Scholarships & Training for Rural Guatemalan Women

Life presents each of us with situations that motivate us to continue working hard to do our work. For me, it is my interaction with the Kateri Fund students. At the beginning of each year, I feel concern about the progress of each of our student scholars. In every course, they undertake they face obstacles as they go about their studies on the path to reaching their goals and meeting the objectives of the Kateri Fund. Sometimes it is emotional issues; other times disciplinary issues or trouble understanding the course content, or various other distractions. For me personally, seeing the final fruit of all of the students’ labors motivates me to continue working with dedication.

This year, eleven young women struggled to advance in their studies. Four of them finished their studies with the following certificates: Office Secretary, Bookkeeping, Pre-school Teacher, and Nurse’s Aide.

Juana was one of the students who graduated.  She had some difficult moments with her studies. There were family problems that affected her performance, but they did not stop her from moving forward. She carried the flag for her class in the Independence Day parade, an honor reserved for the top student in each class. She was president of the school’s electoral board, Judge for a Day, and received her diploma from the Constitutional Court. Despite the challenges that she faced, she worked hard and achieved a final average of 90 percent. She is pleased with her grades, since she fought hard to get them and they earned her a place at the top of the student body.

As a Kateri Fund scholar she attended monthly workshops at the Kateri Center.  She felt that the workshops that were most interesting were the ones that were about traditions and cultures based on values, self-esteem, getting along together, teamwork and individuality. These were interesting because they improved her attitude and made her think that she should be someone who creates change and can provide service for others.  She liked the way the topics were presented with games and contests like the singing competition  in the September workshop. They learned to work together  in order to win the competition.  It also helped her learn how to accept support from others.

This year she gained more self-assurance and confidence in herself.   She got along well with her classmates.  They were divided into groups at first, but they worked out their problems and got along better as the year went on.

Her family supports her emotionally and verbally with advice, encouraging her to keep struggling to get ahead in her studies. She hopes to be able to support them economically one day. Her family is proud of Juana Rosalía’s graduation, especially since they do not have an education themselves.

Juana is proud of having gotten her high school degree in Early Child Education and of having been a good student.

Her goals for next year are to get a job or give classes to re-enforce students who need extra help, take Zumba classes, study at the university, support her parents, and help in the Kateri Fund.

She expresses gratitude for all the support she has gotten in her education, knowing that without that support she would not have been able to study.