| Blurr Borders: Table of Contents |
Binational Partnerships That Work—Human Services
San Diego-Tijuana Border Drug Free Coalition
& Boys and Girls Clubs of America
www.borderinitiative.org
| The San Diego-Tijuana Drug-Free Border Coalition is an innovative binational partnership committed to reducing substance abuse in the San Diego-Tijuana region by linking groups and individuals engaged in prevention on both sides of the border and supporting them through activities including: cross border information sharing; training and technical assistance; increasing binational awareness about substance abuse; engaging communities in substance abuse prevention; developing resources to support binational substance abuse efforts; and strengthening the coalition. Among its current initiatives is to assist the Boys & Girls Clubs of America in establishing similar clubs in Tijuana for at-risk youth. | |
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Fundación Esperanza
de Mexico and
Esperanza has also been instrumental in partnering with Los Niños de Baja California, A.C. towards initiating an advocacy program aimed at promoting community empowerment among emerging women leaders to provide community-based courses in nutrition, organic production, ecology, and preventive healthcare. |
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Since
1990 Fundación Esperanza de México (FEM)
and its Solana Beach, Ca. based counterpart, Esperanza International,
Inc., have been working to promote community development in Tijuana
by "empowering the poor to help themselves" in communities
that lack urban infrastructure such as: paved roads, safe electrical
connections, water, sanitation services, and housing. Esperanza
assists communities that have the potential for becoming self-sustaining
and bases its assistance on self-help principles. Their goal is
to "plant the seeds, provide assistance as requested, then
step back and let the community take its own course." In
an effort to conserve water in Tijuana’s growing colonias
populares, Esperanza’s recently initiated their first primary
treatment facility for gray water re-use and compost toilets in
Southern Tijuana. Esperanza is also providing micro-credit to
low income families to assist with housing finance and construction.
Working closely with Esperanza International,
FEM successfully recruits an average of 1,000 U.S. students and
adult volunteers annually for work on community-based projects
across Tijuana. In 2002, volunteers contributed over 45,000 hours
of volunteer time.