Change a Life, Educate a Child

In these unprecedented times, schools all over the world have had to adjust their pedagogy in order to be able to support their children and further their learning. As we arrive at the 7^th month of school closures due to the State of Emergency in Guatemala, our own Dreamer Center and Scheel Center Schools have had to answer the same question as every other school: how do you educate children during a global pandemic?

For many schools around the world, the change from learning in the classroom to learning at home was not too drastic, even seamless for some. Schools simply switched from learning in the classroom to learning online, with classes through Zoom, school intranet, and email. Children continued to see their teachers, albeit through a screen, and make progress in their learning.

However, this is simply not an option for the children in our schools. Our Guatemalan families do not have the technology available to them to access websites or Zoom calls. In fact, many families do not even have secure electricity in their homes to access any technology at all.

At first, when people were not able to leave their homes, our teachers sent worksheets and school work to the families through the medium of WhatsApp. The teachers created guides with work for the week and sent it from their homes to the schools’ directors to then forward on to the children. The families provided us their phone numbers or the number of a neighbour who could pass the work on to them, received the work and then sent it back to the schools through their phones. It was noted, though, that this was still an extremely difficult process for many families who did not have mobile phones, or the ability to pay for mobile data to receive and send their schoolwork. Furthermore, many families had no way to print the work or download it.

The schools therefore had to rethink how they could best support the learning of their many families, and arrived at the current system. Now, rather than sending the work to the families, the families come to the Dreamer Center and pick up their schoolwork. We have set up a way for families to receive their schoolwork while adhering to stringent safety and hygiene protocols. There are strict social distancing measures in place, and people who enter are required to have a temperature check, wear masks, and use antibacterial gel. They receive their work one at a time and at a distance from the directors and teachers. The children take the school guides, which have work for two weeks at a time, and complete the work at home. Then they bring it back and receive the next school guide.

Is it a perfect system? No, of course not. Many families struggle to complete the work at home as the parents of the children have never received a formal education themselves and so are unable to help their children. For this, we have directors and teachers available to the families to provide support and plans to make it easier for the families, either through phone calls or socially distanced chats. Ideally the children would return to school as soon as possible, but the security measures put in place by the government mean that this is not currently possible. These measures do seem to be working, however, as the number of active cases in Guatemala has been steadily falling.

As we arrive at the end of the school year in October, it seems more and more likely that schools will remain closed until at least the start of 2021. We will continue to monitor the guidelines put in place by the government to best prepare to provide quality learning for our many schoolchildren so they can stay on track to advance to the next grade.

Links:

• The GOD'S CHILD Project
• Institute for Trafficked, Exploited and Missing Persons

Francisco and his family have long been a part of our Project; Francisco studied at our Dreamer Center Primary School before graduating and moving up to the Scheel Center this year. Francisco’s niece is currently studying at the Dreamer Center School and his sisters and nephew have also been students with us in previous years. Francisco lives in Vista Hermosa, which is on the hillside above the Scheel Center School. He shares his house with many family members, including his sisters, nieces and nephews.

Francisco has always been extremely interested and engaged in his learning throughout his years at the schools, often going out of his way to study topics that interest him further. Francisco has expressed a curiosity for science and history in particular during his time here, and wanted to be a scientist when he was older for many years. More recently he has been inspired by the work he does to support himself and his family, however, and is interested in becoming a chef.

"Education is really important to me so that I can have a good job in the future. I work with my family making bread when I am not studying, and I use the money that I earn to pay my school fees. It feels good to earn money and to be able to spend it on something that will help me in the future. When I graduate I would love to have a good job like a scientist or a chef. I really enjoy cooking and so I would like to study to be a famous chef and support my family."

Francisco helps out in the family business of making bread which is sold to his neighbors in Vista Hermosa. The money he earns is shared between his family and himself. Francisco uses this money to pay for his school fees which are Q120 or $16 a month. It is important to Francisco and his family that he has autonomy over his fees and that he works hard to be able to pay them, as this teaches him the importance and value of the education that he receives.

Francisco has always been a huge personality in the classroom. He loves to tell jokes that he has either found or that he has made up himself, as well as tell funny stories to make his classmates laugh. He is very intelligent and likes to be challenged, so will often try and test his teachers and classmates with riddles or regale them with interesting facts that he has discovered. He also enjoys playing soccer with his classmates during break times, throwing himself around to make tackles and help out his team. This is symptomatic of how Francisco cares for and looks after his friends, always willing to sacrifice something to come to their aid.

Francisco is very grateful for the education he is receiving from La Asociación Nuestros Ahijados. Without our support and the support of those who donate to the Project, he would not be in a position to be able to reach his goals. Francisco has so much potential and it is thanks to La Asociación Nuestros Ahijados and his own hard work that he is on track to accomplish his dreams.

Links:

• The GOD'S CHILD Project