JOIN THE FIGHT!
La Jugarreta, a non-profit supporting displaced Central American children forced to flee their homes, has been severely impacted by the Trump Administration's sudden termination of USAID funding. This exceptional team of educators is leading an urgent fight to continue their work providing child-safe spaces and play-based psychosocial support for forcibly displaced children. Every single contribution will help keep alive two decades of vital work for children who have lost everything, bringing them security, hope and the chance to dream again.
By Juliette Rogasik
This touching tale of a refugee child who discovers a lost and frail young bird sheds light on the gentle, unyielding protest against fear, conflict and separateness through our innate capacity to love and to care. — Life’s simplest key to meaning and happiness.
The author, KEPYR board member and kids' TV director Juliette Rogasik, based the story on her award-winning animated film “Fledgling”, Social Impact Media Awards Finalist, now streaming on Planet Classroom.
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FOCUS 2025
NORTHERN TRIANGLE REFUGEE CRISIS
SITUATION OVERVIEW
WHO: 260,000 Central American refugee children
WHY: Gang violence, political unrest and poverty
NEEDS: Food, water, medical care, education, family reunification, child-safe spaces, psychosocial support
Food insecurity, corruption and gang violence in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador (collectively dubbed the “Northern Triangle'') have forced over 600,000 people on a perilous journey to uncertain safety in neighboring countries. Armed gangs often target young children who refuse to join in criminal activity, driving thousands to leave in search of safety – often unaccompanied. Upon reaching the US or Mexico, these children and their families further encounter immense anxiety and challenges: language barriers, uncertain legal status, overwhelmed support systems, and the trauma of family separations at the border.
In the limbo of life in shelters as they wait to be granted asylum, these children rely on humanitarian aid groups for their basic needs and protection.
OUR CALL TO ACTION
Non-profit organization La Jugarreta operates a wide network of child-safe spaces offering psychosocial support for forcibly displaced children through play and the arts. As the kids media industry knows all too well, it is through play that children develop, grow and understand the world. According to the latest research from the Trauma Research Foundation, spaces that provide psychosocial support can have a far-reaching impact on children’s capacity to heal from countless forms of traumatic experiences.
This June, our Kindred Spirits 2025 campaign for Refugee Awareness Month will support La Jugarreta’s urgent and important work for refugee children at the Mexico-US border.