Children in Latin America
IPODERAC (I don't know what the initials stand for) runs a small farm in the state of Puebla where street children who
voluntarily live there (doors are open to allow them to leave anytime), help care for livestock. The interesting part is that
the farm's output consists of high-end market cheeses and soaps made from goat's milk. The know-how to make these
cheeses was donated by a retired Swiss gentleman. The French Embassy in Mexico is an important client (which speaks
to the quality of their product), and profits from the cheese business currently account for about 70% of the home's
expenses. Harvard Business School has written a case study about IPODERAC. Agustэn Landa, who has managed the
organization for about 10 years, will start an MBA in North Carolina come September. A great marriage of good business
and social causes, although issues concerning child labor could be raised (I believe kids start working [and actually
compete for different jobs] when they are around 13 years-old). Both entrepreneurs (as I would choose to label Javier and
Agustэn) are deeply religious Catholics (not so much in form as in practice).
By the way, have you heard about Bill Strickland's initiatives in Pittsburgh or Rodrigo Baggio's community computing
schools in Brazil?
My comment: Good for the Catholics. Do our Puebla members know the farm? Within reason child labor is a good thing.
In the old days children acquired a sense of responsibility by taking care of cows and doing similarf chores. I would like
to know more about Rodrigo Baggio. Perhaps our Brazil members can tell us about him.
Ronald Hilton - 5/5/01
Raul Escalante sends us this information about Mexico City: "Javier Garibay runs a sort of day-home for street children
to help them make the transition from total liberty (or libertinaje as we'd call it in Spanish) on the streets to the more
disciplined environment of regular homes. His experience in homes (where success rates are very low due to adaptation
difficulties in most children) led him to develop this step-by-step approach. Although his success figures are apparently
much better than a direct approach, he still has a lot of trouble luring kids off the street, even with free food.
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