Ciudad Juárez is often on the list of the most violent cities in the world, but some are making it a much brighter place.

Juárez is the most populated city in the state of Chihuahua, Mexico and borders El Paso, Texas, being one of the major points of entry into the USA. As a border town, it hosts many ‘maquiladoras’, or industrial centers and assembly plants. Therefore it is no surprise that Juárez is a city made up in large part of migrants from all over Mexico and Central American countries, who have come either in hopes of passage into the USA or simply in hopes of work. Due to the rising violence associated with the Mexican cartel drug war, many people and businesses who could afford to have since left Juárez, however thankfully in the past couple of years there has been a reduction in violent crime.*

Considering the realities of this city, it is no surprise when Daniel Pineda, Mentor a Mentor’s new instructor, shares with us the challenges he and his students’ face:

"Due to our school being on the outskirts of the city and the amount of factories in our area providing the majority of employment options, we have people from different states all over Mexico living here, presenting a sociocultural mixture of inhabitants and a floating population. In the majority of the cases, both parents work in the ‘maquilador’ sector, [working long hours] and leaving many children unattended to, presenting many problems of misbehavior and lack of identity in my students. There is a high level of gangs in the area and due to lack of resources, many children do not have access to recreational or athletic activities."

Daniel is not only a dedicated physical education teacher to these children and youth at the local secondary school, but he is now an even brighter spot to them once their school day has ended. Every Wednesday and Friday afternoon Daniel offers free and open breakdance classes to his students through Mentor a Mentor.

Soon after becoming an assistant to his breakdance instructor, Daniel studied physical education at university and later found himself teaching his own breakdance groups in Chihuahua City. After receiving a teaching position at Escuela Secundaria Técnica #94 in Juárez he made the move, and now with Mentor a Mentor he has been teaching breakdance classes in Juárez since the middle of November.

“Most of the students that first came to the breakdance classes were the ones I had the most discipline problems with in my classes at school. I was a bit worried at first, however I realized that their behavior was really a cry for attention. Seeing the children do something they actually enjoy and that they want to learn, I’ve understood that they realize now someone is investing in them, I’ve noticed a change in their behavior even though our time together in breakdance has been short. During the school day they’ve shown more respect and interest in my classes, and they even seek me out in school to say hello, I hope this will continue to produce much fruit.”

“For me what I hope to see my students apply is the most important part of breakdance: a hunger to achieve more. I want them to realize they can accomplish more than they think, and that once they’ve achieved something, they enjoy it, all the time looking to reach an even higher level in their practice. That’s what breakdance promotes: you work hard to achieve a movement, once you’ve got it, you perfect and improve it, and then you can make it even more complex. Students learn the discipline of the process, and that through more effort, more quickly they will achieve their objectives. My goal for them is to feel part of a group, improve their self esteem, and open their form of expression through dance-realizing they can achieve anything they imagine-and take this philosophy with them in all things.”

Daily Daniel is impacting these youth, and making a difference in his community through his gift of breakdance, time, and love that he is consistently sharing with the children of Juárez. See the pictures below of his classes and the presentation they did at their school this week!

If you would like to support Daniel so his classes can continue throughout 2018 and help provide some of the material he needs, go here.

​* If you are interested in learning more about Ciudad Juárez, check out this excellent 2016 National Geographic article. “People think someone’s going to come from outside and cure the problem,” he says. “People think a messiah will come. No. The key to success is to strengthen what’s local.”