Dear Friends,
The Guatemalan school year ended this month, and Niños de Guatemala is excited to celebrate another great class of students at graduation. We are eager to help support our students as they embark on new challenges in middle school, high school, and beyond. As we enter the last stage of the year, we are grateful for all of our supporters who have helped us develop a strong, international community.
London School for Girls
London School for Girls joined us this month for a two-week immersive trip. While here, the students volunteered in our schools conducting workshops for NDG students on English. While not volunteering the students studied Spanish with Cambio NDG, participated in Impact Experiences tours and workshops and spent time immersing themselves in the Guatemalan culture with their local host families!
Our thirteen volunteers provided invaluable language exchange, and fun activities for our students! We are so grateful they could come and become a part of our NDG family.
High School
At Niños de Guatemala, we believe in the importance of continued education and encourage our students to keep studying. Beginning in 2019, Niños de Guatemala will offer its Basico graduates an option to continue their schooling with NDG High School, an afternoon online program offered in our school computer lab. Students can receive a high school diploma in Computation, recognized by the Guatemalan Ministry of Education. Graduates can also access additional scholarships for continued study in local private high schools and training programs such as the GOOD Academy!
Children's Day
The 1st of October, our schools celebrated Children's Day. The teachers and staff at NDG worked hard to create a special day to celebrate our wonderful students. All students were able to dress up, and volunteers brought several cakes to share with the students!
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Dear supporters,
This month, I would like to share the story of our Mother Self Esteem Program, provided by the Psychology Department. eight mothers of our students attended the monthly Grupo de Autoayuda. The workshop teaches independent thinking, relaxation, breathing exercises and the significance of forming one’s own opinions. The program highlights the strength of women and how females can be empowered.
For this meeting, the mothers all sat together in a circle to watch a short documentary about
seven women who have changed the world. None of the mothers knew that women invented things like GPS and gasmasks, which we still use today. The documentary showed that women and men are equal and that women can do whatever they want to do and are capable of changing the world.
All of the mothers recognize and respect the impact women have in our lives. They recognize the value they have as strong women and that they provide a positive role model for their children.
Maya (31) “I have enjoyed attending these workshops since the beginning. I did not know how to control my feelings before I started the workshop. I got angry very quickly but now I know how to stay calm and maintain a positive attitude. I can share my thoughts and feelings with the other mothers. I am now a good example for my children and have seen a positive change in them.”
Do you want more stories like this and read about NDG’s work in Guatemala? To keep up to date with our projects and happenings wherever you are in the world, follow us on Social Media!
As always, thank you so much for your continued support!
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Imagine a week full of surprises, adventures and different activities where five teams compete against each other, while traveling and experiencing Guatemala first hand; that's the Experience Guatemala Challenge, an annual fundraising event organized by Niños de Guatemala.
This year, teams consisted of both Guatemalans and foreigners residing outside and inside the country: Ryan and Angie from Good Trip travel agency in Texas, United States; Samuel and Natalia from La Iguana Perdida Hostel in Santa Cruz la Laguna, Guatemala; Kike and Fares from La Cantina Royal and Abita / Brooklyn Brewery in Antigua Guatemala, Guatemala; Elisa and Laurel, two Antigua expats; and Roosmarijn and Myrte from the Netherlands. Each team was responsible for raising 5,000USD for Niños de GUatemala and from the 8th to the 13th of April, they competed in a series of physical, culinary and cultural challenges around the country, from making kites to fishing for their own dinner.
The objective of the event is to raise funds for the operation of our three schools in Ciudad Vieja and San Lorenzo el Cubo at the same time of awareness about the work we do.
"The Experience Guatemala Challenge was the best experience to explore the country, get to know the people and culture of Guatemala, and go places that you would not otherwise visit. It was incredibly interesting to do the challenges, which were a surprise and everyone had their connection with the local culture " - Myrte Kok (Participant)
This year the participants learned to prepare typical Guatemalan dishes in Ciudad Vieja, make kites with rice paper in San Lorenzo el Cubo, were taught how to make corn tortillas and weave with a waist loom in Nahualá, visited the beautiful Laguna Chicabal in Quetzaltenango, fished in traditional wooden boats on Lake Atitlán and visited the coffee growing areas around Antigua. After completing 10 challenges, our teams returned to their homes, with new friends, a clearer vision of what Niños de Guatemala does to break the cycle of poverty and above all a stronger commitment to help break it.
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Hello everyone,
In Guatemala the school year has started today, that means that our teachers are working really hard to make our new students feel at home. We are looking forward to the exciting plans we have coming this 2018! Every month there will be coming volunteers from all over the world to either help in one of our three schools, or assist within the office in different areas such as the Communications Department or Sponsorship Department.
We would like to share the story of Jonathan, a student at NDG.
Aflatoun International provides a social and financial education program specifically developed for children. My school, El Porvenir, in San Lorenzo el Cubo, has been working with this program for six years. The program has five elements: Rights and Responsibilities, SelfAwareness, Financial Planning and Budgets, and Social and Financial Entrepreneurship.
Organizing fundraisers
One of the best aspects of the Aflatoun program is that students must organize their own fundraisers. For example, on “Día del Niño,” students raise money through various activities and then can spend what they’ve earned on special treats. Aflatoun empowers our students to plan and execute projects, as well as focus on their future. The goal is to increase student independence and empower them to manage their own financial needs.
Saving for the future
Jhonatan, a student in the sixth grade, enjoys attending Aflatoun. He has learned about the importance of financial management. Now when he helps his family clean houses, he earns part of the money and saves it to buy something he wants or needs later on. Currently Jhonatan is thinking of saving his money to start his own foundation for people who like to read since not everyone can afford to buy their own books. I think this is a really good example of our students learning to plan for their future.
Do you want more stories like this and read about NDG’s work in Guatemala? To keep up to date with our projects and happenings wherever you are in the world, follow us on Social Media!
As always, thank you so much for your continued support!
Links:
Dear supporters,
The school year is coming to a close in Guatemala, and that means that our Summer School Program is about to start. We have had a great school year and look forward to seeing all the volunteers who make our Summer School Program possible.
This August we launched our very first magazine, E3: Stories from the heart of Niños de Guatemala, where you can find personal stories of the people involved with our organisation and learn about the impact that Niños de Guatemala makes on the communities of Ciudad Vieja and San Lorenzo el Cubo.
We´d love to share the story of Alvaro and Maria with you!
“My name is Alvaro. My wife’s name is Maria. I stopped attending school after 3rd grade. Maria finished primary school but did not continue to secondary school. A lot of work to support our family We have four children between the ages of 12 and 20. We work in the field, where we grow beans and vegetables. Maria takes the bus at 2am to sell our products in the market in the city. I work in the fields from 5am until 12pm and afterwards I clean the vegetables all afternoon. It takes a lot of work to support our family. This is the reason that our two eldest children never finished primary school – they started working in the fields with us. We now value education Education is good for our children, although at first we did not support it. Our second youngest child, Angela, is enrolled in middle school. This year we were going to withdraw her so she could work full time as well. But Angela told us how happy school makes her. She believes that education is the key to a better future, and we want to support her where we can. We always saw education as a waste of time, and that this time can better be used for work. We now value the education of our two children who are still in school. We understand that education can change their lives and give them a better future than we can offer them.”
Do you want more stories like this and to read about NDG’s work in Guatemala? To keep up to date with our projects and happenings wherever you are in the world, follow us on Social Media and subscribe to E3.
As always, thank you so much for your continued support!
Links:
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