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, February 21, 2013

Xeabaj II Scholarships 2013

North to Alaska!  Last week Carmen and the project coordinator traveled alongside the medical team, to the highland pueblo of Xeabaj II, quite a distance off the Inter-Americana highway, for the first of three annual scholarship meetings. The residents of this windy, cool, slightly barren village (hence the name Alaska) are refugees of Hurricane Stan in 2005 which made their town uninhabitable. Since their relocation they have resumed their lives in this new home, which is not much like their original location lower in the valley.
     

This pueblo is home to about 40 beca (scholarship) recipients, also known as becados. Unlike many of the Pop Wuj becados which have individual sponsors, the community's 40 becas are funded by the Brown family. Additionally Xeabaj II is unique in that rather than give a $13/month scholarship to a lesser number of recipients, they have opted to spread the money a bit thinner and support more students. Sharing the proceeds of the sponsorship seems to create a sense of community while assuring that more children will continue their education, creating hope for a brighter future.

This morning the medical team used one classroom for health assessments of  community members while Carmen used another to address parents about the importance of school for the youngsters. Carmen's session was followed by the perfunctory paperwork and distribution of the trimester funds.