All photography provided by Vida Digna
Since 1995 The Vida Digna Charity has worked for the Raramuri communities of the Sierra Tarahumara in the state of Chihuahua, Mexico.
objective
Vida Digna aims to provide the opportunity for an all-round development for the children of the Sierra Tarahumara. What this means is is looking after and strengthening the children’s education and overall well-being.
They believe that children are the future of this important ethnic group and that they are the key to preserving it; therefore, they work within a framework of respect and empathy for their customs and traditions.
vision
To develop, in a comprehensive manner, children and youth in the Sierra Tarahumara in order to improve their quality of life and that of their families.
mission
To be a high-impact foundation that helps developing people that can be proud of who they are, with a strong educational foundation and adequate access to food and decent medical care, as well as promoting the well-being and growth of the communities of the Sierra Tarahumara.
values
Teamwork
Determination
Love
Respect
Solidarity
how vida digna helps?
At Fundación Vida Digna they work to promote well-being and growth in the communities of the Sierra Tarahumara through the support to various projects in areas such as education, health and access to water.
Education
Warupa Children's Village
In August 2008, Fundación Vida Digna established an agreement with Junta Hermanos A.C., to jointly manage the Warupa Children's Village hostel, being the first hostel 100% supported by the foundation.
Warupa Children's Village is in San Pablo de la Sierra in the municipality of Guerrero. It currently houses 36 Rarámuri and mestizo children.
The main objective of the hostel is to promote children’s sustainable development and their social and emotional well-being.
The hostel focuses on building a community without violence and teach children how to cope with the environmental circumstances that surrounds them (e.g. drought, lack of native seed, forest exploitation, characteristics of the land, etc.).
In addition to gathering children from different “rancherías” (small rural settlements) so that they can have access to the nearest school, the hostel also offers outdoor workshops in the afternoon to assist children with their homework and help them reinforce basic knowledge of reading, writing and math. Crafts workshops, sport classes and other artistic activities such as dance and singing are also highly encouraged.
Warupa Children's Village is distinguished by being a fully sustainable shelter: having 2 hectares of vegetables and orchards for the harvest of 4 different native corn seeds, which are used for own consumption.
Amiga de la Obrera (The Worker’s Friend)
The organization was founded by Father San José María de Yermo y Parres, and the Congregation of Servants of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Poor. It began its work in December 1903 in the city of Chihuahua, with the purpose of comprehensively train children and youth with limited resources in the Sierra Tarahumara, primarily.
Nowadays, Amiga de la Obrera has 9 boarding schools and 11 schools in different indigenous locations, in which Fundación Vida Digna has also presence and covers all school expenses of almost 90 children.
Fundación Educativa Marista (The Marist Brothers Educational Foundation)
Fundación Vida Digna, through the middle school the Marist Brothers Tarahumara Educational Foundation has in Guadalupe y Calvo, Chihuahua, supports 20 teenagers by covering all their school expenses.
Pro-Tarahumara I.B.P
In Sisoguichi, a small town in the municipality of Bocoyna in Chihuahua, Fundación Vida Digna has sponsored scholarships for about 36 students.
Fundación Vida Digna covers all their high school expenses including tuition costs, school supplies, books and room and board.
Health
Partnerships/Collaboration with:
Santa Teresita Clinic
San Carlos Clinic
Hospital of the Tarahumaran
Community Projects
Fundación Vida Digna, since 2012, decides to join forces with CAPTAR (El Centro de Acopio para la Tarahumara), an organization that helps communities in the Sierra Tarahumara, to provide support in the execution of two specific projects: Hydraulic Networks and Water Harvests.
vida digna’s story
Fundación Vida Digna was born in 1995, a year in which the drought in Chihuahua was devastating, and the ravages of the Mexican devaluation in December 1994, the “Mexican Peso crisis”, were causing a severe shock in the national economy. This resulted in famine, disease and the death of more than 30 children in la Sierra Tarahumara.
Through the initiative of Father Luis G. Verplancken, SJ (1926-2004), benefactor of the Rarámuri community and founder of the Santa Teresita Clinic, a meeting was organized in the mountains with Rarámuri governors, the then governor of the state of Chihuahua, and Víctor Almeida , a representative of Interceramic Group, who on other occasions had participated in support programs for these communities.
The result was the implementation of an emergency plan to address the humanitarian crisis, and strong conviction: the need to establish a program of assistance that would guarantee the continuous support and care for the Rarámuri community.
To that end, Víctor Almeida sought to join forces with Alfredo Harp Helú, president of the Board of Directors of the Banco Nacional de México (now CitiBanamex), and prominent philanthropist. It was then decided to establish a foundation focused on the health and education of Rarámuri children, to help them achieve and maintain a “dignified life” or Vida Digna in Spanish, hence the name by which the foundation was born and constituted on March 16, 1995.
Víctor Almeida and Alfredo Harp Helú partnered to co-chair the Board of Directors of the Vida Digna Foundation, A.C., and under his lead, and with the support of other organizations, employees and clients of Interceramic throughout the country, the foundation has supported various community programs that over the years have made a difference for hundreds of Rarámuri families.