GlobalGiving.org: A World of Reading for Maya Children in Guatemala

Meet Our New Librarian And Our New Library!

Montse Deu Pons — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 14:51:13 GMT

Pueblo a Pueblo welcomes Juana Lidia to our small Library Project team! Juana Lidia will be the school librarian for the Chukmuk School. She’ll be sharing both enthusiasm and her experience working in two local libraries with the children of Chukmuk, ensuring our library is not only filled with books, but also with boundless opportunities for learning.

The library’s new location is nearly finished. All it needs is a coat of paint and we’ll be ready to start cataloging and organizing books on the shelves. With generous donor support, we’ve been able to offer literacy activities and even summer camp programs in provisional locations while we waited for the new school and library location to be finalized. But now we’re looking forward to the smiles on the children’s faces as they walk through the door and see their new library full of books for the very first time!

Links:

Organization website

Time for Summer Camp!

Montse Deu Pons — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 20:22:26 GMT

It’s nearly summer (dry season) in Guatemala, so school vacation is right around the corner. This year Pueblo a Pueblo is offering a library camp throughout November where children can go for education, fun, and a nutritious meal while their parents work.

Our six-week library camp will feature literacy activities based on a new theme each week, such as “The World, My Community, and I" and “Types of Animals.” Some activities will focus on imagination and fiction books and other activities will involve investigation and non-fiction books. Throughout, kids will read, listen to stories, and enjoy arts and crafts.

July Literacy Activities at the Chukmuk Library

Johanny Quieju — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 17:59:55 GMT

Girl Reading

The Chukmuk children attendance to literacy activities at the Library is growing. Their interest has been awaken with the activities done in June.

In July our theme was ‘Nature’ and through activities linked to four children’s books we learned about how to best care for our mother earth.
The first book was ‘El Arbol generoso’ (The generous tree) and on that library session each child thanked the flowers, the trees and our beautiful lake for everything they give us.

The second book was ‘Siembra una semilla’ (Plant a seed) and guess what! each child made their own seed pot with recycled paper and planted a sunflower seed!
After watering the seeds and give them love for a whole week…. they came out!

With the third book (El loro tico tango) we experimented and learned how to write rhymes. It was the first try ever for most of the children so it was difficult!

And after reading 'El bosque tropical' (The tropical forest) we had to join letters and create animal names without orthographical mistakes...

Even though we are still on a temporary space we continue working to bring books to the life of children in Chukmuk and to awaken their interest for reading, widening their imagination and knowledge.

Sunflower Seeds

sunflower seeds 2

It's Storytime at the Chukmuk Library

Johanny Quiejú — Mon, 30 May 2011 22:02:00 GMT

Enjoying a brand new library book

I’m so happy to see the progress we’ve made with the children from Chukmuk. Even though we are still in a small, temporary library location, we’re achieving our goals of getting the children involved with reading with activities such as “hora de cuento” (story hour). They love it! At every new session, the children are participating more and asking lots of questions about the stories we’re reading. Their interest in books is growing and growing, and I'm really excited that we will soon be moving the library to its permanent location.

When we first started story hour, the children rarely interacted with us at all. Because so few books are available to them, the children of Chuk Muk are simply not accustomed to having stories read to them, so they were a bit astonished. Now they’re becoming involved in the stories, and before the end of each session they always ask, “Cuándo será nuevamente la hora de cuento?” (When will we have story hour next?)

One big benefit of the story sessions and the children’s contact with books is how it is raising their self esteem. They are overcoming their inhibitions to formulate questions and speak up. This is especially important in a Mayan community that had been repressed for so long due to a harsh civil war that only ended in 1996.

Once I heard a quote that said, “Books are dangerous, they make you think!” I love being able to give the children of my community access to books and the incentive to think.

...What happens next??

New Year, New Progress

Johany Queiju — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 15:04:42 GMT

Pueblo a Pueblo sponsored a very interactive and busy library program in the interim community library location during the school vacation period in ChukMuk. The library team took time at the start of the new school year in January to plan for the return of classes for children in the community. We have opened the doors of the library once again and are now offering new reading activities and resources for our beneficiaries.

People in the local community continue to be pleased that the village of ChukMuk has gained this small library and that the children as well as adults will have access to resources to improve their studies and nurture an increased interest in books and reading for pleasure.

Pueblo a Pueblo continues our work to partner with local organizations to be able to equip the library adequately with popular literature and books and to provide regular weekly reading activities. As always, we continue to bring access to both universal and popular literature for both the community members and the ChukMuk schoolchildren, which this year boasts 414 students from kindergarten through the sixth grade.

