to face these challenges, ensuring collective growth and seeding resilience within the children of Barrio Chamizal.