Mexican Institute for Family and Population Research

IMIFAP - Yo Quiero, Yo Puedo (el Instituto Mexicano de Investigación de Familia y Población, or the Mexican Institute for Family and Population Research) is a non-governmental organization headquartered in Mexico City, Mexico. IMIFAP—Yo Quiero, Yo Puedo's central mission is to facilitate the development of life skills and knowledge through a reduction of psychosocial barriers so that people in marginalized Mexican communities might reach their full potential and become agents of change in their own lives and in their communities.“Mission and Vision.” IMIFAP Yo Quiero, Yo Puedo. 2013. Accessed August 5, 2013. http://www.yoquieroyopuedo.org.mx/yoquieroyopuedo/mision.html IMIFAP (Yo Quiero, Yo Puedo)’s programs address a wide variety of issues in the fields of health, education, productivity, and citizenship; however each program is based on FrEE (Framework for Enabling Empowerment), “a model that emphasizes the importance of psychosocial factors and the individual in accessing freedoms and promoting health, productivity, and sustainable human development”.Pick, Susan, Kimberly Beers, and Shoshana Grossman-Crist. “A Human Basis for Sustainable Development: How Psychosocial Change at the Individual Level Promotes Development.” Poverty and Public Policy: A Global Journal of Social Security, Income, Aid, and Welfare, Volume 3, Issue 3. Policy Studies Organization, 2011. Web. http://www.psocommons.org/ppp/vol3/iss3/art8

Their most recent program being administered in Chiapas and Hidalgo, Mexico is entitled “Yo Quiero, Yo Puedo… tener éxito en la escuela” (“I want to I can…be successful in school”).Redacción Travel & News. “Yo Quiero, Yo Puedo presente su Campaña ¡Presente Maestro!, la cual ha logrado disminuir la deserción escolar en México en un 24%.” Travel and News. 5 May 2013. Accessed 5 August 2013. Web. http://www.travel-news.com.mx/tendencias/cultura/3298--yo-quiero-yo-puedo-presenta-su-campana-ipresente-maestro-la-cual-ha-logrado-disminuir-la-desercion-escolar-en-mexico-en-un-24“Educación: Éxito en la Escuela.” IMIFAP Yo Quiero, Yo Puedo. 2013. Accessed 5 August 2013. Web. http://yoquieroyopuedo.org.mx/store/taller/2.Givaudan, Martha, Angélica Romero, and Marco A. Barriga Dávila. “Efecto del programa “Yo Quiero, Yo Puedo…tener éxito en la escuela” en la transición de Primaria Secundaria en Escuelas Rurales del Estado de Chiapas.” Psic. Da Ed., 34, 1 sem. de 2012, pg 186-208. Web. http://pepsic.bvsalud.org/pdf/psie/n34/n34a10.pdf Others that the organization have been carrying out include “Yo Quiero, Yo Puedo… prevenir embarazos” (“I want to I can…prevent pregnancies”), “Yo Quiero, Yo Puedo… prevenir violencia” (“I want to I can…prevent violence”), “Yo Quiero, Yo Puedo… cuidar mi salud y ejercer mis derechos” (“I want to I can…take care of my health and exercise my rights”) and “Yo Quiero, Yo Puedo… empezar mi negocio” (“I want to I can…start my own business”).Pick, Susan and Jenna T. Sirkin. Breaking the Poverty Cycle: The Human Basis for Sustainable Development. New York: Oxford University Press, 2010, Appendix A.

