By Kay Sweeney | Managing Director
The scholarship staff, Carmela Paz Bal, Emilsa Peren, Juana Tuj, and Candelaria Sut, is working hard to provide a quality program for the young women in the Kateri Education Fund scholarship project. Candelaria is continuing to lead the monthly presentations on careers in Guatemala at the meetings in Chimaltenango. Juana Tuj presents the themes in Santa Clara la Laguna. The themes covered have been "Choosing a Career" and "The Role of a Woman in the Guatemalan Workforce" plus those that we reported on in our last report. The young women will be taking a vocational exam this month which will help them discern what types of careers might appeal to them.
At each meeting, Carmela and Juana have individual conferences with the students. This year, there will be eight young women graduating from high school career training. Mery Cun and Martina Chipix will graduate as elementary school teachers. Celia Sicay and Mishel Cutzal will be bookkeepers. Marianela Patzan is training as a bi-lingual secretary and Cristina Cuc and Ana Chali Tuyuc will finish a 5 year course that awards them a degree to teach music in the elementary school.
They all are in their seminar in which students in their last year of high school take a social issue or community project and develop a presentation or activity around the topic. Ana's group is working on the theme "The Cleanliness of the Streets and Deforestation". The theme for Mishel's class is "Vision for the Nation". In it they are developing a presentation that tells what they want their country to be like in 20 years. These are typical of the themes chosen.
They also will do a semester of practice in their chosen career. For instance those studying teaching work in a classroom aiding the regular teacher. If they are studying bookkeeping, they work in an accountants office, etc. Ana is doing her practice in a school in Guatemala City teaching the flute and working with 4 year olds. Cristina is doing her practice in a preschool in their hometown, San Juan Comalapa. Martina and Mery are both in schools in their hometowns.
The other young women are also busy with their studies. Francisca Cutzal and Blanca Surec have all started high school this year and are traveling outside their villages to study. They report it is hard to adapt to the new institutions and different styles of teaching, but they are working hard to get good grades. Blanca reports that all of her classmates work together to help each other. All of the other young women are doing well.
A group of friends of the Fund visited in April and we were able to show them what they had been investing in. They met with the present scholarship holders in Chimaltenango and with a group of our graduates in Santa Clara la Laguna. Pictures of those gatherings are included with this report.
All in all things have been moving along well thanks to your support. Please share this report and information about the Fund with your friends and give them the opportunity to invest in these young women. There are many more who could improve their lives with a little help from a friend!
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