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Abriendo Puertas Shares Multi-Lingual COVID-19 Resources for Families

Obtaining timely information about COVID-19 and explaining it to young children can be a challenge. For parents who speak languages other than English, as well as for parents who never learned to read, the task is doubly hard, as many of the public health materials that share important recommendations about handwashing and social distancing are not available to them.

To address this, grantee partner Abriendo Puertas/Opening Doors (AP/OD) has created multiple  resources available in several languages to help parents learn about best practices for staying healthy, teaching their children about the virus, and keeping them engaged with learning activities.

The videos, infographics, and resources available on AP/OD’s webpage were co-created with parents in order to ensure that the information is culturally relevant, and responsive to their questions and concerns. The messages are delivered by families alongside trusted voices. In the video below, for example, American labor leader and civil rights activist Dolores Huerta talks about best practices for social distancing:

The videos have been created in Spanish and Mam (a Mayan language spoken by Guatemala and in the Mexican state of Chiapas), with English subtitles. The infographics are available in English, Spanish, Mam, and Tagalog (a Central Philippine language). These videos and infographics will soon be available in the Mixteco language as well.

“At our core, AP/OD believes that parents and families should lead the way for the well-being of children,” said Adrian Pedroza, AP/OD’s Director of National Strategic Partnerships. “With the support of our wonderful partners at Heising-Simons Foundation, the Dolores Huerta Foundation, Dr. Karen Sokal-Gutierrez at UCSF, Dr. Joshua Sparrow at Harvard, and the many parent leaders that led this effort, we are proud that these videos will reach a wide audience on social media.”

We invite funders and family-serving organizations to share these important resources widely.

Abriendo Puertas/Opening Doors is a project of Tides Center, supported by the Heising-Simons Foundation through its Education program.

COVID-19, Education