The educational process

The transmission of culture that adult generations carry out towards young people is what is called education (^{Delval, 1983}). Since birth, and even before, boys and girls are subjected to influence from the society that they live in. Through this social pressure, they become constituted into members of it, acquiring the guidelines for behavior that are characteristic of it, and they will learn to behave as adults in that society, with their language and the whole of culture.

The educational process is performed in multiple ways, in the family, in the street, and in school. Through contact with other individuals and with the surrounding world, they become imbued with social influence. Through it characteristics are acquired that are common to all, men and women, in all times; those that are considered human and other more specific ones that can be characteristic of a nation, of a city, of a social class, of a small group, or of a family. However, in any case, this transmission has a mission to conserve the existing order, since the adults tend to reproduce themselves in the children, not just in the biological sense but also in the cultural one.

The broad growth in the offer of financial services, formal and informal, is generating a strong imbalance between suppliers and users, derived from the low financial education of the latter. Currently, ^{Carbajal (2008}) mentions that within the reality of the poor, where imbalances of information constitute the norm, the development that the financial market has experienced is leading them to understand increasingly less the new options available to them and, therefore, it is likely that they do not use them to their benefit or, worse still, that they distance them from the formal system.

The ^{OECD (2005)} defines financial education as "the process by which financial consumers and investors improve their understanding of financial products and concepts through information, instruction or objective advise, develop abilities and confidence to comprehend better the financial risks and opportunities, make informed decisions, know when to obtain help and make other effective decisions that allow them to improve their financial condition".

^{Coates (2009}) has highlighted that in the length of a person's existence, "didactic situations" take place, where they are more receptive to financial education; for example, during childhood, in the university or marriage stage, so it becomes necessary to begin the financial literacy in the first stages of life, since there are increasingly more financial products, they are more varied, complex and sophisticated, which is why it is necessary for parents to instill the habit of saving, so that when they reach the adult age they can see it as something natural. Therefore, financial education will allow boys, girls and teenagers to acquire the habit of saving and to better understand the options offered by suppliers of financial services.

Study region

The state of Oaxaca represents 4.8 % of the total national surface, occupying the fifth place in the country; it is made up of 570 municipalities, almost three fourths of the total of municipalities in the whole Mexican republic. It is the state with the greatest ethnic and linguistic diversity in México. In the current territory of Oaxaca, there are 18 ethnic groups of the 65 in the country: Mixteco, Zapoteco, Triqui, Mixe, Chatino, Chinanteco, Huave, Mazateco, Amuzgo, Nahua, Zoque, Chontal of Oaxaca, Cuicateco, Ixcateco, Chocholteco, Tacuate, Afro-mestizo of the Costa Chica and to a lesser degree Tzotzil, which together are more than a million inhabitants, around 34.2 % of the state total, distributed in 2563 localities (official webpage of the state of Oaxaca, 2010-2016 administration).

In one of the municipalities of the state of Oaxaca, Fundación Ayú was formed, which since its origin has sought to integrate resources and efforts to combat poverty in the Mixtec Region, one of the eight regions of the state, located north of Oaxaca.

The Mixtec Region in Oaxaca adjoins the states of Puebla and Guerrero, with the region of Cañada to the east; with Valles Centrales to the southeast; and with Sierra Sur, to the south. In Oaxaca, the Mixtec Region occupies 189 municipalities of the 14 districts.

The National Population Council (Consejo Nacional de Población, ^{Conapo, 2010}), reports that Oaxaca occupies the third place nationwide, classified with a very high level of marginalization. The municipality where the study was performed, San Francisco Jaltepetongo, is located in a medium level of marginalization, with a total of 1110 inhabitants, according to the Institute of Statistics, Geography and Information (Instituto de Estadística, Geografía e Informática, ^{INEGI, 2012}).

Since more than 15 years ago, Fundación Ayú has promoted the integration of savings funds in the communities, since within the strategy of rural development and poverty combat that it implemented, the funds were the axis around which it revolved, and rural women were the ones in charge of training, administration and operation in them.

