The history of CESESMA 

 

Begginnings: 1992-1997

CESESMA was founded in 1996, as a result of the growing success of a children's health education project in the municipality of San Ramón, which started in 1992 as a series of workshops on preventative health-care with children and teachers in two primary schools.

From this start, the project expanded to more rural schools, training 250 primary teachers on the themes of gender, identity, health and environment, with the aim of developing teaching resources to improve the teaching-learning process in rural schools.

Developments: 1998 to the present

In 1998, the introduction of a children's rights focus led us beyond the classroom, to enable the participation of children and young people without access to formal education. The project adopted a community development approach, which also involved groups of parents, teachers and community leaders.

When Hurricane Mitch struck in 1998, CESESMA, like many local organisations, temporarily focused on relief work, working with the worst-affected families to rebuild houses, latrines, and drinking water systems destroyed by the hurricane. We also worked with the children in the affected communities, supporting their recovery by involving them in craft workshops, puppetry groups and other educational activities.

From 2000 onwards we have focused our work on the training and development of young community educators (promotores and promotoras). These are children and young people who participate in training and awareness-raising programmes, then return to their communities to share their knowledge and skills with other children and young people in their families, schools and in the rest of the community. We began to prioritise children and young people working on the coffee plantations, and broadened our community development focus.

In 2003 we undertook our first Impact Evaluation study, reorganised ourselves into three area teams, and developed our first Strategic Plan. With this plan as a reference point, we have been strengthening the human rights focus that underpins the work, and consolidating our central strategy: the training and development of promotores/as.

Currently we are working on an organisational development programme, which aims to develop the professional capacity of the team members, strengthen the organisational structure, and lay the groundwork for the gradual achievement of institutional sustainability.