Colonia Esperanza History

Colonia Esperanza is one of what are known as "irregular zone" or a Colonia. These zones are areas of orchestrated invasion where the land is settled and heavily populated before public utilities are installed. There is no running water, no electricity, no bathrooms. Most of the shanties, scratched out of an old municipal dump, have dirt floors and no windows. Nine thousand children, most of them poor, migrate to Tijuana each year with their families. Sixty colonias and towns lack schools. In Colonia Esperanza, an estimated 2,000 kids have no place to learn.

Education is the only means for these forgotten people are able to free themselves from the trappings of their illiterate background. It is this need for schools in this area that led to the establishment of the Americas Foundation.

 

The Americas Foundation History

The Americas Foundation is a San Diego based, nonprofit, non-sectarian organization dedicated to community development and directly aiding the disadvantaged children in the impoverished neighborhood Colonia Esperanza in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico.

The Americas Foundation was established by Christine Brady, who became aware of the desperate economic and cultural deprivation of many impoverished areas along the U.S. / Mexican border.

To educate the children of the Colonia, the Foundation has established two schools, which are financially independent of government aid.

 

Jardin de Ninos La Esperanza

The first school, Jardin de Ninos La Esperanza, which means Children's Garden of Hope, was established in 1987. It was built as a preschool, a kindergarten and a first grade. It now serves one hundred and twenty children. The school has three classrooms on two adjacent lots. The first classroom was a pre-existing cinderblock rectangle with only a foundation and walls. The other two classrooms were built and designed under the direction of artist James Hubbell.

 

The Elementary School

Established in 1990, the elementary school was also built and designed under the direction of James Hubbell. It is called the Colegio La Esperanza or the School of Hope. Approximately one hundred and forty students attend grades 2 through 6. This school, situated near the preschool, is built on a magnificent hilltop site that overlooks Tijuana and San Diego. This building has three classrooms, a dance studio, and an open porch, which serves as a classroom, an outdoor stage, a computer room and an administrative office.

 

A Community Project

The project would not have succeeded without the great numbers of volunteers who have come to work along side Christine Brady and James Hubbell. Citizens from the Colonia work side by side with volunteers from the United States and all over the world, pouring cement, laying tile and creating art in an effort to bring a real artistic structure into this poor and desperate community.

The parents of the students fulfill a large number of tasks that are needed in order to build, operate and maintain their children's schools. The school requires the parents to volunteer four hours a week. In this way, the Foundation seeks to make the school not only a place of education for children and parents, but also a point of pride and inclusion.

In order to overcome resistance from various local groups, the Americas Foundation identified elements that crossed class barriers and promoted community acceptance, such as architecture and art. Ms. Brady began collaborating with San Diego artist James Hubbell, who shared a similar vision and was willing to donate both time and materials.

The intention was to create an inspiring school building that promoted peace and tranquility. It was important to bring beauty, magic and hope to an area devastated by poverty. Together, Christine Brady, James Hubbell, and countless volunteers have worked to bring into fruition impressive structures of beauty and grace. The domed roofs, large windows, stained glass, interior court yards and walls of mosaic work combine the beauty of nature and the boundless imaginations of the children.

Find out more about volunteering in our ongoing events section.

 

Ongoing Projects

Recently the Americas Foundation has brought two professional ballet teachers to the Colonia. They are Valery Alekseivich and his wife Tatiana Aleksanchova Palova Techkecheva, graduates of the famed Voganova Academy of St. Petersburg's Kirov Ballet. They have won numerous competitions and performed as soloists in international tours. They are experienced in working with young performers and students. As a result of this experience they are bringing profound change in the students' young lives. They push for the best in children who have never listened to classical music or seen a professional ballet performed.

 

"I believe in small things, in children and in seeds. To me, this school is a seed, placed in just the right spot in soil that Christine [Brady-Kosko] and The Americas Foundation have nurtured for years to make ready for this building. I hope the school will be full of hope, of life and beauty. I hope it will help the children to understand that it is a wonderful thing to be alive and to be human and to care. We need to believe as much as they do and to know that there is a future and that we can make it better."

- James Hubbell