However, the objective of the banks is not only savings and loans, but rather they go beyond this for they also have the instruction of promoting saving among boys and girls. Therefore, savings funds were created for them that are called Los Chispitas. Boys, girls and teenagers can participate in them, since the moment they are born, represented by their parents, but with accounts and savings cards in their name, and up to 15 years old, age at which if they decide to continue saving they are incorporated into the adult funds.

Los Chispitas have a similar scheme to that of the adult savings funds. They have a committee made up of the members of the accounts; they gather every fortnight together with the adults. The mothers or fathers of the committee's children support them to manage the funds, collect the participants' savings, record the resources delivered in the savings bank books and, in time, every six months, carry out the operation balance of the children's funds. Every fortnight the amount of resources that entered the children's funds is counted, and this money can be used to loan it to adults, paying the children the interest that the money generated. The boys and girls do not have access to loans on their own; only their parents, members of the funds, can have access to them.

A questionnaire was applied for the research, and a participative workshop was carried out with boys and girls, as well as semi-structured interviews with key informants, like the designer of the savings funds, the promoter who was responsible for the funds in their origin, and the women members from the municipality's funds committees, one with central offices in the municipal township, San Francisco Jaltepetongo, and another in the locality of San Isidro. The children presidents and secretaries of the funds were asked for the lists of members of both of them, and, together with the mothers who support the committees, the age of each member was identified. From a universe of 61 members, the questionnaire was applied to 42 boys and girls from both localities, in addition to eight semi-structured interviews with adults. The members of the funds gather on days 15 and 30 of every month, so in order to apply the questionnaire we attended these meetings from 2013 to July 2014.

Documents were reviewed, such as the lists of members, individual savings bank books, the fund's savings books, as well as the formats of biannual balances.

Results from the "Chispitas" boys and girls studied

In the municipality of San Francisco Jaltepetongo, Oaxaca, and its locality of San Isidro, the two Chispitas savings funds are located, with a total of 61 members, 41 boys and 20 girls. In San Francisco there are 23 members and in San Isidro, 38 (Figure 1).

Source: Field work carried out in 2013-2014.

Figure 1 Integration of funds per gender. 

Interviews were performed with 42 members who accepted to participate in the field work, 13 girls and 29 boys, 21 in each locality, and a participative workshop was carried out on financial education with the attendance of 18 Chispitas and seven adults.

The socioeconomic information obtained from those interviewed reflects that the average age is ten years in girls and 11 years in boys; the maximum age for both is 15 years, and the minimum five for girls and eight for boys. The level of schooling is located in a very broad range, since those who participate include those who attend kinder garden to those who are in third year of secondary, that is, who have nine years of schooling. The fact stands out that, in general, the number of boys who save is higher than those of girls who save, and their level of schooling, which is in relation to age also. Some mothers pointed out that the girls are more timid and many are not interested in participating in the savings funds. They also do not occupy directing positions in the children's funds, or as president or secretary.

The socioeconomic profile of the families of the Chispitas boys and girls corresponds to households where the parent is devoted, in majority, to the field (52 %), followed by those devoted to pyrotechnics (fireworks manufacture), particularly in San Francisco, Jaltepetongo (33 %), while the rest (14 %) has some trade or offers a service such as chauffeuring (Figure 2).

Source: field work carried out in 2013-2014.

Figure 2 Occupation of parents of the Chispitas members. 

The participation of boys and girls in savings funds involves them directly with the Fundación Ayú and with the community that they belong to. For this reason, they were asked about what being Chispitas represented to them and, even when most don't know (24), there were interesting responses, such as learning to save (12), that it is a pride (4), and even, that it is a way to get together with friends (2).

Regarding the activities of mothers of Chispitas members, 38 % are house wives, while 21 % are devoted to the household and field tasks, and an equal percentage adds the elaboration and sale of wheat tortillas to their work in the household, particularly in the locality of San Isidro Jaltepetongo; some women also collaborate in the manufacture and sales of pyrotechnics (10 %). The least percentage corresponds to some various trades and only in one case there is a professional (nurse).

For the theme being analyzed, it was important to consider the work of women; ^{Bazán and Saraví (2012)} indicate that it is characterized by being rather unstable, associated to the development of family trajectories, quite limited in the rural sector because the periods when some activities are available, for which they can receive income, are irregular and have much volatility from the income received.

