Madrigal: Kindergarten and Cuna Más

In Madrigal, we began re-purposing and re-equipping the classrooms of a kindergarten (ages 3 to 5), while working with the Ministry of Education to provide three new teachers to extend the school day. The wider community took part by offering volunteer labor for these projects.

We also spoke with the Programa Nacional Cuna Más, a federal program that provides daycare for children up to 2 years old. We wanted to increase the number of children in this program in Madrigal, so Urban Angels offered part of the funding and encouraged more local mothers to give their time.

Extending the school day and the number of young children in care lets the older students in the village attend an after-school program. Otherwise, they are charged with caring for their younger siblings in the afternoon. We considered buying the land across the street from the kindergarten to build a facility for our after-school program, which could also be used for child care if needed.

As a model, we used the nursery school and kindergarten that Gloria, our new Urban Angels employee, built in Yanque over twenty years. Gloria is a close friend of Reyna, who has been the school director in Madrigal for twenty years.

2016 Urban Angels efforts

• We installed a soft floor in the kindergarten playroom so the children can play safely with their equipment and toys.
• We held several meetings with the school director and town mayor to understand the full extent of the need.
• We brought the Ministry of Education to the village to authorize the changes we were making.