Education Guatemala Project #6822

Change a Life, Educate a Child

by The GOD'S CHILD Project

Project Report | Nov 15, 2024
New Children in the Becas Programme

By Robbie Middleton | Padrinos & Becas

In our last GlobalGiving report we told of the 22 new children that were added to our Scholarship Programme in May, following the 21 we added in January. Since that report we have been able to add a further 12 children to our Scholarship Programme, meaning that we have given the opportunity to study to 55 new children this year.

The new children come from various backgrounds but they all have one thing in common, the wish to study and the will to chase their dreams.

The first children are Isabela, Alicia and Jimena. They originally visited us earlier in the year in Reforzamiento programme but they didn’t have anywhere to study at the time. We helped the family to enrol the girls in Sueños, a school for children who work in the streets and speak a Mayan language as their main language. The girls, who speak K’iche’, are doing really well in school and are very much enjoying the things they learn. Their mother is very happy that the girls are able to learn in their own language as well as Spanish. We visited the girls at their home and noticed that they were in need of a number of things as their income, made from selling ice creams in the streets of Antigua, was not enough to cover all the costs. The family sometimes had to burn old clothes to be able to cook their food as they couldn’t afford firewood. We have given the family bunkbeds so the girls had their own place to sleep and a water filter so they had access to clean water. The girls are now receiving meals at school and their mother gets vegetables and other food from our Empowerment Programme distribution.

Karen and her mother came to us asking for a house build earlier on this year. Their house is on a slope and is in a very precarious position, which unfortunately disqualified it from a house build as it was too dangerous. Karen’s mother was tricked into buying the land without realising the true extent of the danger. The house has a giant hole in the floor where the land has slid down the hill. Karen, her mother and older sister share a bed on the edge of the hole. We checked Karen’s grades and attendance, as well as getting to know her through the Reforzamiento programme, and decided that she would benefit from a scholarship. We wanted to give Karen a new bed but there is not currently enough space for it to fit. We have given the family a water filter and medicine for Karen’s older sister, who has epilepsy, and visit to keep an eye on the family.

The Pamal family also came to the Project to ask us for a house build. There are 11 people living in the house in Alotenango, which is a single room made of sheet metal with a dirt floor. Unfortunately, the family do not currently have the paperwork to be able to receive a house from us at this time but we hope they will in the future. We have given them a bunkbed, water filter, stove and solar lamps to make their living situation more comfortable. We added Derwin, Rosi and Kimberly to the scholarship programme to encourage them to remain in school. Both Derwin and Rosi have very good grades but Kimberly is struggling a little bit. We have also helped Rosi out with dentist appointments as she was suffering from tooth pain.

Kimberlin, Anderson and Merlyn live in San Lorenzo El Tejar and the family has also requested a house build. Their house is also precariously located on the edge of a hill and at risk of falling down the slope. When we first visited the house, the children were sleeping on a loaned bed which was then subsequently taken back by the owner, leaving the children to sleep on the floor. We remedied that by providing a bed for the family. This year Kimberlin’s mother found out that the school she was studying in was not an officially registered school and so she might have to repeat the school year next year in an official school.

Finally, the Diaz family have long been a family related to the Project as they have been involved with us through ITEMP. Bayron and Araceli’s mothers were involved in ITEMP when Araceli’s mother was a girl and the family lived in a rubbish dump. They are awaiting the results of a legal case which could lead to Araceli’s mother spending 6 years in prison. We are supporting the family with legal aid through ITEMP and the children are receiving support through the Scholarship Programme. The family have also received a stove and water filter from us as well as clothes and shoes.

All of the newly-added children have different needs, goals and dreams. We are happy to be able to support their education and hope that they will continue to take advantage of the opportunities they have been given to break out of their cycle of poverty. Some of these children still need sponsorship to support their education. If you are interested in becoming a sponsor you can visit www.godschild.org/product-category/childsponsorship/ and learn a bit more about our children and their hopes and dreams.

The GOD’S CHILD Project has been working for over 30 years to break the chains of poverty through education, housing, nutrition and healthcare. Please click the link below to donate to support us in our ongoing mission.

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Jul 19, 2024
More New Children in the Becas Programme

By Robbie Middleton | Padrinos & Becas

In our last email update we told you about 21 children who we added to the Scholarship Programme for the beginning of 2024. In this update we have a further 22 children who have been added to the Scholarship Programme and are now benefitting from being able to gain an education.

