FEMAP-SADEC
FEMAP (Mexican Federation of Private Associations)
was founded in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, in 1973 by Guadalupe
de la Vega. Her vision was to be able to offer a wide
range of medical and community services to people living
in poverty. FEMAP is an umbrella organization that is
made up of 44 affiliates throughout Mexico, which voluntarily
associate themselves with FEMAP. Each affiliate is founded
by a local patron, who becomes the president of its
local board and may also serve as its executive director.
The affiliates participate in the direction of the Federation
by having a seat in the Federation’s General Assembly
and a representative on its board of directors. The
central office never gives orders to an affiliate. Instead
it supports the affiliate’s voluntary acceptance
of proven management practices, including standard roles
and policies, start-up services, and other management
support services.
FEMAP’s community health services are at the
center of FEMAP’s mission. Organized to deal with
the health and social needs of individual families,
the health services provide information that helps clients
to change their lives. The volunteer health promoters
(promotoras) learn to use health information to improve
their own family’s well-being. By sharing this
information and modeling their own behavior changes,
they empower other women to make similar changes.
Promotoras are the principal link between families
and FEMAP’s community health services. Depending
on needs, the promotoras provide families with health
information, access to immunization campaigns, oral
re-hydration salts, and contraceptives. They also gather
information on the health needs of individual families,
assist in community needs assessments, and make referrals
to clinics and hospitals. In another key role, they
serve as the eyes, ears, and voice for the community
to give feedback to FEMAP on the quality of services
received and the need for new services. The promotoras’
information, education, and communication services include:
- Breastfeeding counseling to mothers
- Cooking and nutrition classes to improve eating habits
- Adolescent education on reproductive health
- HIV/AIDS prevention, STD prevention, and drug prevention
- Family planning and social marketing of contraceptives
Historically, FEMAP saw health and wellness in the
context of community development. To diversify its services,
FEMAP built on its holistic approach to health. Drawing
on the fields of education, social work, economic development,
and ecology, FEMAP added an array of services, such
as micro-financing for small enterprises, in order to
complement its health services. FEMAP also embraced
social entrepreneurship, trying to find innovative ways
to produce value for society and, at the same time,
generate income. FEMAP has established laboratories,
imaging services, factory programs, and pharmacies,
all of which can generate revenue to subsidize less
profitable community programs.
FEMAP’s most important lesson is proving that
it is possible to serve the poor while remaining self-sufficient
as an organization. In the past decade, FEMAP has decreased
its dependence on outside support by 20 percent, with
91 percent of its budget now coming from the revenue
of services FEMAP provides. At the same time, FEMAP
has maintained the same client profile, but has greatly
increased the client base. The dedicated efforts of
FEMAP’s managers, staff and volunteers are responsible
for this success.
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