Change a Life, Educate a Child

As the closure of schools in Guatemala reaches and passes 18 months with no sign of opening any time soon, the children of Guatemala have suffered greatly due to COVID-19. There is light at the end of the tunnel, however, as the vaccination programme is beginning for children over 12 years old with the aim of getting children back to school. As the school year ends in October, though, it is likely that schools will not open until early 2022.

One of our students currently waiting for the schools to reopen is 13-year-old Otilia, a student in the Etapas Programme in 2020. Otilia did not have the chance to study when she was younger and so is now catching up with us. In 2021 she is in 6^th grade having almost caught up to her age group.

Otilia lives with her sister and mother in Vista Hermosa, right next to the Scheel Center School. Her mother is originally from Joyabaj, Quiché. Their native language is Quiché and it is sometimes difficult for Otilia and her family to express themselves in Spanish. Otilia has another sister who lives in Ciudad Vieja with her partner. This is quite far away from Jocotenango and so Otilia does not get to see her sister very often. Otilia’s father abandoned the family when she was a baby and has never been a part of her life.

The family’s house is made up of two small buildings. One is made from sheet metal and the other is a ‘Casa Azul’, a house built by the Project. Some wooden parts of their house have been burnt, however. The family uses a latrine because they do not have a bathroom in the house. They use firewood to cook their food and Otilia shares a bed with her sister. The house is on a steep slope and during the rainy season is at risk of landslides and flooding.

Otilia’s mother makes tortillas and watches parked cars in the streets of Antigua at night. She earns around Q320 ($40) a month. Otilia and her family do not always have enough money to be able to eat three times a day. Their mother takes any work she can to earn money to feed her children.

The Project has worked hard to support Otilia and her family. In addition to building her a house, Otilia’s mother regularly receives vegetables from our distribution to make sure that the children do not go hungry. Otilia has also received clothes and school supplies which she and her family could not afford to buy. This year we provided Otilia and her family with a new woodburning stove. The stove uses 50% less firewood meaning that the family can save money and use it for their other necessities.

Otilia has ambitions for the future and would like to be either an actor or a teacher when she graduates university. She would like to be a teacher because she likes to teach children to read or an actor who stars on television. She also wants to help her mother with the household costs and to provide a better life for her family.

With schools in Guatemala still closed due to covid-19 and no plans currently in action to reopen, children have no option but to continue to learn from home. This year both of our schools will remain closed and we are working on providing scholarships for all of last year’s students to cover their school fees for the whole year as they study at other schools.

Whether they are learning through study guides collected every 2 weeks from school or through online classes or videos, the children face many difficulties in furthering their education and understanding. Some have no access to the internet and therefore have to borrow phones or WIFI from neighbours or family members just to see what they have to study or to research something they have been asked to find out about. Some have parents who never learnt to read and are unable to help them when they are stuck. Some are given work that is not differentiated and so is way beyond their ability. For many of the children who studied at our school last year it is just not a viable option to study at home.

We took note of the progress made by children in school during home visits to check on their wellbeing and decided to put a plan into action for a number of them. This included spending time in our Project each week to go through schoolwork that was particularly difficult or beyond their understanding. The children work with our psychologist, Sonia Paredes, on the subjects that they find the hardest. They have hour-long sessions where they can cover a specific subject or a range of subjects, depending on the needs of the individual student.

The advantage of our psychologist working with the children extends beyond just improving their schoolwork. It also gives her the chance to help children with their emotional wellbeing and mental health. For many children the restrictions for Covid have meant they have spent a whole year at home unable or too scared to leave. This has taken a real toll on their social and emotional wellbeing and having the chance to talk with our psychologist can help to alleviate the extreme stress that many have them have felt over the past year.

We have already seen the difference it has made with some of the children to have the chance to spend time outside the house, get help with their schoolwork and talk through some of the worries and issues they have. The children working with our psychologist are happier, healthier and progressing well with their schoolwork. Their parents are also very grateful to have somebody who can look after their children’s education when they are unable to. We hope to continue working with the children this year until schools are open again and our children can finally return to normalcy.