Our Social Workers in the Becas & Padrinos department have visited over 1400 people so far this year. During their visits they have been able to identify new children who are living in extreme poverty and need support to be able to study and break the chains of poverty through education. In May we were given the green light to add 22 of those children to the Becas programme to receive support with their education. Those children received school supplies, rucksacks and lunchboxes as well as scholarship cheques based on their grades.

Two of the new children in our Becas Programme are first grader Melissa and second grader Maria. Although they live far apart, Melissa lives in the valley of Mano De León and Maria lives up in the hills of El Hato, the two are cousins. Melissa is studying hard despite the fact that her village does not have electricity and her teacher is not always able to make the trek up to the village school. Maria, on the other hand, is now living in a better situation since joining the Programme after she and her family received a house build from us this year in June. She is also doing well in school, which looks out over the hills over Antigua.

Also newly added to our Becas Programme are Jorge, Alex, Ricardo, Marta and Marily. They are all part of the same wider family and are 5 of 20 people who are living in the same house in San Gaspar Vivar. When we first visited the house, a large number of the family members were sleeping on the floor. Now, thanks to donations from ANA, all the children have bunkbeds to sleep on. We were able to encourage the parents to enrol their sons but we had to personally take the family’s daughters to the school and enrol them with our financial support. Since joining the Becas Programme, the family is now taking much more interest in the education of their daughters.

Another two children added to the Programme are Alma and Jose. The children live in Callejon San Anton, where various other families in the Programme live. This is the first year that Alma has been able to go to school because, according to the government database, she does not exist. Alma was never registered when she was born and her mother was too scared to register her after the fact. Our legal department is in the process of getting Alma a birth certificate. We were able to enrol Jose and Alma in a school called Sueños, which teaches in Spanish, K’íche’ and Kaqchikel, and has worked with us in the past to help Mayan children access education.

Finally, we have 6-year-old Salma. Salma was added to our Becas Programme after being a patient in Casa Jackson, our malnutrition rehabilitation center for almost 6 months. We have been following up on Salma since she left Casa Jackson and decided that it was important that she continue to receive support to go to school. Salma has Marfan Syndrome which affects her growth and development. She may need further medical intervention in the future and by being a part of our Scholarship Programme we can ensure that we can be there if the need for medical support arrives.

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Mar 22, 2024
Our New Children in the Scholarship Programme

By Robbie Middleton | Becas & Padrinos

So far this year our Scholarship and Sponsorship programme has had over 1400 visitors to their office. Some are referred to other programmes such as our Service Team and Volunteers programme for house builds, our Empowerment Programme or our Education programme. Many, however, are part of our Scholarship Programme or are looking to become a part of the Programme.

We do our best to visit each of the families to see their need and to identify if they qualify for our Scholarship Programme or not. Those who do qualify we work to be able to add them in as soon as we can.

At the beginning of this year we added 21 new children to our Scholarship Programme. They range from 5 years old up to 19 years old, all with different goals and aspirations.

One of the newly added children to the Programme is a familiar face to those who have been supporting The GOD’S CHILD Project for the past few years. Melvin was supported by Padrinos & Becas from 2021 onwards to help him receive the life-saving treatment for his cancer. Our Padrinos & Becas staff, Robbie and Rodolfo, even donated their own blood so that Melvin could receive his life-saving surgery. Now, 3 years later, Melvin has started school and the Project is supporting him and his brother Emilio on their educational journeys. Melvin would like to be a police officer when he grows up and Emilio would like to be a doctor.

Our oldest new addition is Maria, who is 19 years old. María’s younger brother is already a part of the Programme and María is determined to continue studying as well. María is deaf like her mother and goes to a special school that teaches via sign language. She is currently in 9th grade and is working hard to finish her studies. María’s dream is to be a waitress at Pollo Campero, a popular fast-food restaurant in Guatemala.

The final two new additions we will share are Rosio and Bricelia. Both are starting school for the first time this year. In January the two girls received house builds from the Project. Before, they were living in houses made of sugar cane with dirt floors. Now, their homes are Casas Azules, with cement floors, and the families’ living conditions are much more secure. Bricelia would like to be a hair stylist and Rosio would like to be a teacher when they grow up.

All of the children who have been added have differing needs and situations. As well as receiving their cheques for reimbursement of enrolment fees and their school supplies, some have received Ecofiltros, bunkbeds and stoves. They have been added to our Sponsorship programme and they, along with other children in the Programme can be sponsored on our website at www.GodsChild.org.

The work is not over, however, as we are already compiling the list of the next group of children we would like to add to the Scholarship Programme in the future. These children will also need to be sponsored so that we can continue to provide them with the educational support they need to stay in school and take charge of their future.

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