Boys and girls have three to seven years as savers. Those interviewed can be compared to the 1 % of the children who report having a savings account, according to data from the first survey on financial culture in México ^{BANAMEX-UNAM (2008)}.

In rural and poor families, it is frequent for girls and boys to collaborate in some tasks that help with family income. Of the Chispitas members interviewed, 24 % collaborate in tasks with the family, primarily in the field, in the sale of some products, in the elaboration of fireworks, and even, in brick-laying jobs.

Concerning the reasons why boys and girls have money to save in the children's savings funds, one of the responses more frequently given was setting apart to have money in the future, followed by for the purpose of buying things, although there were also others, such as those who destine it to emergencies; likewise, some don't know what it is used for, since one of the parents manages it. The answers are shown in Figure 3 Nehemías' testimony completes the idea.

Source: Field work carried out in 2013-2014.

Figure 3 Reason for saving of the Chispitas members. 

My name is Nehemías Noé and I live in the town of Yucano; I walk for one hour to come to the meeting of the children's savings fund. I am 10 years old and I study the fifth grade. Every fortnight I save 20 pesos that my mother gives me. My father taught me to save. I am saving because I want to buy myself shoes, school supplies, to pay debts and to help my family to buy fruits and some chickens. I think it is important to save because that way we can take out loans (Chispitas member from the San Isidro bank).

This doesn't mean that the children do not have their own ideas about their savings. For example, in the workshop on financial education, the Chispitas members were able to tell the difference between wishes and needs, which is important since, even when they didn't understand the variation; it was identified when they saw that most of them would destine their savings to their education or to collaborate with the family to purchase foods. The wishes were clearly identified when they say that the least important theme of their savings was buying toys (Figure 4).

Source: Field work carried out in 2013-2014.

Figure 4 Financial education workshop and fortnight meeting. 

A piece of data that stands out is the fact that 91o% of those interviewed responded that they expect to finish their undergraduate studies and some mentioned that they want to be teachers, engineers, lawyers, anthropologists, and even one girl, a criminologist; and, also, that they intend to keep saving up to the time when they're adults, showing with this how important the savings activity is for them. This situation agrees with what was found by ^{Guevara et al. (2009)}, who mention that the level of schooling has a direct impact on the average savings of families, with this probably being associated to the households modifying their decisions regarding consumption-investment and schemes of risk management, as they acquire a higher educational level. With regards to their expectations for when they are older, 38 stated that they do expect to finish their undergraduate studies, while the rest pointed out that they thought they would not be able to.

Complementarily, they were asked if they knew about Fundación Ayú, and it resulted that most of them (35) do not know what it is, although there were seven cases when they stated that they did know about it. Their responses were: in four cases, a group of savers, although two boys mentioned that it is a society that supports Mixtec people; one other mentioned that it represented support for families in the Mixtec Region. We attempted to address the issue of whether the children had participated in any project by Fundación Ayú, in addition to being a Chispitas member, and the generalized response was that they had not participated.

Stemming from the consideration that children save in function of the resources that their parents give to them, they were asked what was amount of money that each one of them saved every fortnight according to the scheme established by the fund. The highest amount was $200.00, but only one of the interviewees mentioned it (2 %); then, 25, 30 and 15 pesos (36 %), $50.00 (19 %), and finally, 100, 40 and 20 pesos (30 %), and 10 pesos (14 %). Of these data we have a maximum amount of savings reported of $200.00, a minimum of $10.00, and an average of $39.29 pesos every fortnight. The importance lies not in the amount of money saved every fortnight, but in the discipline and perseverance with which they are doing it.

In the workshop, the interviewees were asked whether they knew where the money for savings came from, to which they all responded that it was from their father or mother's work, which is related to the responses to the question that asked them to mention three ways in which adults earned money, with work being mentioned more often, followed by the sale of a product, which in the end is one of the tasks that the parents carry out. Savings by Chispitas boys and girls are incorporated to what ^{Boza and Zabaleta (2012}) conclude, when they point out that "it is estimated that there are more than 2000 million poor people in the world without access to banks, and they all need to save. Thanks to the creativity and human initiative, people without banks manage to save".

