The Four Legged Heroes - Helping Mexico’s kids relieve their PTSD after a major earthquake
PROBLEM
Children were dealing with PTSD after a horrific 8.2 degree earthquake hit Mexico city.
GOAL
To distract, relieve and bring a sense of positivity to kids who were having a very rough time.
SCOPE AND CONSTRAINTS
Distribution for the most part, as not every child had access to a printer (or electricity).
Context
On September 19th, 2017, Mexico city was hit with a devastating 8.1 earthquake that lasted over 1 minute and 30 seconds.
Living in Mexico city makes you no stranger to earthquakes, but this one was the most severe younger generations had ever experienced, including myself. Witnessing a 7 year old neighbor having a panic attack after the earthquake warning alarm went off by accident a few days after the event, made me realize the stress children were going through.
Some of the few silver linings media outlets were covering were Mexican Navy’s rescue dogs squad.
Lots of people had to evacuate (or had lost) their homes and a plethora of temporary shelters were installed throughout the city. Volunteers were being called to offer entertaining activities for children who were being temporarily housed. A group of friends and I made plans to scout the streets and offer our help.
Among the suggested materials some shelters were asking to bring, were coloring books, and I thought to myself…
Why don’t I make something that helps kids understand what we went through, but with a dash of hope and positivity?
The process
The idea sparked during night time the day before my friends and I agreed to meet. This didactic material had to be executed as fast as possible because not only was I running low on time but I also knew it had to be…
Free
Easily accesible for everyone
Very easy to use and assemble
I came up with the idea of making a very basic coloring book about four of the most popular Mexican Navy Rescue Dogs Squad: Frida, Titan, Eco and Evil 🐕
I decided to share them on my Facebook for my friends to print theirs If they had a kid in need of one.
A few hours later, the post had gone viral. My inbox was also filled with the kindest, sweetest, most touching messages from total strangers thanking me for doing this and putting it out there for free.
Along with kind, touching words, I also received some photos of kids with smiles on their faces while coloring the little book and it meant everything to me. I also got many messages from teachers who were so happy and eager to use them as material for their classes.
My graphic initiative had local and international media coverage. Click on any logo to head to what the media outlet said.
Takeaways
My biggest lesson from this experience, was that we should never underestimate the enormous power of design to make a difference.
I was able to apply design thinking, negotiated time and resources with myself, took quick decisions and simply put my initiative out there.
I was also approached by Adobe Latin America team and received a recognition as part of the creative talent they’d wish to acknowledge for helping children during those difficult times.
