Education is 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 of being denied an education 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 help cover educational costs and/or replace the meager wage the child would have earned 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. The families of scholarship recipients are required to stay involved with the education of their children if they are to continue receiving 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 approximately 130 students. Typically each family receives $13 US per month, though this amount may increase or decrease depending on need. For the children, this small amount of money determines whether or not they will be literate as well as the quality of lives they will lead.

Thursday, May 31, 2012

Pop Wuj Scholarship Meeting

           This past week mothers and family members of scholarship recipients from various communities met at Pop Wuj to receive scholarships as well as have an educational discussion as we usually try to do at these meetings.  This week’s talk was about domestic violence at home and the spillover it has into bullying at school.  Bullying is a new topic for the Guatemalan school system as the problem is becoming increasingly evident.  Some group members added their own stories and opinions about the effect domestic violence has on children’s performance and behavior in school.  We finished with a snack of chicken tamales, coffee, and cake to show appreciation for the group making the trip to Pop Wuj to participate in the discussion and receive the scholarships. 
Our next scholarship meeting will take place this week at the Family Support Center for mothers whose children attend the Center in Llanos de Pinal.  We will be discussing malnutrition, an important issue facing many scholarship recipients, and we will be preparing a balanced meal with the mothers to put the lesson into practice.