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Otoch Paal Montessori Community Center |
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| Location: Akumal, Q. Roo, Mexico | |
| Website: No Website | |
| Program Established: April 2004 | |
| # of Children: 45 | Ages Served: 18 months-6 years |
Immediate Needs:
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| Contact Person: Gabriela Ortega | |
| Contact Information: otochpaal@prodigy.net.mx | |
Otoch Paal Montessori Community Center is a labor of love designed to educate the indigenous children from the Mayan Riviera. The specific goal is to build a non-profit school which will serve the Mayan community of Akumal, where it is common to find lonely children, who are semi-dressed, walking barefoot or playing around the town, while their parents work in the local tourist hotels. The older children cannot attend school as they must take care of their younger siblings.
In Mayan Otoch Paal means “Children’s House” and our logo represents the “Great Sky”. The primary classroom which opened on January 6th, 2005 is named “Kinich’ which means “Face of the Sun”. The buildings are based on the local style. Each palapa is made out of special dry leaves and its height is around 8 meters which is good for ventilation.
The plan is to have four classrooms, two for 3 – 6 year olds, with a capacity of 35 children per class and two for 18 month to 3 year olds.
The parents help to make this dream come true everyday. Everyone works together and they cooperate actively to create a Montessori environment for their children.
One major part of this project is to have bilingual teachers speaking Mayan and Spanish, so that they can reinforce the native and regional culture. One of our main objectives is to recover the myths and traditions of the Mayan culture so that the children can experience and appreciate their heritage.
We consider it very important to help the children in their complete development so that they can fulfill their potential and contribute to a better future.
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