Preventing children with cancer from dropping out of school in Mexico
Nariz Roja (Red Nose) provides top-quality, free of charge and inclusive education to 60 children with cancer
The goal of Nariz Roja is clear: to try to make the lives of children suffering from cancer as normal as possible, helping them reach the academic level for their age and ensuring that once they have recovered from their illness they can join the education system at the appropriate grade.
The main educational issue for children and teenagers with cancer is school absenteeism, given that after having spent a long time in hospital the majority of them do not return to school. Their families often lack the financial means to get them back to school and the fact that some of these schools are quite far away makes it difficult for these children to get to school in their delicate state of health. On other occasions it is the children themselves who decide to abandon their studies due to fatigue or the pressure they are under at school due to the effects of their disease. Average treatment time in Mexico is five years, which is a very significant amount of time and something which opens up an unbridgeable gap when it comes to going back to school once they have recovered from their illness.
The MAPFRE School – Nariz Roja educates children from primary school to high school level, in an inclusive space, with teachers who are experts in special education and know about the disease and the implications and effects of cancer. The teachers tailor the study plans to the performance level of each of the children affected by the disease and work on an individual basis with each child both face-to-face and online, adapting to their pace and abilities.
The school also provides the children with a nutritional breakfast, which helps improve their health and cognitive abilities, since they are not necessarily receiving healthy food at home.
Nariz Roja fights to ensure that no child suffering from cancer is left outside the education system due to a lack of resources. Their goal is to offer them opportunities so that their future has no limits.