Agency: Community Organization Service to Loma de Los Negritos

Partnership: University of Aguascalientes Social Work Department

Director of Social Work Department-Tere Ortiz

Project Organizer: Professor Martha Cortes- Social Work Department

Location: Aguascalientes, Mexico

• Court System - referral to social work services – families and delinquency
• DIF – Services for Child Abuse, Domestic Violence, Vulnerable Women- Elderly
• University project- Community Organization on poverty Aguascalientes, Mexico

• Project: Community Organization Service to Loma de Los Negritos

La Loma De Los Negritos translates into English as “The Hills of the Dark Skin People”.

It is a small community where the population is approximately a little over 1,000 people.

For many years, the community had no electricity or running water. In recent years, the

community has become very open to having social work students. These students have

observed, intervened and interacted with the people of the community to target services

or changes that the population may need or want. Students have additional support

through Universidad Autónoma de Aguascalientes.

• The student’s first goal is to assess the physical environment and understand the social

dynamics in order to understand the condition of the community. For example, the

flowing nearby stream is contaminated by a blue jean factory upstream and mounds of

garbage surround the community. Many people and animals are ill from this toxic

environment. One would think that the social dynamics is affected by the physical

conditions, as well as poverty, lack of education, lack of resources and the social

isolation from main stream society. The students become involved and integrated into

the community through community assessment and community development. As a

result of the assessment, students provide workshops for the community in which the

community is encouraged to attend. Dominican social work students work along with

several Mexican social work students with women, youth and children.. The Dominican

University students along with a team of students were supervised by a social work

professor who is specialized in community organization practice. Each group of

students worked with a particular population. Issues are addressed by holding talleres

or workshops on different themes. Some of the themes include environmental

contamination, life skills for families, life skills for youth, and needs of women.