The Sociedad Civil en Marcha is a small group of volunteers who provide genuine opportunity to the children of San Miguel. For the past five years, the street children of San Miguel, and others who come from lesser circumstances, have been able to attend a Saturday school called The School of Arts and Occupations.

The school is currently in the Plaza Real del Conde, where these children receive free instruction in the traditional arts of San Miguel: painting, papier mâché, blacksmithing, silversmithing, sugar sculpture, carpentry, weaving and knitting. 

The teachers are professionals from our community who donate their time, without fail, to the children. After their four- or five-hour classes, all the children enjoy a hearty lunch, brought to them by the members of the association.

This school is growing every day, with the children from the outlying communities bringing their friends, who are received with open arms. The school now has over 95 students, many with personal histories of mistreatment, malnutrition and desperate circumstances.

As the school needs to continue to grow, Luis Ferro de la Sota, State Coordinator of the organization, has made a personal donation of 3,000 meters of land just behind Gigante to be used to build a permanent, dedicated facility. Now only the funds for the construction remain to be raised.

In May 2004, Sociedad Civil en Marcha officially founded a soccer school, called Tecos de San Miguel, for children between four and fourteen years old. The children have already won several championships.

Last September, they won the Copa Independencia in Dolores Hidalgo and, on October 20, they won two trophies as municipal champions in two categories, which puts them in fourth place regionally.

The school’s Sports Directors are Ignacio Tapia, for categories 94 and 95, and Francisco García, for categories 92 and 93.

In all, there are four qualified instructors volunteering their time for 80 children. Over half of those 80 have received scholarships for the school from Luis Ferro de la Sota of the Sociedad Civil en Marcha.

With great enthusiasm, the parents have drummed up the money for uniforms and transportation through fundraising events they’ve held. Various young boys have been recruited from this school to the Club Tecos of Guadalajara. Daniel García (18) is now a reserve in the first division, and Juan Espinosa Rivera (16) is in the second division.

The ideals of this small organization are to give the young people of San Miguel an outlet in sports and traditional professions in an effort to prevent delinquency and, above all, drug addiction. With appropriate encouragement, they won’t leave home too early and will gain a sense of belonging and direction. If you’d like more information about the Sociedad Civil en Marcha or are interested in membership, please call 154-4579.