Scholarships & Training for Rural Guatemalan Women

This month, the young women created a mural  from newspaper pictures using all the knowledge they have gained so far this year about  vocations and careers.  It was a way to review what they have learned while having fun.  They can see their creation each time they attend a meeting.

Lily Garcia Alvarado was welcomed as a new scholar moving us closer to our goal of 20 young women on scholarship for the year.  She is  studying for a career in computer  use in an office.  She is in first year of this high school level career.  She is from San Pedro Yepocapa in the state of Chimaltenango.  She studies weekends and helps her mother selling refrescos during the week.  She is enthusiastic about her studies and finds it interesting to explore and investigate with the computer.

The other students are all taking exams right now.  Their studies move along and they are all working hard to keep their grades up.  

In Francisca Sirin's village, they celebrated their annual fair.  They had religious activiites and a cultural night with many traditional songs, dances, etc.  The last day, they had a parade and all the  schools participated. They also had a soccer game and  the young people, both boys and girls, took part. 

Francisca and Sandra Lopez Cojti are both doing their student teaching.  Francisca is really enjoying working with the 4th graders, but she says that you need to pay attention to the mischievous children who don't want to work.  Sandra is working with two grades, 3rd and 4th. It appears to her that the 3rd graders are more responsible than the 4th graders.

Barabara Tartan's parents are very pleased because this is the last year of her career training.  They are busy in the fields sowing corn to harvest at the end of the year.  Barbara is a little worried because her grades have gone done so she plans to work harder to bring them up.

Reina Cuxil's school celebrated Mothers' Day in the municipal gymnasium in Chimaltenango.  They presented a dance dressed up us little children and they sang songs.  She enjoyed making marionettes in her Art Expression course during the month.

Marilena Patzan is busy studying to be a bi-lingual secretary weekends and during the week she works with her family harvesting peas.  This year's crop was a good one. Some they will sell for export and the rest they will sell in the local market. 

The girls as always are busy and working hard to fulfill all their responsibilities.

At the March Kateri Tekakwitha Fund scholarship meeting, Juana Cun,  2009 graduate and Candelaria Sut, 2010 graduate shared their work experience.

Juana advised the students to have a goal and be persistent-not give up until they reach it.  It is necessary to organize your time and put other things aside in order to succeed.  As a wife and mother, she has many responsibilities, but she finds a way to fulfill her obligations to both, even though she often must stay up late to accomplish all her work.  She has found it worth the effort.  One thing that has motiviated her is that she discovered that with more academic training she was able to command a higher salary.  She might do the same work without the degree, but she was paid less.  She felt they would not regret the time they devoted to their studies.

Candelaria told them that the most important thing was not to be afraid of new things or undervalue yourself.  She had found that everything is possible, but it oftens takes sacrifice and hard work.  Her greatest day was when she received her first salary.  She never had that experience.  Before she finished her studies, she had worked as a domestic.  In that situation, she never was free.  She received a small salary, but was mainly paid with room and board.  It is not the same as having your own salary and making your own decisions about how to use it. 

The students has many opinions about the presentations.  Sandra Lopez, Blanca Surec, Reina Cuxil, Aura Curruchiche,  and Paula Cali said that the two former Kateri scholars were examples that helped them understand that you can accomplish all that you propose for yourself.  Adela Surec took away the idea that to get started you need to take whatever job is offered even if it is not what you have studied and with some work experience you can find a job in your career.   Silvia saw that these two women had a positive outlook and were not afraid of new things.  They had struggled to accomplish what they wanted. Glenda Tum and Clara Ecomac received advise on how to keep a job- to be punctual, responsible, and disciplined.  Marilena Patzan was encouraged to move forward in her studies and to organize and use her time well.  All of the students felt that the life lessons of Juana and Candelaria were helpful for them as they struggled with their studies and obstacles to meeting their goals.