By Diane Dvorin | Co-founder & Managing Director, WWT
From the outset, teachers and school administrators across San Pedro have been important local partners, helping to open the doors of schools and classrooms to our programs for middle school girls.
With the conclusion of the 2013 school year coming up (Guatemalan schools are in session January-October), we're about to celebrate the girls who've participated in our three core programs--My Mother's Life Story, Family Reading Time, and Big & Little Sisters. Each of these programs was offered this year in five different rural middle schools across San Pedro.
Concluding programs held in each local school community will highlight the girls' accomplishments for their families and communities. And, nearly 200 girls who are about to graduate from San Pedro's 13 rural middle schools will gather in central San Pedro where they will be publically honored for their academic achievement. On this same day we'll be hosting a school fair for them that features secondary school options, financial aid information and motivational workshops with local professional women.
Do these programs (funded by supporters like you!) make a difference in the girls' view of themselves, their lives, their place in the community, their commitment to staying in school?
Just listen to what these girls say about what they've learned:
1. About gender and education.
In the middle school where I study, there aren’t many girls because parents say that girls get married and have a family and leave their studies behind. Only the boys are sent to study because some people think they are more capable. I learned that I must fight (for myself) to move forward in life, to be someone, a young woman graduate. - Carmela Miranda Velásquez, 14 years old.
2. From hearing and writing her mother's life story.
"When my mother saw other girls her age going to school, she wanted to study, too, and dreamed of bettering herself. But she couldn’t because her parents didn’t have enough money for her to study. Now I go to school, even though it is hard for my parents to afford to send me. I'm lucky that my parents want the best for me and they want me to become someone in life." –Yessenia Magaly Clemente Orozco, 12 years old
2. From reading, both on her own and with her family.
"I learned that through reading I can acquire new knowledge. Reading more helps me understand things. I can analyze and understand the concepts behind the information I get in school. And I learned that I can be a leader in my home because I can teach my siblings that reading and learning come from valuing books. In school I have learned to better my character and to go to the front of the room to speak or to read aloud. I also encourage everyone else and tell him or her that reading is important for everyone. It is healthy and it can help us to know how to live on this planet. – Melisenda Dubelis Ruiz Miranda, 13 years old
3. From one big sister.
"I learned that by teaching my little sister, I could also learn from her about how to develop my own character as a person. If one day I am in front of a group in public, my character will be more developed and I could speak with everyone there." – Sandy Fuentes, 14 years old
With your financial support Women Work Together is poised to expand our reach and bring these 3 programs to all 13 rural middle schools across San Pedro, plus support them with local staff development, teacher training, and outreach to mothers, fathers and others.
Help nearly 1,000 girls, their teachers and families work together to Keep Guatemalan Girls in School.
IT TAKES MORE TO DO MORE. DONATE NOW. DONATE OFTEN.
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