By Alice Hawkes | Charitable Trust Team
The fourth annual Volcano Charity Challenge in Guatemala is quickly approaching, aiming to continue to provide the children of Guatemala with an education. These Mother’s Day celebrations are just one example of how their lives can be improved.
After the recent success of our Phoenix’ Pájaro de Fuego School being granted official national school status, Mother’s Day celebrations this year were a formal affair. Current volunteers, local teachers, staff and of course the Mothers were invited to hold ‘Feliz Día de la Madre’ celebrations in the San Andres Itzapa Town Hall. Smart dress was a requirement and our volunteers and staff scrubbed up and headed off for a day of games and celebrations at our first official event as a national school.
As a national school Pájaro de Fuego provides employment for 8 local teachers, (some of them proud ex-students) and can now reward our pupils with formal qualifications. Towards the end of March, all 240 children in Pájaro de Fuego took their first official exams and with most of the grades coming through, we are seeing an incredible high average of marks with the majority of children averaging over 80%, this puts them in the top 10% of Guatemalan schools. This is largely thanks to the hard work of our volunteers who provide assistance to our local teachers and run reinforcement classes to help pupils who are struggling and at risk of failing exams.
After all this recent hard work and success, a well-deserved break and fiesta was had by all at the Día de la Madre celebrations. In addition to bringing the school and community together, it was a fantastic treat for all the current volunteers on the ground to experience celebrations the traditional Guatemalan way as well as meet the mothers of the pupils they teach.
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