Break The Cycle Of Poverty Through Education in GT

Friends of Niños de Guatemala,

This month has been a very exciting and busy one for Niños de Guatemala. We have received great support from both organizations and individuals,celebrated with our students and community, and been joined by creative and talented staff in our office here in Antigua.

On September 15^th we celebrated Independence Day in Guatemala and our students took part in parades with all of the schools of Ciudad Vieja. The 2016 school year is winding down and students are preparing for their final exams. October 7th marks the last day of school until Summer School in November. The schools will be closed until November 3rd and Summer School will last until the 30th. 

Niños de Guatemala is excited to announce that we have recently launched a Sponsorship Department. In addition to the Padrino Program that we already operate, we will also now have a suite of Corporate Sponsorship options ranging levels and programs. 

Today, we'd like to highlight a story out of our recently operational Community Center. The Community Center has been running for one year and provides workshops in a range of topics including cooking, baking, Zumba and jewelry making, with the goal to provide educational and entrepreneurial opportunities to all families in our communities, not just those whose children we educate. Only 20% of our parents completed primary education so most do not have the ability to access sustainable employment opportunities. Our hope is that our Community Center offers opportunities that will provide families with income generation opportunities and empower them.

One such story is that of Mirna. Mirna is 49 years old, and is responsible for caring for her 20 year old son and two parents. Mirna loves to sew. To continue to build her skills, she decided to take a sewing class with the Community Center, and upon its completion, she took an embroidery class. This embroidery class taught her skills she did not previously have, and allowed for her to acquire more business. Thanks to the classes she took at the Community Center, Mirna will now be able to provide that much more for her family. 

Finally, a word on our staff: In the last few weeks several new staff members have joined us in our Antigua office. Corinne Hone will be joining our staff as a Volunteers Coordinator, and will assist Harriette Rothwell, our Volunteers Manager in her tasks. Additionally, Paul Howley will join as the Social Business Assistant to help manage our ever growing social businesses. A new group of people who are passionate about Niños de Guatemala’s mission, and who will use all of their abilities to better the lives of our community.

Thank you for your support!

Dear Friends of Niños de Guatemala, 

The past few months have been an exciting time for us in Antigua and Ciudad Vieja. We´ve been lucky enough to host a number of volunteers from all over the world joining us for their summer vacations, and their enthusiasm is part of what has allowed us to continue to grow as an organization! 

We´ve recently continued construction in our schools, as we´re making space for our students to continue learning and growing. 

This month, we´re highlighting the story of one of our students, Juanito:

Juanito is a 9 year old student in third grade at our elementary school, El Porvenir. He loves to play and is always full of energy. Unfortunately, Juanito’s childhood has been consistently challenging. He does not have a father and his mother works in another town. She leaves for months at a time in order to support her family as a single mother. For the majority of his life he has been raised by his grandmother, aunt and uncle.

Prior to receiving help, Juanito had many problems in school. He often had difficulties following direction and getting along with his teachers. In addition he often quarrelled with his classmates and struggled academically. In order to create a better learning environment for Juanito, the psychology program, social work program and academic coordination team all collaborated to create a plan that gave Juanito the extra attention he needed to succeed in school.

Juanito began with individual therapy sessions, where he was eventually diagnosed with ADHD. After he was diagnosed, the staff worked with Juanito to build a learning plan to find the most effective way to teach him the curriculum while supporting his development. Juanito began attending refuerzo (extra classes in the afternoon for additional help with his school work). They also worked with his grandmother and uncles to assure that he was getting the attention he needed at home to keep up with his classes. They became more closely involved in his life by helping him with his homework and monitoring his behavior. With hard work, extra attention and time we could see the positive changes of Juanito’s behavior and academic performance.

At the end of the year Juanito’s mother will return and be able to provide more stability in the household, and combined with the work we have been doing this year, he will be able to succeed in his future classes. Now his attitude and concentration has improved significantly. He often demonstrates support and encouragement towards his classmates, shows interest in learning, and helps his teachers and peers when they need it. We are already working on a support plan for the upcoming year so Juanito can continue to thrive.

The names and photographs in this blog post have been changed to protect the privacy of those involved.

The Experience Guatemala Challenge 2016 mentioned in our last letter was a massive success, with teams coming from Antigua and New York City to compete and raise money and awareness for our schools.  We took the teams to stay in a Mayan retreat near the Lake and to Xela for some adventurous challenges after a day of activities with our students in El Porvenir and the Básico.

Thank you so much for your continued support! To keep up to date with all the goings on in the projects and wherever you are in the world, follow us on Social Media.