Educational Center of Santa María Alpacoma

History
The Center is located in the area of San Miguel de Alpacoma, Sector Ladrilleras, on the border between the municipalities of Achocalla and La Paz. It was set up in 1996 as part of the four-year project focusing on Schooling for Working Children aged 7 to 12 years old, financed by the IADB. Upon Project conclusion, in view of the commitment it had assumed SCSJ continued working with this population group. Since 2001, the institution has its own infrastructure to reach out to more children, adolescents and their families with its integrated care approach. At present, it provides services to 157 families, i.e. 295 beneficiaries, living in the 9 neighborhoods around the Center.
Outreach
  • San Miguel de Alpacoma
  • San Miguel de Los Pinos
  • Ladrilleras Alpacoma
  • Llojeta
  • Los Claveles
  • Calamarca
  • Pasankeri Sur
  • Alpacoma
  • Valle Canaán
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Education

This direct care modality was launched in the Center and targets children under 6 years of age who are organized in age groups to receive integral care on the basis of two components: Early Stimulation and Health-Nutrition, which are both related to growth and development. The Center-based Preschool Creativity Center (CPC) encourages playing as a means for expression, exploration and knowledge-building, using the methodologies of the learning corners and the classroom projects. This process is complemented with periodic assessments of the children’s progress in the areas of development, growth and health.
This program also provides home-based care, aimed to promote an understanding among the parents and primary caregivers of the importance of their roles as the main care providers of their children under 6 years, supporting their growth and development and recognizing that the best educational environment for them is the immediate family. The program builds the caregivers’ capacities (knowledge, attitude and practice) to support their children, using the methodologies developed by the “Ready for the Future” Project. The monitoring and evaluation activities focus on follow-up of the activities programmed with the parents and/or educators and follow-up of the children’s development and growth.
The program targets children and adolescents aged 6 to 18 years of age aiming to improve their schooling and strengthening their social and cognitive skills by participating in different personal development and recreational activities. The program is carried out through workshops and games-creative methods, focusing on the following 6 subcomponents from a comprehensive perspective: 1) Pedagogic Support, 2) Psychosocial Development, 3) Promotion of Health and Nutrition, 4) Personal, Social and Cultural Development, 5) Promotion and Participation of the Family, and 6) Socio–Affective Development.
It is a child and adolescent-friendly space in the community where priority is given to the children’s participation and empowerment so they learn to exercise their rights through the practice of kindness. They share this space with their peers and with adults, taking part in different activities such as playing, meetings, talks, art, sports, games, etcetera, were dialogue and participation of all and sharing knowledge and learning is encouraged.
The Community Points are spaces that are physically located in the different areas surrounding the Educational Centers. The Center Santa María de Alpacoma is responsible for the following ones:
  • Alpacoma Community Point.
  • El Rosal Community Point.
  • Alto Incallojeta Community Point.
The purpose of this service is to strengthen the work related to Pedagogic Support and in the Preschool Creativity Center by ensuring access to bibliographical material such as books, stories, encyclopedias, audiovisual material, games, educational material and newspaper archives, which are at the disposal of the beneficiaries and all of the community.
El objetivo es facilitar el acceso de los beneficiarios, a la tecnología para fortalecer sus conocimientos y habilidades potenciando su aprendizaje y sus capacidades de investigación. El área de Computación cuenta con una sala de computación con máquinas conectadas a internet, brindando servicio a niñas y niños de 5 años en adelante, a través de programas que mejoran sus capacidades en matemáticas, lecto–escritura, ciencias de la vida y apoyando en la investigación. También brinda capacitación a madres y padres de familia y a educadores de los Centros Integrales sobre el manejo de paquetes de computación.
This work area comprises psychological and emotional support for individuals, groups or communities as required. It also provides guidance and assistance for children, adolescents and youth who are referred by other areas when they have behavioral, school adaptation and/or learning problems. In these cases, a comprehensive psychological intervention is carried out, with participation of the families and, as needed, members of the school or community.

Healthcare

This pillar provides Primary Healthcare, emphasizing prevention and care, as well as the acquisition of knowledge to implement healthy practices among the people participating in all the activities from the Center. The beneficiaries benefit from annual medical check-ups to know the status of their health in general and for the timely detection and prevention of diseases. This area offers visits to a doctor, medication and healing services to the population in general at a symbolical fee.

The dental service offers annual dental checkups to all target children and adolescents, as well as subsequent care, control and follow-up of all problems detected. The area also organizes educational and awareness-raising workshops targeting the affiliates, with the objective of strengthening oral health. These processes go hand in hand with fluoridation, sealants and other campaigns.

The area ensures adequate nutritional care based on an assessment, control and follow-up of each of the children and adolescents’ nutritional status. Furthermore, there are talks, workshops and nutritional counseling sessions for the parents and primary caregivers.

This area also supports the medicine and dental care areas, following up the cases they detected. It administers and controls vaccinations, checks weight and height, and delivers medication for the cases requiring treatment.

Administration

This area is responsible for communications between the sponsors and the beneficiaries. One important task in this area is to update the information on the beneficiaries and their family environment, which is complemented with training workshops for the beneficiaries and the educators about the importance and optimization of the process.

This area encourages and strengthens participation of the families in all activities of the Center and community spaces, by means of actions related to information and training, strengthening the levels and forms of organization, intervention and leadership.