Educate 300 Guatemalan Children

Our Reinforcement Centre has closed its doors for the Christmas holidays after a successful year. The Reinforcement Centre is designed to help children who are struggling in school to fill in the gaps of their learning and to catch up to their classmates. Many different children take advantage of our Reinforcement Centre each week, including Sandra*, who is also a beneficiary of a number of other programmes that we have in the Project.

 Sandra is 6 years old and is in preschool. When she started attending our Centre, she had many difficulties and many deficiencies in her cognitive skills. She particularly struggled with understanding and following instructions as well as with her fine motor skills. This was impeding her learning at school and had her teachers worried about her progress.

 Sandra lives in Jocotenango with her mother, father and younger sister. Their house was built by the Project in May of this year. It is made of fibrolite with a sheet metal roof and cement floor. The family also received bunkbeds from the Project as well as a stove and a water filter. Sandra’s father is a cuidacarros, someone who watches parked cars in the streets of Antigua in return for a small donation of money. The amount he earns is often not enough to cover all of the family’s needs.

 Sandra therefore attended our Reinforcement Centre regularly since in it she found a safe space. She was also provided with food, something that was not always guaranteed at home. Sandra has always stood out as being full of energy and is very friendly with her fellow students as well as teachers and volunteers. To date, Sandra has been able to develop her skills effectively at our Reinforcement Centre. Now, she follows instructions, understands what she is learning and questions the why of things. This has been a real success for Sandra because it is a skill that she had not developed previously. It was being detrimental to her development and learning process. Sandra is now, however, a girl who stands out in her class for her desire to learn.

Furthermore, Sandra is a part of our Scholarship Programme and has been receiving her scholarship cheques throughout the year. This has helped her to buy the school supplies she needs, as well as rewarding her for her hard work and good progress. Next year, Sandra will continue to receive her scholarship cheques from us, starting at the beginning of the year with support to buy uniform and school supplies.

The GOD’S CHILD Project has been working for over 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.