Success Story

 

The "Conceited" Cookies of Mexico's Callejeros

Mexico City, Mexico — Vanidosas, which means “conceited,” might seem like an odd name for a brand of handmade cookies. But after seeing the stylish women drinking coffee and nibbling pastries in the sidewalk cafés of this city, the staff of El Caracol decided it was the perfect name for cookies that have been fussed over down to the last detail—just like the polished  women in the cafés.

However, Vanidosas have a uniqueness that their bakers prefer to keep secret: the cookies are created by callejeros, youth living on the streets of Mexico City. The glossy packaging does not give the slightest hint of this.

“We do not want people to buy them out of pity. We want people to buy them because they are delicious and of high quality,” said Juan Martín Pérez García, president of El Caracol, Mexico’s pioneer organization in improving the lives of street children and youth. “Through projects like this, we want to eliminate the stigma faced by callejeros.”
 
Vanidosas were first sold in August 2005 in select outlets in Mexico City. Sales have been strong, and El Caracol now wants to market them throughout Mexico, Europe, and the United States.

But Vanidosas are more than cookies. They are actually the latest of many tools that El Caracol is using to help callejeros leave the streets and become productive citizens. Since 1994, the group has successfully reintegrated 275 street children into Mexican society.

About a third of Mexico’s 106 million people are children under the age of 15. An estimated 130,000 children and youth live on the streets, one-third of them in Mexico City. Street children, most of whom are boys, are especially susceptible to alcohol and drug abuse, prostitution, and crime.

El Caracol is a recognized leader in working with this population, and many of its methods have been adopted by other organizations in Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras. Through the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), El Caracol offers a degree program for those who want to work with street children. So far, 65 have graduated, with 25 currently enrolled. “We need more professionals to work with street children,” said El Caracol’s president, Juan Martín.

El Caracol operates a bakery, a cafeteria, a day center where callejeros can shower, rest, and do their laundry, and a residential center, where about 20 residents participate in an 18-month program to reintegrate them into society. The Vanidosas project, funded by The Global Fund for Children, is part of the 18-month program and is an outgrowth of El Caracol’s bakery.  

Martín, one of the callejeros baking Vanidosas, does not aspire to be a master baker. “I prefer computers,” he said, “but the Vanidosas program is teaching me how to work.” El Caracol’s president adds that by learning to work in a team, callejeros like Martín can have stable jobs and a better future—off the streets of Mexico.

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