From an early age, Alejandra Morales Torres found reading a tool for identifying and managing her emotions. Observing the migration of children in the city of Reynosa, Tamaulipas, in northern Mexico, she decided to create an emotional education project through reading, one of the three Mexican social transformation initiatives selected and supported with seed capital by the UNESCO and Nestlé pilot program: Impulso Joven – Because Youth Matters.
"Leyendo mis emociones" (reading my emotions) creates a space for children in human mobility and living in shelters to access more than 100 books addressing emotional education, values, and migration stories. The goal is for children to use reading to help them process and manage their emotions, feelings, and experiences.
Children migrating to the United States border can face extreme vulnerability, discrimination, and violence. They are denied access to healthcare or exposed to organized crime, including human trafficking. These experiences can lead to permanent trauma and other mental health conditions that affect their overall development and the well-being of their entire community.
Addressing mental health can mitigate the effects of inequality in various aspects of society, which is why Alejandra has focused on actions from this perspective.
The project began with a pilot workshop in collaboration with Save the Children and, due to its success, was able to advance and evolve with the support of the Impulso Joven programme.
Today, it is an accessible, safe, comfortable, and friendly space for migrant children in the Reynosa community to develop psycho-emotional skills that help them build resilience and have healthy managing mechanisms.
Her project was one of the 20 selected from over 900 applications from young people aged 18 to 29 and youth organizations for the UNESCO and Nestlé pilot program for the Latin America and Caribbean region.
The program granted seed capital of 10,000 dollars and specialized advisory services to strengthen innovative projects with positive social impact in communities. In June, it brought together the selected young people from 11 countries at the UNESCO Villa Ocampo Observatory in Buenos Aires, Argentina, for intensive training sessions, practical workshops, mentorships, and various activities to continue strengthening their initiatives. For Alejandra, the mentoring and training program: "Has greatly enriched my skills and fortified my development as a leader. Beyond focusing on our projects, it has focused on developing young people as leaders."
The Impulso Joven-Because Youth Matter is coordinated by UNESCO's Social and Human Sciences Sector. It is part of the "Initiative for Youth," a global project by Nestlé, and the UNESCO Global Youth Scholarship Plan.
In Mexico, the Sector strengthens the knowledge, skills, capacities, and attitudes of public and private actors, civil society, and academia to enhance inclusive public policies, promote the ethical approach to sciences and technologies, and facilitate dialogue spaces to mobilize the construction of peaceful, inclusive, and resilient societies from an intercultural, gender, and social transformation perspective.
