Education Guatemala Project #3666

Help Build School Libraries in Rural Guatemala

by Pueblo a Pueblo, Inc.

Project Report | Jun 18, 2020
Adapting to changing times

By Ana Cabrera | Program Director

As the whole world deals with COVID 19 pandemic, each place adapts according to its own realities. The first cases in Guatemala appeared in mid March, the national government quickly established measures like closing schools, prohibiting public bus transportation, shutting the borders, limiting businesses and shops, establishing a curfew. To ensure the safety and well being of Pueblo a Pueblo staff and the people we serve, we postponed all face-to-face meetings and trainings and started working remotely. Since the schools shifted to remote classes, the school libraries remain closed.

All these measures have helped reduce the spread of cases, but have had great impact in daily life and economy. This has had a dramatic impact on the communities we serve, including the ones that have participated in Pathways to Literacy project, leading to widespread food insecurity as most people live day-to-day, are in the informal economy, and rely directly and indirectly on tourism.

Pueblo a Pueblo analyzed what the short and long term impacts to the communities we work with and we determined the most immediate are increased food insecurity, and loss of family incomes. These will cause even more impact long term on education, health and malnutrition. To reduce immediate food insecurity we set up donation drives, with help of some matching grants, to collect funds to distribute food baskets to prioritized families we serve. This includes members from the School Library Support Group in Patzilín Abaj.

In the medium and long term we've started adapting our projects to the changing needs of the communities we work with so that our actions lead to more positive impact. As we continue to adapt, we will provide food baskets to people in the communities we serve.

Permalink

Feb 18, 2020
New Tools for a Changing World

By Pueblo a Pueblo | Pathways to Literacy

Students use the RACHEL program on a tablet

Tucked away in small communities on Guatemala's Lake Atitlán, many of our partner schools lack access to one of the world’s most powerful teaching tools: the internet. We’re committed to seeing students succeed despite the challenges of rural life.

How do we do it? With RACHEL. This educational tool allows for knowledge-sharing without the use of the internet. We offer RACHEL through a collaboration with Mundo Posible to give students the chance to learn beyond the walls of their classrooms.

How does it work? Each library has a router that allows students to log into RACHEL from an electronic tablet. Students can then engage with an extensive collection of educational games, stories, and videos. All materials come pre-selected based on students’ age and reading levels. RACHEL can triple or even quadruple the resources Pueblo a Pueblo is able to donate to any given school.

It’s no secret that in today’s world, most public and private institutions depend heavily on computers and other digital technologies. As a result, many jobs—even in rural Guatemala—require technological literacy. We seek to prepare students for personal and professional success, and RACHEL is a helpful way to build the skills they need to achieve this.

RACHEL helps schools address the challenges of rural life. The program also gives students from rural communities access to the life-long benefits of technological literacy. Your donations to this project help us bring RACHEL to schools all around Lake Atitlán. Thank you for supporting students as they learn to read, write, communicate, and self-advocate in an ever-changing world.

Librarian Ms. Clara helps students use the program

Student literacy ambassadors (in vests) use RACHEL

Links:

Pathways to Literacy at Pueblo a Pueblo

Permalink

Nov 22, 2019
Stories Build Stronger Readers

By Pueblo a Pueblo | Pathways to Literacy

Ms. Clara reads aloud to students

School has been out for almost three weeks here in Guatemala, where students attend class from January through late October. However, the library at Patzilin Abaj Primary School is full of young learners spending part of their winter vacation reinforcing their literacy gains.

Beginning readers need constant engagement with reading, writing, and storytelling activities in order to maintain their literacy levels over time. That’s why our Pathways to Literacy team leads two weeks of reading camp at each of our partner schools each winter: to give kids a chance to start the new school year stronger.

On Tuesday morning, Pathways to Literacy Project Coordinator Lidia Quiejú started off her day by reading a children’s book to fifteen wiggly students. The story was called Los cincuenta pasteles (“The Fifty Cakes”) and centered on a would-be entrepreneur named Enrique who foolishly agrees to bake fifty cakes for a very picky king—without any previous baking experience!

When she had finished her read-aloud, Lidia introduced the first group’s main activity: cake collages. “It’s important to give students an opportunity to be creative so that they can engage with the story in a variety of different ways,” Lidia explains. The students gathered leaves, seeds, and flower petals from the schoolyard and used them to decorate their “cakes”. The room quickly filled with the sound of hushed giggles as the students got right to work.

The second session of the day was led by Patzilin Abaj librarian Ms. Clara. “One of the goals of this project is professional development for school faculty—including its brand-new librarian,” explains Lidia. “So I lead the first session as a model, and then Clara leads the second to get comfortable with those same teaching techniques herself.”

Ms. Clara read the same book to the fourth, fifth, and sixth graders gathered for session two, but she used a more rigorous question-and-answer pattern to test the students’ comprehension. “What did Enrique want at the beginning of the story?” she asked. “What did you think would happen? Did the ending surprise you?”

Both groups of students will return for another week of reading camp, and they'll be back again in January for more learning. This program helps us fulfill our goal of building confidence in young readers and new educators—even while school is not in session!

Thank you for believing in the power of reading, writing, and storytelling to change lives. Your support fuels students' success.

Group 1 students gather collage materials

A student shows off her collage

Students participate in a "treasure hunt" activity

Playing a "hot potato" reading comprehension game

Links:

Pathways to Literacy at Pueblo a Pueblo

Permalink

‹ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 ... 18 ›

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.