Vamos México, philanthropy with sense and responsibility

Published June 12, 2023

On September 24, 2001, the Vamos México Foundation began its activities. According to Marta Sahagún de Fox, its president, it became “her life mission” after Vicente Fox’s presidency ended.

Exclusively for Organización Editorial Mexicana, Marta Sahagún recalls that six months before the end of Vicente Fox’s term, the Vamos México Foundation was moved to San Cristóbal, in San Francisco del Rincón, to work in favor of education, health, human and community development.

Causes and direction
Today, Vamos México has seven programs: Centro de Rehabilitación Integral San Miguel de Allende (CRISMA); A rodar con amor (ARCA); Comunidad en Desarrollo Reactivando Oportunidades (Cedro); Capacitando Organizaciones Nacionales y Orientando Caminos con Esfuerzo (Conocer); México Activando la Nutrición con Objetivos Sociales (Manos) and Ciudadanos Atendidos en Salud y Acompañamiento (Casa).

My main vocation has always been social work,” says Sahagún. When I was 8 years old, I started working in volunteer work for vulnerable groups. When I was 12 years old, my social worker was visiting the women’s prison. And so I can mention every stage of my life, including when we were in the presidency of the Republic”.

This vocation of service and help to the disabled population that does not have the resources to access specialized rehabilitation is materialized in CRISMA, which seeks that patients -infants or adults- acquire independence capacity with rehabilitation, hearing and language, and psychological therapy.

After suspending some activities due to the pandemic, in 2022 CRISMA returned to receive around 230 patients per month for hydrotherapy – in the largest therapeutic tank in Latin America – and to care for approximately 250 families with care from the family nucleus to achieve the functional independence of patients, an effort to which The HSLopez Family Foundation and Cristina Mundial International Public Foundation joined.

Marta Sahagún assures that her greatest satisfaction is to have put together with her team “a grain of sand to transform the lives of people and their families, granting through our programs the possibility of achieving a better quality of life by recognizing their dignity.”

With RODAR, Vamos México has provided 622 wheelchairs in all regions of the country in alliance with the United Rotary Fund of Mexico and the Free Wheelchair Mission.

Tresguerras and First Cash joined this effort in which the population was also trained in the assembly of wheelchairs in towns such as Romita, Salvatierra, Union de San Antonio, Ecuandureo, Contepec, and Celaya.

The government cannot do it alone

Marta Sahagún states: “The government cannot do everything, society cannot do it alone”. She explains that what Vamos México and hundreds of foundations do is “to support social issues that transform people’s well being and well-being, recognizing their capabilities and potential, which allows them to improve their lives and that of their families in better conditions”.

In 2022, with the Manos Program and in alliance with Alovéa, Manna Relief, and Vitamin Angels, Vamos Mexico has provided benefits to 1.2 million people with doses of Hope Blend nutritional powder to inhabitants of communities and rural areas.

This vitamin supplement, made from aloe vera, strengthens the immune system, thereby reducing respiratory and gastrointestinal illnesses.

Along the same lines, with the Cedro program, Vamos México has worked with the community of San Cristóbal and neighboring towns to improve their quality of life. There, 80 volunteer brigadistas have provided medical attention, 35 elderly adults have been assisted in motor activities, 80 women have received talks on the prevention and detection of breast cancer, and 368 consultations in general medicine, dentistry, nutrition, physiotherapy, laboratory, and psychology, in alliance with the Escuela Nacional de Estudios Superiores de la UNAM in León, brigadistas Médicos del Bajío, Providencia, Perdura and Altex Next, among other organizations and companies.

This program’s activities also included eye exams for people from San Cristóbal, El Consuelo, San José del Resplandor, and San Judas.

In terms of training, through Conoce, the organizations have had the opportunity to attend, in person and virtually, conferences and courses to increase their organizational skills and knowledge in the use of IT, fundraising, marketing, internal communication, project evaluation, GTO Contigo Sí programs. These activities were attended by almost 2,500 participants, including individuals and representatives of organizations.

In alliance with the University of California, San Diego, Vamos Mexico trained the 6th generation of community leaders in educational, ecological, social integration, community development, and entrepreneurship activities in 2022 with its Wings program. The leaders have given workshops for teenagers, sports rallies, recreation with senior citizens, theater plays, community clean-ups, and entrepreneurship workshops, among other activities.

Finally, with the Casa program, Vamos México attended or channeled last year alone, more than 1,200 direct supports or links of treatments, medicines, or even implantation of cochlear prostheses or legs to walk again.

Transparency and institutionalism
The Mexican Center for Philanthropy has accredited the Vamos Mexico Foundation with the highest level of transparency and institutionalism.

To those who attack Vamos México and affirm that it has been a means for its members to profit, Marta Sahagún responds: “They are lying outright, trying to harm a work that has been developed over 23 years.

They lie because they do not know what social work is and the committed and honest work of those of us who form this association and all those who generously make it possible.

And she adds: “Lies only destroy. And sadly, it is used for political purposes to which we are not dedicated. Our work is social and in favor of the people.”

Politics is not part of Vamos Mexico, assures Marta Sahagún: “Vamos México is a CA that has within its bylaws not to allow working for partisan political or religious purposes. Our work has to do with the well-being and welfare of the people. It has nothing to do with political issues. Nothing,” he concludes.