European Union recognition

MERECE LA PENA is a Foundation which started its work as an Education and Sanitary Project. A mean to promote Resilience capacity, that is, to educate how to face adversity. Created and directed by Ana Artázcoz Colomo in collaboration with Elena Lasheras Lázaro, and the writer and illustrator Asun Egurza Hernández.

Said Project was presented in the European Parliament (Brussels) in 2017. It could be seen that an interest existed amongst the different social agents that defended Children Rights and International Organizations for the development of MERECE LA PENA in the european ambit.

In this sense, through the Government of Navarre Delegate in Brussels, Mikel Irujo, who accompanied during their stay there, the components of MERECE LA PENA had diverse contacts with other educational and sanitary Associations with which they shared objectives and with which they could work together to achieve a greater well-being in all children who are suffering some kind of difficulty: sickness, bullying, separation or loss of family, etc.

This same response was had by the European Committee through the General Director of the Health Committee, Dr. Xavier Prats, who manifested that MERECE LA PENA seemed to him a very interesting and necessary project.

Also, they went to the Cervantes Institute of Brussels, where they dropped off a lot of the last children story that they had published and translated to different languages (English, German, French, Spanish and Basque): "Luci in hospital" which counts with educational activities to work Resilience.

Likewise, they went to the University of Leuven, a University very much involved in the humanization of sanitary assistance and actively works it. An opportunity to ascertain that it’s possible to show minors to know how to live if we all unite efforts.

With confidence that it can be achieved, they returned to Navarre where they hoped to continue with this labor.

A few months after, Ana Artázcoz Colomo constituted the MERECE LA PENA Foundation.

'Nothing of what we do would be possible if we hadn’t counted with the collaboration of many people'. Thank you all for your support!