Programs

We are currently funding two programs and working to incorporate new ones through Centro Fox. Our first program is a scholarship in the U.S. and the second is a School Shelter for Indigenous/native children in Mexico.

Scholarships in the U.S.

For the scholarship, we are working closely with the Hispanic Scholarship Fund. Starting in 2003 we launched a nation wide recruitment effort to provide scholarships to Mexican students living and studying in the U.S. The campaign focused on the 50 U.S. school districts with the highest concentration of Latino students. For the academic year 2005-2006 we provided the last renewal for our first generation of students. We hope to be able to provide renewal for all our students and incorporate new scholars each cycle.

Since its inception, we have provided more than 35 scholarships. Students have attended the following Colleges and Universities: Harvard University, California Poly State University, California State University, University of California - Davis, University of Texas at Austin, Reinhardt College, Taft College, Kennesaw State University, Texas A M University and University of Central Oklahoma.

School Shelter for Indigenous/native children in Mexico

The purpose of the rural community centers is to allow children ages 6-14 living in remote communities to attend school on a daily basis so they begin and complete their basic education. For some of them the distance between home and school is so great that they must walk 8 hours to get to school.

These facilities provide the children with housing, food, healthcare, after-school activities and educational resources such as a library and computer center. The school is a couple of blocks away from the boarding school. Children live in the boarding school Monday through Friday; however, the facilities are used every day of the week. While the children are at school and during the weekends the boarding school offer job training programs and educational workshops for parents and other members of the community. On weekday afternoons, tutoring and after-school programs are available for the live-in children.

Vision Mexico works in partnership with to improve the boarding schools' infrastructure which includes regular maintenance work on the existing facilities, installation of utility services such as electricity, clean water and telephone lines that can be used for internet connections and other general needs. We also help the community by hiring local workers and using local materials in the construction.

T here are 1,100 boarding schools in 21 states of México; currently 60,000 children benefit from the program. We are restoring some of these buildings in partnership with the Mexican Ministry on Indigenous People Comision Nacional para el Desarrollo de los Pueblos Indigenas , with Vamos Mexico and with Fundacion Coca Cola.

From 2003 to 2006 we have worked on 48 communities, providing shelter to 3,504 children and a community facility to 965,259 people.

In a peaceful and comfortable environment, the children are motivated to attend to school and to improve their personal hygiene. Through the program's evaluation report, we learned that on 2003 the average number of kids registered in the school increased by 20% due to the availability of a functional boarding school. During the same year, the children living in these improved facilities performed 5% better in school grades in comparison with the ones that were living with their parents. Additionally, 67% of the kids reported to brush their teeth twice a day and 85% to take a shower four times a week.

Centro Fox

Visión México is working to incorporate new programs through the Centro Fox. The mission of the Centro Fox is to promote, preserve and foster Democracy, Freedom and Development in Equality in Mexico and Latin America. The Centro Fox is a mandatory reference point to study, research, consult, discuss, preserve and foster the economic strategies that contribute to democracy in Mexico and Latin America and in this manner, fight poverty. It is a dynamic cultural space; open to the citizens, with new information technologies and communication, both for the strengthening and dissemination of public policies, as well as to provide access to books related to development. The Centro Fox is the first center of its type in Latin America.

The Centro Fox considers four areas. The first is The Research and Analysis Institute, which mission is to create and disseminate ideas to promote democracy and freedom with access to governments, intellectuals, academicians, communication media and companies. We want to generate publications and influence public policies worldwide. The second is The Center for Studies and Consulting, which mission is to offer academic quality, based on the specialty subjects. As part of the main activities of the Center for Studies, Centro Fox will organize encounters (keynote lectures, discussion panels, symposia, congresses), informal trainings (theoretical and practical specialty courses, seminars), as well as formal training (certified courses, master degrees, etc.); which will be offered jointly by the center and different higher education institutions. The third is the Cultural Center and Museum, with the purpose of developing an appealing multicultural and educational offering a higher education level, by promoting the identity and the cultural wealth in the region and the country. Finally, The Information and Documentation Center will have as a mission to make articles and research papers available and disseminate actions derived from the Presidential Mandate of Vicente Fox, as an additional proof of transparency and accountability to the citizens.