Education Belize Project #28959

Help Send At-risk Children in Belize to School

by PathLight International

Project Report | Apr 13, 2018
Hope, Dreams and Access to Education

By Laura Connelly | Director of Operations

PathLight student

From Mariam, PathLight's Director of Sponsorship+

Most of the students who come into the PathLight program are from families that are truly not able to pay for their child’s education.

These are young people who have never been taught how to dream. They have only known the harsh realities of life, that their parents have to work hard to just provide at least one meal for the day. That there will only be one pair of shoes for the entire year and that a primary school education is all they could ever get.

I saw that look of lost hope in the eyes of one of the standard six class we visited. How excited these kids were when we explained the purpose of our visit to their class. The smiles stretched across their faces only to grow smaller and smaller as Bryan explained the strict criteria that is required to be accepted into our Sponsorship program. Smiles disappeared, being replaced by despair.

My heart was breaking, because for these children, having PathLight come to their school for the first time, was a feeble candle in the wind, but the breeze was getting stronger, and that candle was about to blow out because they felt they could simply not qualify.

There were tears in my eyes and I could feel God pushing me back to stand in front of these students, so I moved back to the front of the class, “Listen, there is a reason we came to your school today. God told us that there are students who need to go to high school and PathLight will be the only help they will be able to find, that is why we are here. We are here to offer you hope, to tell you that it is possible to have a dream, that it is possible to achieve your goals. There are students here, in this room, that will be PathLight students, so don’t give up yet!”

Hands shot up, asking for applications, the faces of these children lighting up. Today my prayer is very simple but it’s with every bit of hope that is in me “God, please touch the hearts of donors so we may be able to bring hope to as many of these children as possible!”

Permalink

Jan 19, 2018
PathLight is providing hope through education in Belize!

By Laura Connelly | Director of Operations

Homework time!

2017 was a year filled with many blessings for the PathLight students who are receiving the gift of an education. In June, PathLight saw 13 students graduate, and we accepted 34 new students for the fall. This was a difficult decision since we received over 150 applications. PathLight now has 127 sponsored students in high school, trade school and college.

Every day after school, our sponsored students come to the PathLight office in Belmopan or Belize City, where they receive mentoring, tutoring, homework help, character formation, spiritual development and counseling; and have the use of computers, printers and WiFi access for homework. In their free time the students participate in fun activities such as the PathLight choir, football (soccer) team and chess club. We have an excellent team of mentors and volulnteers who support the students. Several of our sponsored college students serve as peer leaders and tutors.

Fabiola lives in a rural village in Belize with her father and younger sister. Since their mom died, Fabiola has become like a mother to her little sister, even though she’s only 13 years old herself. Fabiola also has an older sister who dropped out of high school in her first year, but that motivates Fabiola even more to succeed. She enjoys reading and helping her little sister with homework. Fabiola has been working hard to stay in the top three in her class. Her goal is to succeed, and to prove to herself and her father that she can graduate high school. Fabiola will be the first in her family to graduate high school.

"I am sincerely grateful for the PathLight sponsorship. Thank you for your generosity, which is allowing me to further my education. I love attending the PathLight programs. Your sponsorship was the best gift I received in 2017! Thank you so much for your generous support.

--- Fabiola, PathLight sponsored student, age 13

Gratitude

Vision board

Graduation

Links:

PathLight International

Permalink

‹ 1 2

About Project Reports

Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.

If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.