Empower Maya Youth in a Post-Genocide Community

2020 was a year full of new challenges for our scholars. Schools in Guatemala closed in March and did not reopen for the rest of the year, and for many of our scholars virtual classes never began. 

Frequent power outages, costly cell phone data, workplace closures, and increased food costs at the market meant families were struggling to put meals on the table, much less prioritize their children’s education. Increasing the challenges, Guatemala experienced two of the strongest storms to hit the country in years in November, causing extended power outages, washed out roads, flooding, and many families in Chajul lost a large portion of their crops. 

For high school scholar Lucrecia, COVID-19 was just one of many tests of her resilience. After her mother passed away when she was just six years old, her father abandoned her. From a young age, her sister Maria has been the sole provider for both Lucrecia and their 83-year-old grandmother. When lockdown began, Maria’s job at a local restaurant disappeared, and the sisters felt the need to take extra precautions to protect their grandmother. 

Without live classes, no guidance from her school or teachers on course content, and little money to cover even basic necessities, staying in school took on new challenges. Having only a smartphone and no computer, she was sent just a few assignments with no explanation of the material.

The Limitless Horizons Ixil team took action to mitigate the consequences to our scholars’ mental and physical health and continued education. Since pivoting our programs in March, Lucrecia and her peers have benefited from virtual educational enrichment, technology classes, remote book clubs, and the internet to keep up with their studies. 

Scholars and their families also benefited from educational safety videos in Ixil to lower the risk of COVID-19 transmission, weekly phone check-ins, one-on-one therapy, and monthly food and hygiene baskets. All of our services were in response to our scholars’ needs, with the goal of ensuring that current challenges don’t force girls to end their education. 

In spite of everything, Lucrecia recently shared, “We have to fight when faced with adversity, no matter the difficulties ahead of us. We must believe in ourselves and have faith in ourselves to achieve our dreams.”  

Schools in Guatemala are expected to reopen this year for some in-person learning. After enduring 2020’s challenges, our scholars and staff are more prepared to adapt to new styles of learning and the challenges posed by the pandemic. All of our scholars are now more equipped to utilize new technology and Lucrecia and her classmates are eager to get back to the classroom.

We are so inspired by Lucrecia’s positive attitude and commitment to her education. Thank you for your continued belief and ongoing support which enables scholars like Lucrecia to keep studying!  

Links:

• Read more about our COVID-19 response

COVID-19 has created numerous global uncertainties, but LHI has one thing clear; the pandemic will not detain our determination to nurture a culture of literacy and learning in Chajul.

While some schools and teachers have offered varying levels of remote classes, in many cases instruction has completely stopped. Schools will be closed throughout the rest of the 2020 school year, which ends in late October in Guatemala. Schools closed less than two months into the academic year, and we have been very concerned about learning losses during this time. All of Limitless Horizons Ixil's scholars are at home in Chajul, but given that very few families have computers and all endure frequent power outages, remote learning has been challenging. Of the scholars who have been receiving remote classes from their schools, they had to quickly learn how to access their classes and complete their homework assignments using just a smartphone. In most cases, our scholars have already surpassed the educational level of their parents, and are thus required to self direct their learning while quarantining at home. 

Despite these unprecedented challenges, we at Limitless Horizons Ixil have been able to provide unique educational opportunities for Chajul’s youth. In addition to offering a two-part gender equality workshop in June, ongoing personalized technology support from our Artisan and Technology Coordinator, Cecilia, and one-on-one phone therapy sessions for each of our scholars, we have also expanded our educational programming to include weekly online tutoring in key subjects. Offering remote services has in fact enabled us to broaden our reach; while in-person tutoring was previously only for Limitless Horizons Ixil's middle school scholars, all of whom live in Chajul, virtual classes have allowed us to expand this service to high school scholars, who would normally be attending school in other parts of Guatemala. 

10th grade Youth Development Program scholar, Elena (pictured above), recently shared, “Limitless Horizons Ixil is helping us by providing food baskets, but with book clubs and workshops, they are also providing us with ideas.” 

Meanwhile, our librarians David and Olga have been recording bilingual Spanish-Ixil stories on Chajul’s community radio station twice a week. They are also opening the library for socially-distanced book lending for a few hours every Tuesday, giving Chajul’s youth the opportunity to continue their learning despite school closures.

Now, with the various support programs being offered, Artisan and Technology Coordinator, Cecilia, recently shared that Youth Development Program scholars, "feel much calmer about receiving online classes and they have the confidence to ask about any of their doubts. I feel happy seeing the interest that they have and that their knowledge of technology has increased.” 

We are in constant admiration of our scholars for their dedication to finding innovative ways to continue learning. While they have been dealing with reduced family incomes, strict lockdown measures, and unreliable internet connections, they continue to prioritize their education. 

Thank you for your ongoing support of Limitless Horizons Ixil and of our scholars’ education – you are making it possible for youth in Chajul to access crucial academic and social-emotional opportunities at a time when little other support exists.

Links:

• Learn more about our COVID-19 response efforts
• Follow us on Facebook for more updates on our response efforts