Education for 400 children in Guatemala

It is incredible that we are almost three months into the school year. Our ten local Phoenix teachers spent the first couple of weeks of the year painting the school and cleaning whilst we also had to replace many of the walls, ceilings, lighting and roofs of the classrooms whilst also building a new playground!

Coupled with the monthly classroom materials we provide, our teachers were supplied with the teaching materials packs to provide the best lessons they can throughout the year. We have introduced a 9th grade. For the first time we have 4 year-olds (below párvulos and pre-school) adding a further year at the start of their educational journey through primary school.

The sustainable Plan Moo herd continues to expand with more families benefitting from the extra income that the milk provides. We intend to add further cows this year and during 2019.

Plans for the 4^th Annual Seven Continent Charity Challenge are underway where we ask anyone, anywhere in the world to do a fundraising event for Phoenix during 2018. It doesn’t have to be a huge event; from a dinner or BBQ party at home to walking, running or undertaking something you have always wanted to do though havn’t got round to it! The fundraising can be done through this page with funds going to Phoenix, the schools and more importantly the children.

For those looking for an excuse to head to Lake Atitlán in Guatemala and raise funds for the projects, we are organising a 4-day biking, volcano hiking and kayaking challenge between 21st to 26th May. Please let us know if you are interested in joining us, or even organizing your own challenge and we’ll add you to the list and give you tips to make it as successful as possible.

As ever, thank you all for your brilliant support.

Cheers

Links:

• 2018 Seven Continent Charity Challenge
• Please get in touch to join us in Guatemala in May

I hope all is well with you. 2017 was a fantastic year in Guatemala, despite the rollover affect from the Brexit vote devaluing Sterling in 2016 and causing us to tighten our belts for the year.

2017 started off with the traditional annual painting of the whole school before welcoming over 200 children in eight grades. Our ten local teachers, most of whom came through the projects themselves, were armed with their teachers’ accessory packs and ready for the next ten months, over which the final grades were excellent and once again, 100% graduation from primary school for the children in the final year (12 girls and 5 boys). 120 children have graduated from primary school in the past 6 years.

During the year we spent $50,000 on teachers’ salaries, daily fruit, classroom materials, rent, cleaning products and events, which included Mother’s Day, Independence Day, Semana Santa, Mayan Queen elections and the final graduation ceremony. Money extremely well spent.

Looking ahead to 2018 we plan to renovate the classrooms and build a new playground. We also hope to increase the number of local teachers, adding assistants, as the number of children increase. And finally, we plan to introduce a new scheme for all of our graduates, past and present, so they can go on and study further education. Very few students sadly do continue their studies after they graduate from our school so we will hopefully be able to fulfill their dreams.

Your donations this year have gone a very long way to helping us to achieve our goals in 2017 and our vision for 2018 is even brighter. Together with your continued donations we can take the projects even higher.

All of us at Fly The Phoenix wish you the Happiest of Holidays this year and all the best for 2018.

Cheers