Empower a Girl in Guatemala: Education after COVID

We have often heard phrases like “I did it my way,” “I worked with what I had,” or “I reinvented myself.” Hidden within these statements, though we might not always notice it, are valuable skills like creativity, resilience, and autonomy.

Over time, we’ve discovered that setting goals and objectives while building a life project is essential for emotional development. Our task is to guide new generations in creating their own unique worlds, places where their ideas make sense. This way, our scholarship recipients can have their own world, built with their essence.

Creating a life project is, above all, an exercise in freedom. Here, a girl can start by choosing small goals for her life, working hard to achieve them, and gaining confidence to take on new challenges along the way. Her life project will expand her choices beyond the educational realm, involving her physical health, emotions, the environment, and her family. As her vision changes, she can engage with her community, personal finances, and decision-making.

Decisions that are freer and more responsible. During the month of November, the Scholarship Program holds presentations of ‘Life Projects.’ In this process and during the presentations, they are accompanied by their parents, schoolmates, educational authorities, and Scholarship Program Technicians.

María Sam is originally from Cantel, Quetzaltenango. She is 16 years old and a former scholarship recipient of the project. Thanks to your support, she continues studying.

María was part of the Scholarship Project for 6 years; we met her when she was in fourth grade at the age of 9. She was a very shy girl, not very social, but very responsible with her schoolwork. She completed her primary and basic education in institutions within her community.

She is currently studying for a Technician in Marketing and Advertising at a school outside her community. With great joy and pride, we say that she is our ACADEMIC TUTOR. She supports us with the reading club “Los Tulipanes” in her community. This volunteer work has helped María strengthen her interpersonal relationships, reading comprehension, and fluency. Additionally, she is very responsible with her participation and involvement with the scholarship girls attending the club.

María tells us that her family, including her parents and siblings, has supported her a lot in her studies. These scholarships were important to them because they helped cover part of the expenses at the Institute, such as materials for presentations. Additionally, the training sessions helped her understand and love herself, appreciating the importance of education and respect for her parents.

She continues studying thanks to her family’s support, as they wish for her to continue her education and become a professional. Her parents always tell her, “we want you to have the opportunity we didn’t have,” and that’s something she deeply appreciates. In fact, María decided to pursue the career of Technician in Marketing and Advertising. She loves it, is learning a lot, and recalls something from her classes: “A few months ago, one of my teachers told me that ‘Technician in’ means ‘expert in,’ and I still have that engraved in my mind.” We are confident that she will achieve all her goals.

Links:

• Report - Crowdfunding 77