Educate 300 Guatemalan Children

Schools in Guatemala have been officially closed for over 2 and a half years due to the pandemic, which has taken a huge toll on our children. It seems, however, that we are now on the home straight, as the Government has begun to allow some in-person classes to begin. Some of our children are starting to be able to go in to school a few times a week, although others are still waiting for their chance amid a national shortage of teachers.

Most schools are still currently working through the use of study guides. Pages of work are sent home with the children and the in-person school sessions are for the teachers to go over the work that has been done at home. This is a system with a number of flaws, though, with many children unable to read or understand the work that is sent home. Over the past two years the children have missed out on learning the foundations on which to build this knowledge. Many also have parents who are unable to help their children to complete the work because they are working every day for their family to survive or because they themselves are unable to read the instructions.

Nuestros Ahijados took the difficult decision not to open as a school in 2022 due to the pandemic, deciding instead to support our children in other ways. Our school building at the Dreamer Center has opened this year, however, as a reinforcement centre. Our three teachers work with over 140 enrolled children both from our programme and external children who need extra support. This way students who were previously missing out on learning and failing their classes have the chance to catch up and to improve their grades. Students are free to come in to the centre whenever they have the need for support with their work or if they need to use our computer and internet facilities, all of which is provided with no cost to them or their families.

As the situation with COVID-19 and the rules are constantly changing in Guatemala, so too has our reinforcement centre and its goals. Now that schools are beginning to have more in-person classes, the need to help with study guides is lessening. Our teachers identified the need of many of our children to have extra support with reading, writing and maths, and so they started to hold extra classes every week for the children to pick up these essential skills. The children come in and learn the basic skills needed to be able to continue learning in the future. There are also plans for English, art, sport and science classes in the future.

Alongside our reinforcement centre, our Beca, or scholarship, programme has now been up and running for four months as well, providing support for the 225 children in our programme. Initially we gave out scholarship cheques to cover the enrolment fees for the children as well as to help with school supplies and uniform. Then, after the initial rounds of scholarship cheques to help with fees, we began to give the children cheques based on the children’s grades, with better performing students receiving more money. This is to encourage and motivate children to work hard at their studies, and to reward children who have been exceeding expectations. So far this year we have given out over $15,000 in scholarship cheques to our children in the Beca programme. This money is for the children and their families so that they can pay their school fees, buy uniform and school supplies and pay for any other needs to help with their education.

The GOD’S CHILD Project has been working for 30 years to break the chains of poverty through education, housing, nutrition and healthcare. Please click the link below to donate to support us in our ongoing mission.