MPDL is a very successful non-governmental organization in Spain that has won awards and recognition for its work internationally and locally. They concentrate on human rights, immigration, international development, education, and more. The have a special focus on immigration through work with the Centro de Acogida para Refugiados in which they put on after school programs for children who live in the center. They have a strong focus on academic and socio-cultural aspects which are found in all of their programs. I was able to talk to Rebecca, a director in the Seville office, who provided me with much information about the different programs that they offer. She divided the programs into four categories for me by people they target; "gitanos" or gypsies, immigrants including children of immigrants, local Sevillanos, and other international programs for various causes. The programs that target gypsies include offering all kinds of educational classes from elementary to college level for gypsies and their families from all over Europe. The have a special program for mothers that allows for the mothers to have a place to care for their babies and lessons on how to do things like breast feed and care for their babies properly. Employment is also important for gypsies who typically take to the streets for money and MPDL helps with the job search and preparing the gypsies for the workforce and a better life in general. Programs for immigrants include an after school program that I mentioned earlier at a residence that houses immigrants and their families. Other services provided for immigrants include providing attorneys for help with legal documents and other programs to help with employment forms and building skills and a resume to apply for jobs. Rebecca informed me that it is required for all children in Spain, no matter your nationality, to attend school and these programs help the children of immigrants get to the level they need to be at for their age in the Spanish school system. Many children know little Spanish and are not accustomed to the studies in Spain but are taught, for free, the classes they need to catch up. Classes run from September to June like a regular school term. MPDL also provides classes for local Sevillanos, mostly students, to become informed about the social issues that affect their community. One major program is a "theater for peace" that allows locals to act out the social problems that exist to make their community more aware of what is going on. Programs are also offered internationally to help with things like agriculture or the economy depending on the location, examples include setting up stores in Peru or working with cows and farmers in Nicaragua.
MPDL is one of the larger NGO's in Spain and I was able to get a list of businesses that help fund their work along with names of other NGO's that do similar work. Their website (mpdl.org) is also very detailed and will be of great help when writing my larger research paper.
So far things have been going really well and I've received a lot of helpful information. I have another meeting tomorrow and one more next week and will be sure to write about those also.
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