We are collaborating with local officials and partners on permanent relocation of the library to the new ChukMuk Municipal School, which is due to be completed by late summer 2011.

Chukmuk Community Library

Brighid Carey — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 22:05:22 GMT

Learning colors and shapes

Vacation library activities are up and running in Chukmuk! Schoolchildren from the community have been enjoying the new resources and programs being offered. As only 42% of rural indigenous children in Guatemala are likely to finish primary school, a library is an excellent means of promoting literacy and the value of education, not just among the children but the entire community as well (Center for Economic and Social Rights, 2009). The children in Chukmuk have been busy with basic English classes, story hours, and various games and crafts that reflect new words or themes. Their energy and enthusiasm reflects a desire to learn, and the library provides the perfect resource to combat illiteracy and enhance creativity. People in communities like Chukmuk have very limited access to books and educational materials outside the classroom, thus have no means to learn independently and practice the skills they acquire in school. The library project seeks to change this with the help of your generosity. Your donation will go towards the purchase of books and supplies for the new community library.

Take a break for some relay races!

ChukMuk Community's Library Comitee

Montse Deu — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 18:15:33 GMT

Students at the Chukmuk School

Hello to all of you friends! Thank you all to be following with interest our “A Word of Reading for Maya Children in Guatemala” project. As many of you know from our past updates, our project has encountered different obstacles on the past few months that have made us reconsider our initial location. At the beginning of June we suffered mudslides due to Hurricane Agatha and the original location for the Library was affected. It was clear that we needed to find a new space for the library. Immediately we approached the Community of Chukmuk which is a newly created community on the outskirts of Santiago Atitlán where the victims of Hurricane Stan (2005) from Panabaj Community have been reallocated.

Members of the Chukmuk community have formed a Library Committee and are working closely with us on the Library Project that will benefit not only all the children of Chukmuk but also adults who otherwise don’t have access to books.

The Chukmuk Community doesn’t have adequate services and the children of Chukmuk have to pay their way to town to find books and materials in order to do their homework. Also, for the families who live in Chukmuk, to have books at home is a luxury.

We are happy to announce that our now Chukmuk Community Library will be opening its doors very soon (some day this month to be determined!), even if only with few books and educational materials on the shelves. There is a great necessity from the community to have access to literature which has made us consider to open the Library somehow incomplete (it needs more books and materials) very soon.

We still need some more donations to be able to have more books on the Library shelves! Thank you all!

Chukmuk Library Committee Members

Links:

Pueblo a Pueblo's Blog

School Library Update 6/16/2010

Johanny Quieju — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 17:44:00 GMT

Library Building After the Storm

Progress continues on the school library despite setbacks created by tropical storm Agatha. Tropical storm Agatha, which devastated Guatemala, caused the evacuation of the entire neighborhood of Panabaj, where the school library is being installed. When the storm cleared it was evident that a lot of clean-up was necessary in the community of Panabaj, and the library building was not an exception. A wall in the back of the building fell and the basketball court in the front of the school has been completely filled with mud. Luckily, the library in the second floor and was unaffected by the storm. Just two days after the storm carpenters were hard at work installing the book shelves in the library. The structure of the library is coming together now that the walls are painted, bookshelves are installed, and there are two large work tables for the children to use. Next on the list of things to do is the selection of books that will make up the library. We are excited about the progress being made at the library. We look forward to when the doors open and the students can benefit from greater access to books and reading.

School Library Update 4/19/2010

Johanny Quieju — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 18:01:34 GMT

Teacher Painting the Library

The past week the library has been receiving a make-over with a fresh coat of paint. The school community got involved and lent their help to make this transformation a possibility. Teachers, students, and even the principal rolled up their sleeves and grabbed a paintbrush. After a morning of setup, during which the teachers assembled scaffolding and mixed paint, the work was ready to begin. The teachers and students climbed on scaffolding to reach the highest sections of the walls and by the end of the first day three of the walls were completed. Groups of teachers and students returned two additional days to complete the painting. The space has already begun to brighten up thanks to the new colorful walls. A transformation has truly begun in the library and we all cannot wait to see the finished product!

Students Painting the Library

Students Ready to Paint

A Postcard from Pueblo a Pueblo in Guatemala

Joan Ochi — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 16:17:15 GMT

In February, six GlobalGiving donors traveled to Guatemala for a week of exploration, cultural submersion, and welcomed visits to four GlobalGiving projects.

