MIGUEL ANGEL HERRERA VIVAR

ECUADOR, 28

Project: Edhumanos Ecuador
Pronouns: He/Him

Passionate about education as a means to transform lives and reshape society, Miguel is the Founder of Edhumanos Ecuador. Through community-centered approaches, Edhumanos Ecuador involves stakeholders of youth detention centers, specifically adolescent offenders, teachers, parents and caretakers, and system officers in the co-creation of an informal education curriculum for life skills development and educational reinsertion. Edhumanos seeks to support integral youth rehabilitation by increasing educational reinsertion of the juvenile population, reducing recidivism rates, and supporting youth in the creation and execution of their own life plans. 

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How does Edhumanos Ecuador address systemic inequity and injustice and what are some of the socio-cultural factors challenges you encounter? 

Socially, juvenile infractors are usually tagged as "criminals for life" and have higher rates of criminal recidivism. We want to involve them, as well as their teachers, caretakers and officers, in the co-creation of this program, and attempt to make youth detention centers places where youth can actually prepare integrally for social reintegration in education and life.

“Affected by the consequences of the infractions, society may see juvenile offenders as ‘the root of problems’ which leads to biases and prejudice that impedes their rehabilitation and reinsertion.”
Evan Wei-Haas