Fund a teacher and teach a class in Latin America

2017 was a fantastic year in , despite the rollover affect from the Brexit vote devaluing Sterling in 2016 and causing us to tighten our belts for the year. In Guatemala 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. In Honduras we celebrated our ten year anniversary with the Phoenix College in 2017, a fantastic achievement for all the students and our local teachers. Since 2007 seventy-nine students have graduated secondary school and forty-one have graduated from college since 2010. All our graduates now have full-time jobs in rural sustainable development. The year started with the construction of several basic classrooms as we had to move the school's venue due to increased numbers of students. We also initiated a satellite school in another rural community to allow students who have to walk great distance to be able to continue to study secondary school. School materials, teachers' educational tools, exam papers for the year were provided so our six local teachers and three assistant teachers could give the best classes they could. Our assistant teachers, who teach in the primary schools as well, are ex-students of the college who we also help through their University studies too. This year we provided transport for those students who have to walk long distances each day. Adult literacy classes continued through the year bringing the total to ninety-one adults graduating primary school in the past ten years. Celebrations included Mother's Day, Father's Day, Day of the Child and Student and of course the final Graduations. The students were also very much involved in the sustainable plans, including Plan Cafe, doubling the size of the plantation. We invested in musical instruments for the first time this year and our students were the talk of the town for Independence Day in September. The end of the year was topped off with a fantastic Christmas Party for the teachers to show our gratitude for their fantastic work during the year. We spent almost $30,000 this year on the projects. Looking ahead to 2018 we plan to finish the construction of the classrooms in the two schools and increase the number of assistant teachers. We are also expecting an increased number of students across all grades as the school gains respect and fame, especially with the local NGO's who employ our graduates, knowing that their hands-on experience gained throughout the college years is second to none. 2017 started off in the second half of the school year in Ecuador. The community meetings with the teachers and parent leaders continued with plans being put into place for how we need to continue to adapt to the centralized school. At present there are just 5 teachers, including the Phoenix teacher, for 9 grades and over 100 children from 4 different communities. Our plan to provide ex-students the necessary teaching experience to be able to obtain full employment and better pay elsewhere came to fruition at the end of the year with Nancy, our Phoenix teacher, being head-hunted for another school due to her reputation and brilliance - it is sad to see her go though her future is now secure. Looking ahead to 2018 the obvious necessity is to fill the classrooms with teachers, bringing the ratio to one teacher per grade. 2017 started off as ever in Peru with the holiday reinforcement classes in January and February with the main event, the start of the school year, in March. With two grades per teacher and fifty children our two Phoenix teachers had their work cut out and did it with aplomb! During the year we spent over $8,000 on teachers' salaries, celebrations including Mother's Day and anniversaries, classroom materials and textbooks and of course, the end of year trip to the beach. Bearing in mind the children live in the desert, many of them having never seen the sea, let alone a large body of water, it is without doubt the highlight of each year! Looking ahead to 2018 we plan to increase the number of Phoenix local teachers to try to reach a ratio of one teacher per class. We are asking once again for you to help us maintain our current levels of support in the communities and increase our teachers we had to cut this year by donating to this year's 2017 One Child A Day Christmas Appeal and giving us the same foundation to build on in 2018. Thank you so much to those of you who have already donated. Daily education isn't only about the teachers. Each year The Phoenix Projects also strive to provide classroom materials, teaching materials, teachers' tools, food and fruit, exam papers, graduation costs, celebrations including Mother's Day, Father's Day, Day of the Child, school trips, transport, cleaning products, cleaners, soaps, toilet rolls, drinking water, first aid, internet, electricity, gas, rent, maintenance and painting, construction, scholarshipsand of course, the teachers! Thank you for everything and anything you can donate to this year's appeal. 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