Aguascalientes, Ags., March 26th, 2024. Bonaterra Community project was born from researching and analyzing the different social problems and needs in different areas of Aguascalientes, seeking to create a replicable social model that promotes the integral development of people and turns them into agents of change.
Bonaterra Community
After having been working at the Mexico City campus Universidad Panamericana for 25 years, Lorenza Larios arrived at our Aguascalientes campus to direct this intervention model based on social action and through social justice, aims to promote the welfare and prosperity of families in Aguascalientes, especially in the eastern zone, to ensure the reduction of social inequalities and a comprehensive human and dignified development.
"Directing Comunidad Bonaterra, besides being an important challenge in my life, is to have found myself in a city where people have participated and trusted in the project, and that has been motivating for me. Working on a project in which the work team is mainly women has also been an important challenge," says the director of Comunidad Bonaterra.
Carolina Palacios Rodríguez, a graduate in pedagogy, is the operational coordinator of the programs for children, young people and adults, which are divided into different areas of intervention: academic, artistic, sports and cultural recreation.
"For me, Bonaterra Community means being an agent that has a broad impact on the environment in which we are, but in addition to being an example, it means having the mission to encourage everyone who is in Bonaterra Community to have a process of self-knowledge," she says.
Activities and lines of work
Among the various activities carried out are a training group for boys and girls, where they receive comprehensive training with activities such as kung fu, gymnastics, arts and crafts classes, chess and cognitive stimulation classes, a robotics workshop where they seek to promote vocations in STEM areas, a soccer school and an orchestra.
Each of these programs relies on an educational intervention: mentoring , where each of the program participants has a mentor who conducts occasional sessions and where personal, family or academic performance issues are addressed in order to promote the personal development of the participants.
"Another of the activities carried out is the coordination of volunteers -mainly made up of students from the University, as well as other educational institutions- with the objective of turning them into agents of change, where once they are trained in this process with us, they can continue to replicate it in their professional life as well as in the social environment in which they are involved," says Carolina Palacios.
María Virginia Tavares, a psychopedagogy graduate, is also in charge of the coordination of the Orchestra project, aimed at all those young people, boys and girls who have artistic talent or interest in playing an instrument.
He is also in charge of coordinating the Academic Laboratories area, whose purpose is to provide students -from all Schools and Faculties- with a space where they can practice their professions and have a direct impact on the social fabric.
"Being part of Comunidad Bonaterra means being able to put into practice my vocation as a psychopedagogue and as a person at the service of others, doing my bit to continue building dreams for Aguascalientes. Being able to work with two women that I admire and appreciate very much, just after graduating, allows me to continue learning from them and continue to form myself as a professional and as a person," she says.
At present, the School of Pedagogy and Psychology has already established a Psychopedagogical Office, where about 24 patients are being attended by the School of Pedagogy and Psychology; each one has his or her own individual and personalized evaluation and intervention process with the psychopedagogical.
It is worth mentioning that the legal office was also recently opened, where students from the School of Law attend to the legal matters of the members of the community.
