A November 11 closing ceremony at the José Maria Arreola school in Riberas del Pilar marked the end of training cycle II of the Rotary International Global Grant “Providing Teacher Training to Create Safe and Healthy Schools & Communities in Jalisco, Mexico.”
Not only teachers took the eight-week course. Diplomas were also awarded to trainers, principals, parents, and community leaders.
The training was provided by Alianza por una Educación Humanitaria/Humane Education Alliance (APEH/HEA) thanks to a Rotary International Global Grant that resulted from the partnership between the Catalina Rotary Club of Tucson, Arizona, and the Rotary Club of Ajijic. APEH/HEA, an umbrella of three non-profit organizations – Lakeside Friends of the Animals, La Tienda de la Ciencia, and Butterflies en México – designed strategies and activities to teach societies to think, act, and learn to solve conflicts in peace.
Since 2011, the group has worked to promote care and respect for all living beings, plants, animals and, of course, humans. The group has brought its curriculum “Guardianes del Planeta” to most of the public schools at Lakeside and has now added “Safe and Healthy Schools & Communities” to help improve the daily lives of children by using interventions.
One example is playing together on the school playground in an organized manner. This way children learn to share time and space, as well as to care for others. The group also designed a Peace Map (Mapa de la Paz), which teaches children to go through steps to resolve conflicts. The Peace Map is painted permanently on the playgrounds of the schools. Another example is a classroom game which teaches children strategies to solve and prevent conflict situations among themselves. These interventions prove to be very useful for adults too, as teachers who participated in Cycle 2 stated it had helped them to think about how they interacted with the children they were educating and caring for. The teachers also reported that the program was helping them build stronger bonds between parents and community leaders.
The strong sense of responsibility of the teachers who participated, along with their respect for others, and willingness to keep learning, stood out during the training program, giving APEH/HEA the motivation to go forward with promoting a peaceful and respectful society.
Further information about APEH/HEA can be obtained by contacting This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..">This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..