Support literacy and learning for 1,900 Maya youth

At the Limitless Horizons Ixil Saber Sin Límites (Limitless Knowledge) Community Library, the end of the school year was celebrated with a day out in the countryside. In Guatemala, the school year runs from January to October, and this year when classes finished, librarians David and Olga organized a field trip to a recreation park near Chajul. Olga explains that the trip is a way to recognize and reward the youth who have consistently participated in the library’s activities over the course of the school year. 

The main goal, Olga says, is that the library users have fun. She states, “the children tell us that at school, their teachers don’t teach them games. Students play by themselves, and the teachers monitor them. Meanwhile, at the library, we are always learning new games together. For the children, it’s their moment to feel whatever they feel and play with each other.”

Sixty library users celebrated together by playing soccer, splashing in the pool, and running between the swings, slides, and monkey bars. “The best thing was swimming and playing soccer altogether,” Maria, who is 9 years old and attends the library, says excitedly before running back to jump in the water.

“The field trip is a moment of harmony and coexistence for the children, who don’t go to the same school and don’t have other opportunities to play together,” David says. “At the library and during the day out, the children have the opportunity to play healthily and productively, and work together as a team.”

Library member Calamina explains that she attends morning classes, whereas Estefany attends in the afternoon. “I like coming to the library because we meet new people and everyone always wants to play together.” David reinforces the cooperative nature of the library when he describes how the children work together; “When they’re with us, they try to help each other. They all play well together even with the age differences between them.”

David and Olga work hard to maintain this harmony in the library and during field trips. Calamina loves that in the library, everyone gets along well together; “I go to the library every day. I prefer it there to my school classes and now that it’s school vacation, I can spend even more time in the library!”

The field trip marks the beginning of school vacation for Chajul’s youth. David and Olga have many activities planned for library users over the coming weeks, until the 2020 school year starts in January. There will still be weekly story hours, but the schedule will now also include new activities, like chess tournaments and drama games, in response to the requests from library users.

In a town where youth often have to work while on school vacation to help earn money to support their families, having a safe and welcoming space to learn, play, and engage in games with other children makes a huge difference to their quality of life. Your support of the Saber Sin Límites Community Library provides Chajul’s youth with a safe and enriching environment to spend their time when classes are not in session. Thank you from all of us at Limitless Horizons Ixil and our enthusiastic library users.