Financial education is a knowledge that can begin at home, since, although considered as informal education, the discipline of saving in adults is a way in which the habit pervades to those who are younger in the household. Therefore, they were asked who had instilled in them the habit of saving, and the results highlight the importance of the participation of women, mothers of the family, since the first answer was that the mother is the one who taught them to save (67 %); however, the second answer could be added to this figure, where they mentioned that it was mother and father who taught them to save (24 %). Other responses included that it was a different member of the family (grandparents or aunts/uncles), with 7 %, while the last response, with minimum percentage, corresponds to the father figure as example of discipline in savings and as motivator to carry it out (2 %). In the financial education workshop, the children identified that money doesn't grow on trees and that the banks don't give it out, but rather that it comes from their parents' efforts. Dolores Alejandra describes:

I live in San Isidro Jaltepetongo. I am 13 years old and I am studying second year of secondary. Every fortnight I save 10 pesos, my mother taught me. I like to save because that way I can buy my school supplies, I want to travel to Mexico City, and also to pay for my uniforms. I think it is important to do it because we can buy our supplies with that (Dolores Alejandra. Chispitas member from the San Isidro fund).

Continuing with the subject of financial education, of all those interviewed only eight know what it means that their money earns interest, and they are the ones who understand that this is what happens to their money in the fund. In simple terms, they explain that earning interest means that the money they save becomes more, so that when the fund is balanced they give them their savings and some more money, which represents the interest gained. Identifying different places where money can be saved was one of the questions in the financial education workshop, and the places more often mentioned were, first, the savings funds with 34 mentions, and in second, banks with eight.

A way to teach boys and girls the habit of saving is the participation of adults in savings schemes, such as the funds for adults from Fundación Ayú. Therefore, it was identified that in all cases it was the father or the mother of the Chispitas member who participated actively as partners and, in some cases, as part of the committees, in both savings funds for adults. As ^{Vargas and Arán (2014)} point out, the quality of parenting (understood as the activities that the father and the mother perform in the process of caring, socialization, attention and education of sons and daughters) is a factor that contributes significantly to the cognitive development of sons and daughters. This situation is in agreement with what was pointed out by ^{Conde (1998)}, who argues that saving in families is based on decisions that the members of the household make in a premeditated way, to guarantee their future consumption through the certainty of an income or acquisition of assets to improve their own wellbeing.

In a complementary way, boys and girls were asked about what they thought about the fact that some people had more money than others. The responses were divided, 27 people said that the main generator of money is work, but it is interesting to see how boys and girls identify that saving is another way to increase resources.

^{Castillo (2012}) refers that saving is, among others, an element that generates foresight, since when a small amount can be accumulated, the savers define better what it is that they want to do with their money. Quite frequently, they establish an aim for their savings, and although the poor live hand to mouth and, therefore, cannot plan the future, with minimum savings this situation changes. This does not impede the fact that in face of an emergency they have to withdraw the savings that they had planned to use for something different. In other words, saving introduces a culture of planning that will have an influence on how to satisfy the most basic needs that otherwise would not be covered.

Savings by Chispitas is one of the important features of the experience analyzed. One explanation of the interest that fathers and mothers show regarding saving by boys and girls could be located in alternative ways of anticipating future needs. ^{Bazán and Saraví (2012)} highlight how women, in order to manage the household, consider two ranks of needs: attention to daily life, for which they use the money they receive or earn, and other demands that are not immediate and which require having money available at certain times of the year and situations (school entry, sickness, and other emergencies). This second level of needs could be solved by gaining access to loans from the savings funds of the boys or girls. Thus, the children's savings funds have a double purpose: to teach them to save and to serve as insurance for emergencies.

In addition to saving, children have other reasons that strengthen their appreciation for belonging to the Chispitas group; for 15 of them, the most important aspect is that it is a way to save, but others mention that sometimes they also go on visits to other places. In the fortnight meetings they have fun, and sometimes the Fundación sends them small milk boxes.