When five Mexican-American women formed Mujeres en Progreso (Women Moving Forward) in 1997, they had a vision of providing safe child care for farmworker families in Columbus, N.M. With grit and determination, what started as in-home babysitting back then has today evolved into a full-fledged child care center, offering a fun, safe, educational environment. It hasn't been an easy road. Only one of the five employees speaks English, and none of the women anticipated how much they would need to know about child development to operate a school-like center. But their perseverance is paying off. All have taken more than twice the required hours of child care training mandated by the state. And after moving to a new building in Fall 2002, the Columbus Child Development Center's enrollment grew to 17 students, well on the way to the maximum of 32. Now the women, and their parent organization, the Colonias Development Council, have a new vision: creating up to three new child care centers in Southern New Mexico over the next five years.

Children at the Columbus Child Development Center benefit from a safe environment. Ken Touchton

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