Los Amigos de la Esquina (LADLE) A.C. is a learning community that generates experiences and daily recreational activities focused on art, wellbeing, and environmental consciousness to local Mexican children living in Tulum.
OUR MISSION
Empower and improve the quality of life of the native kids of Tulum. We promote inclusion, sociocultural exchange, consciousness uplifting, cognitive and socio-affective development.
WHAT WE NEED:
Our priority is to continue running our daily workshops that promote inclusion and equity in Tulum. This campaign will ensure that we can provide high quality activities to the wonderful local kids in Tulum, grow our staff, and cover the costs of operations in our new community center.
Our Fundraising Goal:
$20,000 US Dollars for annual expenses and new school building
Our Community + COVID
We serve kids that come from communities that were hardest hit by the pandemic. Communities that rely solely on tourism. Communities that are traditionally underrepresented and are the first to feel the effects of gentrification. During lockdown, our kids and families experienced extreme levels of depression, anxiety, and fear. Our kids come to the activities functioning at survival mode. Daily, our goal is to give them opportunities and tools to practice optimism, grow in their social intelligence, self regulation, and curiosity. And most importantly, be kids.
Our Story
Los Amigos de La Esquina (LALDE) is a microcosm of love, joy, enthusiasm, and curiosity. We run activities/workshops 6 days a week for a group of 50 incredible Mayan kids in Tulum, Mexico. Each day we get the privilege of watching our group of wonderfully curious, caring, and loving kids learn about the world and themselves through activities based on art, wellbeing, and environmental consciousness.
Tulum is a town where the wealth gap is blatantly obvious, but conveniently hidden from sight. The kids we serve come from situations where abuse is prevalent, access to education is limited (many kids do not finish middle school), many start working at an early age to help provide for their families. These are just small examples of the larger disparities both socially and economically, that are realities in Tulum.
LADLE’s mission is to daily chip away at these barriers and give our kids opportunities to grow in self confidence, resilience, and auto-regulation. We use recreational activities in order to help each child accomplish an integral development on a physical, emotional, mental and spiritual level.
The purest magic we see is when we hear the kids repeating the mantras they hear from us constantly- respect, enthusiasm, and love. When they speak to each other, they remind their peers to talk to each other respectfully. They remind each other to bring water and a fruit instead of coca cola and chips because “at la esquina we eat healthy.” They wake up to go birding at 7am on a Saturday. Our team has worked with kids all over the world and these are the only kids we know that are ecstatic to meet up at 7am. On a Saturday. Every-time one of the volunteers arrives to give an activity the entire group will run over and give the mentor a giant group hug.
Their desire for adventure and new experiences shines through as they practice their headstands during yoga, bike ride to the beach, and focus as they make their ceramic pots.
This year we took a giant step forward as an organization and started construction on a new community center that will help us better serve the amazing kids in Tulum.
We know we have a long way to go to give these wonderful kids the amazing life they deserve, but your help will ensure that we can continue to provide daily opportunities for them to grow into the future leaders Tulum and Mexico need.
Thank you in advance for your donation! Welcome to the LADLE family! 
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BBVA Bancomer: Los Amigos de la Esquina A.C.
Cuenta: 0111013807
Clabe: 012180001110138070