Experts see education as one of the key factors for effectively breaking the cycle of poverty which plagues the developing world. In highland Guatemala we help communities break out of this cycle by providing the necessary funds for impoverished families to send their children to school. Currently only 58% of children attend school, which is evidenced in Guatemala´s high illiteracy rate.

Although education is highly valued in Guatemalan families, a lack of rural schools, the expense of transportation, registration, study materials, and uniforms keep those families living in poverty from giving their children an opportunity to attend school. As many of the families we support are struggling to put food on the table, they are often forced to pull their children from school in order to contribute to the family´s income. Girls are specifically at risk for being denied the opportunity to be educated because their domestic skills are culturally regarded as more valuable than those skills they would exercise in the work force.

In order to combat the financial burdens families face in sending their children to school, we provide the necessary funds that pay for all educational costs along with the meager wage each child would have made if he or she had been working instead. Pop Wuj, our local partner, finds a school, transportation, and the necessary supplies for each child in the scholarship program. The progress of each student is closely monitored on a monthly basis through communication with students, teachers, and parents. Families involved with this program are required to stay involved with the education of their children if they are to continue recieving funds. In monthly meetings each community works together to send the maximum number of students to school. It is in this way that we offer impoverished children the choice of becoming a school teacher or an operator of a business rather than a seasonal farmhand.

We currently provide scholarships for over 80 students and struggle to spread our funds over as many families as possible. Typically each family recieves $160 a year, though this amount may increase or decrease depending on need. For the children in these families, this relatively small amount of money determines whether or not they will be literate and the quality of lives they will lead.

Friday, March 9, 2012

Chirijkiak Cantel, 07 March 2012

This week, Carmen visited a group of scholarship recipient mothers in Chirijkiak, Cantel. In addition to handing out scholarships, when we visit a group of mothers, we plan a lesson or discussion topic related to health, study habits, or the social climate. Because el Día de la Mujer was celebrated this week, we had a long discussion about the role of women in the family and in the work force and the change that women can affect. Additionally we opened up the discussion to the problem of domestic violence- our next discussion/lesson that will be led by one of Pop Wuj’s volunteers. 

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Meeting with the mothers of Xeabaj

Carmen and the projects coordinator met with the mothers of Xeabaj, a community removed from Xela. Similar to the first meeting with the women of San Juan, Carmen talked about the importance of encouraging students to study and providing breakfast in the morning to aid in concentration in school.
On the subject of nutrition, Carmen also questioned mothers with children of less than 2 years if they would be interested in our Nutributter nutrition program.
After the meeting, we walked to the school built by one of the padrinos to visit with the students before they left for lunch. Additionally, we met with the teacher to discuss the academic progress of several of the students.

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Meeting with the mothers of San Juan

Today Carmen and our projects coordinator visited the mothers of the scholarship recipients of San Juan (a community near Xela). While the general goal of the meeting was to ask about the progress of the scholarship recipients and hand out the scholarships, part of our scholarship program meeting with and encouraging the mothers of the scholarship recipients. School is only obligatory for six years in Guatemala- through primary school. However, many children do not even attend school for the minimum of 6 years. Today Carmen talked to the women about the importance of of mothers encouraging their children to go to school.

Friday, December 16, 2011

Lunch for los becados!

On the 14th of December the scholarship recipients and their families gathered at Pop Wuj to celebrate the close of the school year. Carmen, a partner of the organization and our social worker gave a moving speech to all of the students about the importance of staying in school and how happy it made her to see the students persist and succeed in their education. The other partners of Pop Wuj echoed this sentiment in heartfelt speeches, encouraging and praising the scholarship students.

This year, we had 5 students graduate from secondary school. For what was and is a proud moment for these students, we had a small graduation ceremony. Every graduate was given the opportunity to speak and every graduate spoke of their gratefulness of the scholarship program and proclaimed passionately to the other students the importance of staying in school.

However, the Scholarship lunch was not limited to eating and passing out gifts and school supplies. Pop Wuj also opened its clinic in order to give all of the children a basic physical and to attend to the needs of the scholarship recipients who needed more care.
Aside from basic care, the volunteers of the medical program put together a nutrition lesson for the children to demonstrate the role proper nutrition plays in every day life. This was a very important piece of our scholarship day as nutrition plays an invaluable role in brain development and the ability to focus in class.
At the end of the day, everyone gathered to receive school supplies for the upcoming year at school and to say their goodbyes to the partners of Pop Wuj. 
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