Creating Educational Opportunity for Maya Children

The Guatemalan school year is over. It's an exciting time at Pueblo a Pueblo! We celebrated alongside three beneficiary students at Panabaj Primary School. Andrea, Magdalena and Jose sat next to each other among their classmates and, with a handshake from the director, received their diplomas. This is a feat worth celebrating, as they became part of the 14 percent of youth in Department Solola that complete their primary education.*

We’re always ecstatic when our beneficiary students succeed. In rural Guatemala, there seem to be more obstacles than opportunities for children to get an education.

“The main educational challenge kids face is money,” says Johanny Quieju, the Primary Education Scholarship Project Manager. “Families either don’t have enough money to provide their children with supplies or things they need, or they don’t have enough money in general and the kids start working at a young age to contribute to the household income,” she explains.

Pueblo a Pueblo exists to relieve some of these challenges for students who otherwise wouldn’t have the resources or support to pursue primary education. With help from your GlobalGiving support, students receive support to pay school enrollment fees, school supplies, gym clothes and shoes, access to medical services and one-on-one tutoring.

We can’t take all the credit, though. Andrea, Magdalena and Jose put in their fair share of effort to complete their primary education. They fulfilled the attendance 90% requirement set forth by Pueblo a Pueblo and worked hard to pass their classes and reach a milestone.

It's a time for all of us to celebrate the accomplishemnts of these students, as we couldn;t have done it without you. Thank you for  sharing our vision of education as a tool for success and for contrinuting to the belief that every child deserves the opportunity to complete a primary education, regardless of their economic circumstances. Thank you! We did it!

*Guatemala National Institute of Statistics (2017)

At Pueblo a Pueblo we know that providing primary education scholarships to children is not enough to ensure their academic success. The goal of our Primary Education Scholarships (PES) Program is to provide children with the support they need to succeed in the classroom. In order to reach this goal, it is necessary to think beyond notebooks and pencils and also consider the effect that home dynamics have on students. Recently, our PES team hosted a “charla”, or chat, and invited the parents of the beneficiary children to attend and learn and talk about responsible parenting.

“The chat focused on talking about the potential outcomes of a child who is raised under an unhealthily stern and strict household, a parenting style that is very common in these communities” Johanny Quieju, the Primary Education Scholarship Program Manager, said.

The program team monitors the kids’ attendance, grades, and overall performance during the school year to make sure we address any potential risks to them not succeeding.The need for an event like this arose after noticing a common theme among the PES students who began showing signs of disinterest in school. “When we talk to the kids who are missing school alot, getting low grades, missing tutoring sessions or have a negative attitude towards school, the issue points back towards unhealthy family dynamics” Johanny added.

About 27 women gathered on the basketball court of Panabaj Primary School to attend the discussion about foster ing supportive relationships and encouragement for their students to reach their full academic potential. The chat consisted of open discussion and tips on how to make strides towards raising confident and successful children. One mother even said that she appreciated the event because she wanted to provide the best kind of parenting she could to her son, even though her parenting style is much more affectionate than the one she received. Your GlobalGiving donations make it possible for local children to succeed in school and receive the holistic support they need to fulfill their academic potential. Thank You!