Project Report
| Mar 13, 2012
Please Buy a Book for Marta on March 14th!
By Joan Fuetsch | Project Leader
![Marta in front of her house.]()
Marta in front of her house.
Marta is in the sixth grade. She is 12 but is the size of an 8 year old due to malnutrition in her earlier years. She lives in the village of San Andreas Osuna, Escuintla, Guatemala. Marta's mother is blind due to having had a tumor removed. Several years ago Marta received nutritional support from a development organization and though Marta is small for her age she is now healthy as she still receives monthly donations of healthy food. Marta also receives support from an American donor to cover her school expenses. Recently, she very proudly displayed her workbooks from school along with various projects. She also had two brand new textbooks, one in math and one in science, which were recently distributed across Guatemala by the government. Marta was very excited that she actually had two books to read. Plans are being discussed to build a library in Marta's village which would give her access to the books that she only dreams about now. With your support soon we will be able expand our Girl Reader program to Marta and her friends in San Andres Osuna. Our goal is to have books in the hands of all of the women and girls in Guatemala one day very soon. Thank you in advance for your help.
![The inside of Marta's house]()
The inside of Marta's house
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Feb 21, 2012
Second grader reading above US grade level
By Joan Fuetsch | Project Leader
![Fatima's hometown in Guatemala]()
Fatima's hometown in Guatemala
Fatima lives in San Juan La Laguna, Solola, Guatemala on the shores of beautiful Lake Atitlan. In her home she speaks the Mayan language Tzu'tzu'jil; in school she speaks Spanish. Fatima is in the second grade yet, thanks to the Girl Reader program in the village library she is reading well above grade level according to US standards. And a few questions will confirm that Fatima is also understanding what she reads. When asked why learning to read was so important one of the reasons given by a group of girls in the library was so that they could help their parents who were unable to read. They also cited the fact that, if they knew how to read, that they could learn anything that they wanted to. Learning to read and being encouraged to stay in school is just one step towards empowering young girls in Mayan communities. With your continued help we can strengthen this program and expand it to more of the libraries in our network. With your ongoing support we can develop books clubs exclusively for girls which will not only sharpen their reading skills but also self-confidence and creative thinking.
![Fatima, age 7, second grade]()
Fatima, age 7, second grade
![Fatima, reading like a US fourth grader]()
Fatima, reading like a US fourth grader
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Nov 30, 2011
Meet Francis, one of our readers.
By Joan Fuetsch | Project Leader
![Francis, one of our young readers, doing homework]()
Francis, one of our young readers, doing homework
Francis Jaqueline Martinez lives in a remote Chorti village which is a 20-minute ride by four-wheeled drive vehicle from Copán Ruinas, Honduras. When photographed Francis was finishing up her 7th grade science homework next to the family's adobe kitchen. A generation ago Francis would not have been in school, rather she would have been collecting firewood and hauling water with her mother. Francis's father is the leader of this community of about 250 and very appreciative of the tiny "bibliomovile" provided by the Riecken Library in Copán Ruinas, called by another resident, "the soul of our community."
We would like to see more books in the little library in Francis' village of San Rafael and we like to have the resources to encourage her to make the trek down the hill to continue her education and utilize the resources of the much bigger library in Copán Ruinas.
With your help Francis can become a community leader like her father and she too will see that her children are educated as well. You can also help to ensure that the younger members of Francis's community will also turn into readers. Riecken is currently providing story hours in the village kindergarten.
![The "soul" of Francis's village.]()
The "soul" of Francis's village.
![Another new reader in kindergarten]()
Another new reader in kindergarten
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