December 2016

Playa Del Carmen, Mxico

Animal Awareness Workshop

Objective
To increase public awareness of the abuse of animals in our society.
Summary
The Playa del Carmen community team decided to create a workshop in which they could give the
children important information on animal abuse in Mexico, and how we can help to create a better
place for all.

Fig 1: Volunteers and kids from Ludoteca

Report
As we all know, animal abuse is not a new topic, but recently more people are becoming involved to
promote awareness and justice for these innocent creatures. In Playa del Carmen, Mexico its very
common to see a lot of strays roaming in the city looking for shelter and food. Thats why this workshop was created and given to: Ludoteca, Contando con un amigo and Corazones.

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The purpose of this workshop is to create consciousness and deliver important information on how to
treat animals around us.

Fig 2: Volunteers and kid from Corazones

The workshop was very complete, children were able to learn important facts about different types
of animals around the world, for example: penguins, cows, and sheep among others.
We had a debate about whether animals feel emotions or not, talked about the importance of taking
your pet to the vet, what types of vaccines a dog and a cat need every year, to treat them with respect
and love because they are part of our family. Sometimes we approach to animals without knowing if
this animal wants to get in contact with a person and thats how accidents can occur. Kids learned
how to read animal behavior on dogs and cats, so they can detect if an animal is feeling sad, nervous,
or happy.
At the middle of the class we had a game, the group was divided in two groups, one with 3 kids and
the rest in another. The 3 kids were the Zookeepers and the rest the wild animals that escaped from
the zoo, so they needed to run away from the zookeepers and get into the safe zone. Children ran and
had so much fun. With this activity they were able to put themselves in the place of the animals and
feel the need to protect themselves arriving to the safe zone.
To finish with the workshop, the children colored animal face masks, they were able to choose between being a dog or a cat. While they were coloring, they were sharing all different stories about
their pets, their names, funny and sad stories about them.

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Fig 3: Volunteers at Corazones

It was a great workshop, they had a lot of fun and important information was delivered. We really
think new generations can make a huge impact on this issue and spread what theyve learned with
family, friends and people at school.
If you would like to know more about the community projects in Playa del Carmen, please visit:
http://www.gvi.co.uk/location/yucatan/

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