Scholarships & Training for Rural Guatemalan Women

The 2018 school year has come to a close with the annual end of the year party.  Aura has graduated from high school career training as a bookkeeper. Darli, Yessenia and Carmen graduated from eighth grade and will be going on to career training next year.  All the students had successful years.

The staff planned the final meeting of the year to give the students the experience of "putting their best foot forward."  An important skill when you are looking for a job.  Aura will be putting the things she learned into practice immediately, but all the young women need to perfect their presentation when looking for a job.

The staff presented some suggestions about important points and the young women role played an interview.  They each had the experience of being the interviewer and the applicant.  A third student was the observer and noted the good points and made suggestions for improvement. 

After this experience, they summarized what they learned from the experience.  They realized that you need to know all you can about the company before you go for the interview.  Showing confidence was important.  Preparing before hand and knowing yourself and what you are capable of  makes that possible.  Employers want responsible workers, so it is important to show you are responsible by being on time and bringing all the documents the company has asked for.  The final point is that if you get the job, in order to keep it, you must adapt to all the requirements. 

For Aura, this was an important lesson, but it is important for all the young women.  The staff will come back to these points in different ways in the future as "practice makes perfect". 

Giving Tuesday is coming up on Tuesday, November 27th.  GlobalGiving will be matching funds donated on that day.  We now are planning for the 2019 school year.  The donations we receive this month determine how many scholarships we can award in 2019.   Recurring donations always give the projects more security.  If you can budget a monthly donation toward these schoarships, you will be making it possible for these young women to lift themselves out of poverty and become educated women with new possibilities for the future.

Aura has almost reached her goal.  She will graduate in October with a certificate as a bookkeeper.  She has overcome all the obstacles put in front of her with her positive spirit and can do attitude.  Her goal is to always have a dream and be happy. 

Aura lives in a small village outside of the city of Comalapa.  Her family works hard in the fields raising vegetables to sell.  They have a few coffee plants to harvest.  They have had to struggle with the illness of the father of the family.  This made it difficult for them to do the work needed to survive.  Despite the difficulties, they struggle to keep Aura and her six siblings. 

Aura and her mother are very close.  As the oldest, she and her mother worked together to sustain the family during her father illness.  In 2006, she left school after fifth grade.  Her mother needed her at home to help.  After six years, when her father recuperated, she returned to finish elementary school at 18 years old.  A difficult thing to do!  She was so much older than the other students, but with her positive attitude and happy spirit, she fit in.  She became someone the others looked up to.

Now at 23 years old, she is ready to graduate!  She has a career!  All of her teachers predict success for her in the future.  Hers is a story of persistence, a positive attitude, and a family that believes in her.

To end, I want to share with you a poem she wrote in one of the Kateri workshops.

                                                                   Poem for the Leaders

                                                            I want the daughters of Guatemala

                                                                     To have a better future.

                                                                 I want them to work hard to

                                                                     Change their country.

                                                              Young Guatemalan leaders

                                                              Are the future of Guatemala.

                                                            It is not important who you are

                                                                    Tall, short, fat, thin,

                                                          All these things are not important,

                                                                Neither color nor race,

                                                           Only you can change things.

                                                                Keep your head high

                                                                       And be firm.

I think she will follow her own advice.  She seems poised for a good future.  She is an example of the opportunity YOUR support provides.