The Federal State of Chiapas is one of Mexico's least developed regions. More than 50 per cent of its inhabitants live below subsistence level. There was no facility there providing therapy, treatment, activities and education for children with special needs. Therefore, the child welfare authorities of Chiapas and SOS Children’s Villages decided to build an SOS Children’s Village, an SOS Social Centre and an SOS Hermann Gmeiner School for children with special needs in Tuxtla Gutiérrez, the capital of Chiapas. The government of Chiapas donated a piece of land in a well integrated district of Tuxtla Gutiérrez. Construction of SOS Children's Village was finished in November 2003. The same month, the first families moved into their new homes. SOS Children's Village Tuxtla Gutiérrez has the capacity to offer a home to up to 70 physically or mentally challenged children. It consists of nine family houses, the village director's house, an administration and service area and an SOS Hermann Gmeiner School for children with special needs, including five class rooms and a library.
The SOS Social Centre comprises a medical treatment centre, four training workshops, eight houses for outpatient treatment and the SOS Therapy Centre for children with special needs. The therapy centre offers different types of occupational, speech-, hydro-and physiotherapy. The SOS Social Centre has a capacity for up to 150 children, 80 of which are non-residents. The outpatient children generally stay at the SOS Children's Village for three weeks, and then they return to living with their families in other parts of Chiapas. In the training workshops, the children's practical abilities are developed through activities such as pottery, painting and gardening, according to their special needs.