One of these projects was Pueblo a Pueblo where they are building a library/reading room at a school damaged by Hurricane Stan and induced landslides. Here’s one account of the group’s visit:

“Over to Lake Atitlan which is stunning if not infected with cyanobacteria and used as a dump for pretty much everything dumpable. Pueblo a Pueblo is a smaller operation focused on helping indigenous families whose village was destroyed in the mudslides of 2005. They're building a library for the school and just started a large organic garden to supplement the healthy lunch program where a different town mother cooks lunch for all of the school children each day.

One of the largest problems in Guatemala is the malnutrition. Ironically farmers whose livelihood is growing fruit and vegetables are better off selling it since it brings in more money, so they subsist off of very little food and not nearly so nutritious - primarily corn. They also have two sponsorship programs both of which are 300$/year - one to support one child throughout the school year to provide them with supplies and to support their classroom and teachers. The other is a maternal program for pre and post natal care and nutrition through the first 5 years of the child's life. 10% of children in Guatemala die before the age of 5. TEN percent. That's nearly incomprehensible.”

If you want to visit Pueblo a Pueblo’s project page click here: www.globalgiving.org/3666

And just if you’re curious about the rest of the trip and where they were headed after Pueblo a Pueblo:

“Almost every day in Guatemala brought us to projects which are doing important work for the people of Guatemala. This is a country devastated by decades of war, which suffers all of the consequences of crushing poverty, especially in the rural areas. Although I often felt disheartened to learn of the high rates of child malnutrition and low rates of education, projects like WINGS, which promotes family planning through education and improving women's health; the vocational school being built from recycled tires and plastic bottles by Long Way Home; and the community-run lending libraries facilitated by the Riecken Foundation, were terrifically uplifting. We repeatedly met enthusiastic people committed to doing good for the poor of Guatemala in culturally sensitive ways, which was the perfect antidote to the feeling of sadness or hopelessness that comes from hearing bleak statistics and seeing people living with so little.”

To check out the other visited projects go to:

The Frances and Henry Riecken Foundation – www.globalgiving.org/3339 WINGS – www.globalgiving.org/2394 Long Way Home – www.globalgiving.org/2402

School Library Update 3/12/2010

Johanny Queiju — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 19:00:05 GMT

In this poor region of Santiago Atitlán, Guatemala, where even books are of great value to thieves, a local blacksmith recently installed metal bars to the windows and doors of the school library, making the Panabaj School Library safe for the library’s belongings and its visitors. The next step in the renovation of the school library was the set up of electricity. Panabaj Elementary was fortunate to have one of its own teachers volunteer his previous electrical engineering experience in assisting in the electrical wiring of the library. Very soon, they library will be ready for painting and furnishing; allowing for a pleasant and safe place for its students to study and read. The School Library Coordinator Johanny Queiju (pictured on the right with President of Pueblo a Pueblo Kristen Van Zandt) is currently overseeing the school library project. She works closely with a committee of students, parents, and teachers of the Panabaj Elementary School to ensure that the community is actively engaged in the planning process of their school library. Recently, the Board of Directors made a visit to the site to observe its progress and was encouraged by the enthusiastic number of volunteers and staff who have not only been working hard on the project but also promoting Pueblo a Pueblo’s mission statement and vision for the future of the Guatemalan community.

Attachments:

Kristen Van Zandt (left) Johanny Queihu (right)

Panabaj School Library up to date

Library Coordinator — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 03:06:08 GMT

Writing in class

In January of this year, Pueblo a Pueblo launched the Panabaj school library program, so that school children will have the opportunity to expand their knowledge through various books and have access to a wealth of information that may work to improve their education and literacy. We started working together with the library committee consisting of several Panabaj School teachers, first presented to the Program Coordinator, Johanny, who has been supporting teachers in the process. We have advanced in the following topics; 1. Security in the space where the library will be. A local blacksmith is preparing bars for door and windows that will serve to have a safe library in the school. Look at how it works in the photos!

2. Electricity. The library site is lacking electrical cables and thus, the teachers think that it is essential to fix the wiring as soon as possible.

3. Painting. It is important to have a nice place where children can feel good and in a happy ambiance. Once the library is painted we will decide what furniture will be most suitable for the space.

We are excited! The blacksmith will be doing the installation of the bars on Wednesday 17th.

Blacksmith Working

The future window bars

School library

Rosemary Trent — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 18:45:19 GMT

Pueblo a Pueblo has recently hired a local Mayan woman to lead the coordination of the school library project from start to end. She will work closely with the library committe which is made up of student, parents and teachers from the Panabaj School. The children anxiously await access to reading books in their school!