By Lois Werner | President
Elias lives in Pueblo de Dios, a remote village in San Martin, Jilotepeque. Since there is no school in his village, he has to make the 30 minute walk to a nearby village to attend first grade. Kids in the rural villages in Guatemala are accusomeaked to walking forth and back to school but for Elias, it is a particularly difficult struggle.
He was diagnosed with a congential heart defect when he was two months old. At the time his mother was told he would have to go to the United States for surgery but an impossibility for the family for many reasons. His mother didn't take Elias back to the doctor. During school physicals in July, 2014, Elias, age 8, was examined and immediately transferred to our health clinic to see our staff doctor, Dr. Gaby Hernandez. He was severely underweight among other problems. He is now in our nutrional program, receives vitamins every month, and is improving.
His school received computers last month. It wasn't an easy task but the teachers and parents worked together to paint a classroom, install security bars on the windows, install dedicated electricty to the classroom and the teachers attended computer classes at our field office in San Martin. After 4 months of preparation, 15 computer were installed and now 95 students are attending computer classes each week.
For Elias and his fellow students, it is the first time they have touched a computer. Their expressions of joy and amazement are immeasurable. Teachers now have educational tools they never thought possible (70% of the teachers in San Martin have never used a computer). Education technology will benefit these students in ways yet to be discovered.
The Santo Domingo school is the 13th school to receive computers through our ongoing project "Bringing teachnology to rural schools in Guatemala". We continue to have a growing list of schools requesting computers. Your support is needed to help us expand to those schools waiting for help. Please donate today.
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