Child Development Center named after Colombian researcher María Camila Ospina Alvarado in Mexico, Digi Mart USA News (Hidalgo, Nuevo León, Mexico): A Child Development Center (Cendi) in Mexico will bear the name of María Camila Ospina Alvarado, a professor and researcher at the University of Manizales in Colombia who was recognized for her contributions to research, education and the comprehensive development of early childhood.
The Cendi No. 14 in Hidalgo, in the Mexican state of Nuevo León, will carry her name. Ospina Alvarado died in Manizales on November 3, 2024.
She was a teacher and researcher in the Doctorate in Social Sciences, Childhood and Youth and the Master’s in Education and Human Development at the Cinde alliance.
According to the University of Manizales, the opening ceremony for the center took place on Wednesday, November 4. The institution said the initiative was announced in 2025 during the International Meeting on Early Childhood and Initial Education, which has been held for 26 years in Monterrey and gathers about 1,000 participants, mainly early childhood teachers, along with national and international experts.
The university cited Guadalupe Rodríguez Martínez, director of the Cendi experience, who announced at that meeting that the new center would bear the name of the Colombian researcher as a tribute to her career and her contributions to the field of early childhood. Sara Victoria Alvarado Salgado, director of the Center for Advanced Studies in Childhood and Youth, highlighted the significance of the recognition in a press release.
“María Camila was invited several times to this international meeting, a setting of great importance for the exchange of knowledge and the training of early childhood teachers,” Alvarado Salgado said. She added that naming the Cendi No. 14 after Ospina Alvarado is a meaningful recognition of her career and academic contributions, and that her legacy will remain present in an educational project committed to the comprehensive development of children.
The university explained that Cendi centers provide comprehensive care and education for approximately 300 children each, especially from families with economic difficulties, offering quality services at accessible cost. According to directors cited by the university, comparative evaluations have shown child development outcomes comparable to those recorded in Finland, a global reference in early childhood care.
The Cendi No. 13 honors neuroscientist Fraser Mustard for his contributions to knowledge about human development. The opening ceremony was attended by education authorities from the state of Nuevo León and the municipality of Hidalgo, as well as the Cendi directors.
A profile of the researcher was presented, and Alvarado Salgado will deliver the closing remarks.
