Providing unaccompanied migrant minors who arrive on the islands irregularly with basic language skills in order to favor their social inclusion and help alleviate the differences caused by socioeconomic, linguistic and cultural inequalities is the objective of the program developed by the Nahia Assistance Association, one of the seven winners in the latest edition of the Fundación Cepsa Awards for Social Value.
The organization points out in a statement that the project, which benefits 70 people directly, is committed to the development of people who, due to their age, do not have access to traditional regulated training by promoting their ability to understand and express themselves. Currently, the largest number of people served are men between the ages of 16 and 20 of Senegalese, Malian, Guinean, Ivorian and, to a lesser extent, Moroccan origin, explains Fundación Cepsa.
The head of Fundación Cepsa in the Canary Islands, Belén Machado, together with the president of the Nahia Assistance Association, Laura Sosa, held a meeting to find out in detail about the status of the project and attended the reactivation, after the summer, of the activities included in the program, whose first action has focused on an agricultural workshop that takes place in the urban garden of El Sobradillo.
Machado highlighted the role played by the project “to promote the learning and functional use of language as a necessary communication tool.” An aspect that gains more strength in this case, considering that, he explained, “these young people arrive in the Canary Islands without having the ability to communicate effectively, which has a negative impact on their social integration.” Therefore, he insisted that “it is essential to have learning spaces adapted to their condition and their needs.”
For her part, Laura Sosa explained that since 2018 the entity has been developing activities for the linguistic inclusion of migrant minors, adapting them to the new needs and realities of young people. However, he specified, “thanks to the support of the Cepsa Foundation, it has been possible to reinvent the program giving the option of volunteering and creating alternative learning spaces, through the recovery of traditional trades such as agriculture, sewing and upholstery,” Sosa pointed out. .
He also stressed that one of the activities that arouses the greatest interest among migrant minors is centered on the urban garden in El Sobradillo, a space provided by the Giro Association, which they attend two hours a week and where progress is being made in the integration linguistics through the teaching of agricultural tasks.
He explained that they start in the cultivation and harvesting of products such as millet, potatoes, bubangos, spinach, pumpkins, onions or lettuce that, in addition, are donated through the Giro Association to soup kitchens.
On the other hand, the Nahia Assistance Association also develops tapestry and sewing and literacy workshops, at the same time that it carries out two cultural outings a month where the young participants can develop the use of language in everyday environments. This last activity will be resumed next week, with routes along Tegueste and Teide trails planned, where they will be made aware of the peculiarities that each area presents in terms of biodiversity.
These recreational activities are added to other visits already made to the Lercaro Museum, the Science and Cosmos Museum, the Carnival House, the Botanical Garden or the historic center of La Laguna, with which it is intended to influence knowledge, conservation and respect for the natural and cultural environment of Tenerife.
The program also includes specific activities focused on training related to job skills, active job search, conflict resolution and information and communication technologies as a tool for insertion.