History Establishment

IMIFAP (Yo Quiero, Yo Puedo) was founded in 1985 by a group of social psychologists, led by Dr. Susan Pick. The first program that the organization developed sought to improve sexuality education for women by equipping them with life skills they needed to tear down the psychosocial barriers hindering them from proper accession to health care facilities, personnel, and tools such as contraceptives. In Dr. Pick's doctoral research, she had discovered that although many of the women in the communities located on the outskirts of Mexico City liked the idea of family planning, they lacked the possibility to use contraception for several reasons: they did not know how to use or access it, feared social scrutiny, or believed they did not have the right to make these decisions in regards to their health.Pick de Weiss, S. (1978) A social psychological study of family planning in Mexico City. Unpublished Thesis, University of London, London.Isaacs, S., Cairns, G., & Heckel, N. (1985) Population policy: A manual for policymakers and planners. New York: Columbia University.Wolfson, M. (1987). Changing approaches to population problems. Paris: OECD. There seemed to be an inherent belief amongst participants that things in life happened to them and that they had little to no control. Dr. Pick, in an initial phase of evaluation, interviewed many women who commonly used phrases such as “If God wants it,” “I can't work because my husband would not like that, it is better for me to wait,” or “I shouldn't ask, it is better if I remain quiet.”.Pick, Susan and Jenna T. Sirkin. Breaking the Poverty Cycle: The Human Basis for Sustainable Development. New York: Oxford University Press, 2010, pg. 14. Thus, IMIFAP (Yo Quiero, Yo Puedo)’s first project to redesign the traditional sexuality education model incorporated FrEE, a methodology that promotes the breakdown of psychosocial barriers in order to promote an individual's power to choose and commit to personal changes, ultimately leading to a sustainable form of human development as individuals gain the skills to drive change for themselves rather than wait for an outside power to make changes for them. Under this methodology, the first program helped the women to develop intrinsic motivation and a sense of empowerment, life skills that built up the women's perceptions of themselves and their abilities to form their futures so that, combined with the sexuality education lessons, the program sustainably improved the health care situation in the region. Post-program analysis showed that after receiving IMIFAP (Yo Quiero, Yo Puedo)’s programming, the women not only knew more about the biology behind sex but also reported greater interest in using contraception and visiting the local health clinic.Clay, Rebecca A. “Revolutionary sex education.” Monitor on Psychology, Vol. 32, No. 4, pg 58. April 2011: American Psychological Association. Print & Web. http://www.apa.org/monitor/apr01/sexed.aspx By 1987, IMIFAP (Yo Quiero, Yo Puedo) had adapted this model for adolescents, acknowledging that the belief that one has “no control” begins at an early age and that children are least equipped with the knowledge to make positive decisions when it comes to their sexual health. Therefore, IMIFAP (Yo Quiero, Yo Puedo) published a series of manuals and textbooks on sexuality education for children and adolescents, including its first training manual “Planning Your Life”.Pick, S., Aguilar, J., Rodriguez, G. Reyes, J., Collado, M.E., Pier, D., Acevedo, M.P., & Vargas, E. (1988). Planeando tu vida: Programa de educacion sexual y para la vida dirigido a los adolescents. [Planning your life: Sexual education program and life skills program for adolescents]. Mexico City: Editorial Planeta Mexicana. Later in 1988, they launched their first national program by the same name with the approval of the Secretary of Education at the time, Manuel Bartlett. The national campaign consisted originally of a small workshop in Querétaro, Mexico with a group of teachers, representing all of the states in Mexico. IMIFAP (Yo Quiero, Yo Puedo) sold over half a million copies of their sexuality education textbooks and materials. They continued their campaign by developing a short soap opera called “Talk to me about ‘That’” with support from the newly elected Secretary of Education, Ernesto Zedillo. In 1991, “Planning your Life” was adopted officially into the public education system under the title “Adolescence and Development.” “Institucionalizacion del programa ‘Yo Quiero, Yo Puedo’ como politica educative federal”. (2005) Mexico City: IMIFAP-Educacion, salud y vida. For Zimat Consultores. p. 3.Pick, Susan, Martha Givaudan, & Michael R. Reich. Development in Practice, Volume 18, Number 2. “NGO—government partnerships for scaling up: sexuality education in Mexico”. Rutledge Publishing, 2008. Web & Print.

Current Projects

IMIFAP (Yo Quiero, Yo Puedo) focuses on the creation and implementation of programs that encourage participants to develop an intrinsic sense of responsibility and power in order to exercise control over their own lives. After the success of their first program on sexuality education, IMIFAP (Yo Quiero, Yo Puedo) expanded to include programs in four main areas: health, citizenship, productivity, and education. All four center around the concept that knowledge plus life skills minus psychosocial barriers lead to changes in behaviors to form agents of change, reduce risk factors in context, improve gender equality, and increase opportunities for development.

Education

The school-based programs are centered on life skills and empowerment for parents, teachers that live and coexist with the children, pre-teens, and adolescents from preschool through 9th grade. These programs include topics such as improving academic performance and the classroom environment, and school for mom and dad. For example, such programs help parents of children under 12 years of age and adolescents to assess their role in their children's lives and support the personal growth of each family member. All education programs have the objective of supporting communication, identifying and expression emotions, and establishing and enforcing limits, such as fortifying necessary protective factors that prevent problems such as drug use and alcohol abuse, obesity and unwanted pregnancies, all directed toward the personal development of teachers and parents and the basis for raising healthy, responsible children, capable of taking control of their lives. The organization has taken an active role in the campaign for educational reform in Mexico, launching a national campaign “Presente Maestro!” in the spring of 2013. The campaign was designed to raise awareness to the issues currently facing students and the new reform measures being made by the Mexican government to improve the current system of teaching.Rojas, Paolo. “Presente Maestro! busca aumentar rendimiento escolar” Audio de Grupo Formula. 26 April 2013. Accessed 5 August 2013. http://www.radioformula.com.mx/notas.asp?Idn=320801

Examples of educational programs: “Hygiene, Health, and a Healthy Environment,” “Nutrition,” “Tobacco, drug and alcohol use prevention,” “Sexual and reproductive health and rights,” “Civic and Ethics Formation,” “Financial Education,” “Violence and Bullying,” and “Developing Talents.” “Educación.” IMIFAP Yo Quiero, Yo Puedo. Web. http://www.yoquieroyopuedo.org.mx/yoquieroyopuedo/educacion.html

Health

The health programs seek to help develop skills and knowledge so that individuals can make and implement autonomous and informed decisions regarding their physical and mental health. Programs are implemented by community health personal in clinics and activities in the community.Clay, Rebecca A. “Revolutionary sex education.” Monitor on Psychology, Vol. 32, No. 4, pg 58. April 2011: American Psychological Association. Print & Web. http://www.apa.org/monitor/apr01/sexed.aspx“Yo Quiero, Yo Puedo…darte pecho, jugar contigo y acostarte boca arriba.” Eldiarovision. 13 May 2011. Web. Accessed 5 August 2013. http://www.eldiariovision.com.mx/noticia/nota,5622/

Program topics include: “Quality of Personal Attention to Health”, “Prevention of Cervical and Breast Cancer,” “Maternal and Infant Health and Cognitive Development,” “Early detection of Depression,” and “Nutrition and Prevention of Diabetes and ECV.” “Salud.” IMIFAP Yo Quiero, Yo Puedo. Web. http://www.yoquieroyopuedo.org.mx/yoquieroyopuedo/salud.html

Citizenship