Empower Maya Weavers' Children through Education

After analyzing the data that we collected through our qualitative investigation in the year of 2017, we were able to identify the main problems related to the high level of school drop outs here in Santiago Atitlán. Along with a lack of role models and external support, we found that the financial barrier was the most predominant obstacle for school attendance. On account of this, we have evaluated the main components of this financial issue to better understand which school-related costs are the heaviest for the families to bear. As of now, we have begun to work on some potential long-term solutions, and we are monitoring their repercussions carefully. 

One of the biggest financial challenges for the families of Cojolya was the annual cost of Internet and printing, along with the accessibility of a computer itself. With that in mind, we decided to create a program located in Cojolya’s office that grants FREE access to two computers with Internet connection, color printing machines, and a copying machine, available for all children taking part in the Mano a Mano program.

 This initiative was officially launched in January 2018, and has since helped to reduce the educational fees of 9 different children. So far, only the first annual trimester’s data has been analyzed (from January to March), and we are confident that the number of participants and rate of participation will continue to grow. Furthermore we have evaluated that over the past three months alone, families of the association have saved approximately 1,700 Quetzals (aprox. $245 US) on computer usage and printing!

The cost of school supplies was also a sizeable financial burden for the families. At the beginning of 2018, in addition to increasing computer and printing accessibility, we started offering scholar tutorship and material support. We have also distributed supplies from collected donations, thereby covering 50% of the school supply fees for all 9 of the children who participated.

We are very proud of what our program has been able to accomplish in so little time, but we continue to dream bigger for our program and our children! For the year 2018-2019, our wish is to make this program even more accessible by offering our children larger time slots for computer usage under the presence of José, our full-time coordinator. Additionally, with your support, we hope to cover 100% of the material supplies fees for all children of Cojolya within next year.

We are forever grateful for your support.

Please consider donating to make our computer’s access initiative stronger!

To learn more about the Mano a Mano program, read our report HERE, or check out our WEBSITE.