By Katie Allen | Associate Director
As we transition into the new year, we want to take a moment to thank you for your support of our Youth Development Program and share highlights of our 2017 accomplishments. Dedicated supporters like you have played a critical role in enabling us to achieve this progress.
Over the last year, Limitless Horizons Ixil provided academic support services and monthly scholarships to 69 young, indigenous, middle and high school scholars in 2017. 97% of scholars successfully completed the school year! We couldn’t be more proud of their hard work and diligence in their studies.
Additionally, scholars in their final year of middle school learned from staff and local professionals about potential high school programs and career paths. Scholars graduating from high school learned to write resumes, participated in mock job interviews, and were supported in navigating their array of post-secondary options. In fact, one of our 2017 high school graduates, Mati, will start university studying clinical laboratory science this year—a field she had never heard of before we discussed her options, as there is currently no one in the community trained to do this important work. Her dream is to set up a quality medical lab in Chajul to help her community and to serve people who otherwise couldn’t afford these critical services. Local assistant director Zuli worked with Mati to research and apply for scholarships. In the end, Mati won all of three of them.
Mati is just one of our many former scholars who is pursuing education beyond high school. This year, we were excited to provide 5 university or vocational scholarships to alumnae who successfully completed our 13-month workforce development internship and training initiative. Each week, they got hands-on work experience for 20-25 hours and 2 hours of training to develop both professional and life skills. Our interns gain valuable experience to prepare them for employment, university, or other training opportunities, serve as positive role models for scholars and younger members of the community.
While academic and professional opportunities are crucial, we also understand that our scholars need additional family support in order to truly thrive in their studies and in their communities. As a one way of supporting scholars' families, our local staff hosted 11 workshops on important subjects such as personal and family development, financial planning, and women’s empowerment. Twenty mothers attended a recent workshop on family planning — an event filled with both laughter and serious discussion. They were able to ask questions about a topic seldom discussed in Chajul, empowering them as women and as mothers, while strengthening relationships among the Limitless Horizons Ixil staff and community.
Our work is having an impact not only on the youth and their families that we serve, but on the entire community’s development. Our accomplishments wouldn’t be possible without your support, and we are so grateful for your partnership with our work and the community of Chajul. Thank you!
By Katie Allen | Associate Director
By Katalina Allen | International Coordinator
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