Agroproductos Zubia is a medium-scale farm in Chihuahua, with plans to plant around 80 hectares of chile pepper this year. When Sustentar first began working with Zubia, their management told our team that they had been trying to figure out how to provide educational services to the children of their agricultural workers.
For the past three years, they had been hoping to secure a “mobile classroom” – which would be especially useful during chile pepper harvest season. Zubia told the Sustentar team that a nearby ranch had two mobile classrooms – one used by local children and another that had sat idle for years. Seeing this mobile classroom sit empty had sparked an idea to request that the unused classroom be transferred to their ranch.
In March 2024, the Sustentar team visited the empty mobile classroom to assess its condition and gather information to identify the relevant government agencies responsible for its management. After doing so, Sustentar guided Zubia through the process of submitting the necessary official requests to the National Council for Educational Development (CONAFE) and the Director General of Educational Services of the State of Chihuahua (SEECH) – two agencies responsible for public educational services in the region. Sustentar coordinated efforts with the government agencies and Zubia, resulting in a site visit from CONAFE to better understand Rancho Zubia’s educational needs for the children of their workers.
By August 2024, the mobile classroom was successfully transferred to Ranch Zubia. The Sustentar team worked with management to identify a teacher for the classroom, who had previously been working on the ranch in agricultural roles. She was hired as the primary educator for the mobile classroom. Zubia brought on an additional teacher and together, they began providing educational services to 50 children through CONAFE. Sustentar also facilitated efforts with another state agency to provide food for the children during schooltime – helping Rancho Zubia and government stakeholders work together in the best interest of workers and their children.
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