Support literacy and learning for 1,900 Maya youth

Last March the Saber Sin Límites (Limitless Knowledge) Community Library had to close as a result of COVID-19 lockdowns and restrictions. Despite the closure, our librarians kept working to bring educational opportunities to the local community, including STEM activities, and bilingual radio story broadcasts that were played in the homes of Chajul's families since the start of the pandemic restrictions.

Librarians, David and Olga, came up with creative new ways to continue providing educational opportunities to Chajul's youth and families. With schools in Guatemala shutting their doors for in-person classes after just two months of the 2020 school year, these educational services were crucial for students to continue learning. As students had limited access to educational support outside of our library programming, our activities helped to mitigate learning loss and ensure students remained committed to their education.

Library STEM activities 

Our STEM programming supports youth in Chajul to develop analytical skills that can be utilized to address some of their community's complex challenges. Through seeing problems in new ways, STEM skills help to prompt creativity, innovation, and out-of-the-box thinking. Our library members will become the next generation of problem-solvers who will address important challenges and bring new ideas and solutions to the table. In light of the changing educational and professional landscape created by the pandemic, knowledge of STEM subjects and medical fields is even more important and pressing than ever. 

By providing a learning space when possible, access to books and resources, trained librarians, and STEM programming, Limitless Horizons Ixil encourages library members to develop basic literacy in STEM subjects, gain a love of STEM, and foster confidence in pursuing STEM careers. During the 2020 closure, David and Olga read STEM-themed books on the radio and led youth through science experiments they could do with materials at home. For David, "providing library members with STEM learning opportunities is a chance for them to develop new abilities and knowledge." 

Story hours were conducted via radio broadcast, and STEM-themed books were incorporated into these broadcasts. By utilizing the radio during the pandemic, our reach was expanded to more youth and families in Chajul and surrounding villages (population 48,000). The stories were broadcast on average six times a day, seven days per week. Recently, library member Leonardo shared, “I missed the science and math classes the most [when the library was closed], but I listened to the STEM-related story hours every week with my entire family.” 

Limited in-person library re-opening

When government restrictions began to ease, we were able to resume some socially distanced in-person services and book lending. Over the past few months, the library has opened once a week and at a limited capacity. Though we can't wait to be fully up and running again when safe to do so, we are excited to be able to welcome Chajul's youth back to the library to check out books and participate in some STEM experiments and educational classes.  

While the pandemic and government-mandated lockdown caused a temporary closure of our library building, our local team swiftly adapted our programming ensuring the youth of Chajul could continue learning. Thank you for supporting the Saber Sin Límites (Limitless Knowledge) Community Library during this time of increased educational barriers. 

Links:

• Read more about our COVID-19 response

In Guatemala, lockdown measures were put in place six months ago in order to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Since March, schools have remained closed, remote learning opportunities have been limited, and children in Chajul have been confined to their homes. 

Limitless Horizons Ixil opened the community library’s doors 10 years ago, knowing that Chajul's homes weren’t equipped to provide youth with the resources they needed to do their homework and excel in their studies. Most homes lack natural light and have frequent power outages. Many consist of just one room with few tables or chairs, where large families cook, eat, and sleep in the same small space. And while very few homes have computers or televisions, most have a radio.

David and Olga, our dedicated librarians, were distressed when all public spaces had to close after lockdown measures were introduced. Even while the doors of our Saber Sin Límites (Limitless Knowledge) Community Library remained shut, they quickly considered how to continue offering services to nearly 500 library members. At a time when children around the world are connecting to video calling platforms and downloading applications, those from rural, low connectivity regions are often left without access to learning opportunities. But despite unreliable electricity and little access to televised lessons, there is still the radio. 

Just two weeks after the lockdown began, David and Olga had recorded the first of the now 28 and counting bilingual Spanish-Ixil story broadcasts on Chajul’s local community radio. Over the coming months, they would record stories about environmental protection to read on Earth Day and women’s rights for Mother’s Day. David’s favorite story is from the series they have been reading on utilizing our senses, which includes “With my hands” and “With my nose.” He tells us that the story about what we can do with our eyes “encourages children to look around them, to see the stars and observe the flowers.” 

David is witnessing the importance of community radio in Chajul first-hand. While he misses pulling out the microscopes for science classes and showing off the vivid pictures in the storybooks he reads aloud to eager learners, he is delighted to still have a way to stay connected to the community’s youth and families. 

“Through our radio story hours, we are able to show library users that we are still with them despite the situation. We are continuing to think of them and haven’t lost the habit of developing their imaginations and encouraging them to read. Based on what they hear us read, they can also be inspired to make up their own stories.” – David, Librarian

While 30 children would usually arrive at the library for our twice weekly story hours before lockdown, the radio broadcasts can reach homes across Chajul and neighboring villages (population 48,000).  David and Olga are looking forward to the day that they can reopen the colorful, painted doors of the library once again. When they do so, they anticipate that even more children will have learned about the library through the radio broadcasts, and they will have new faces arrive, eager to become new members. 

To listen to the stories, please visit our YouTube channel here.

Links:

• Learn more about our COVID-19 response efforts
• Follow us on Facebook for more updates on our response efforts