Indigenous women typically complete fewer than 2 years of schooling and for every 100 children, fewer than 40 will continue on to 7th grade and only 18 will complete high school. That’s less than two out of ten children will complete high school.
We believe passionately that education is a means for achieving greater social equality and integrating the dignity and traditions of Guatemala’s indigenous cultures with the ever-changing wider world. Keeping kids in school is the only way to break the cycle of poverty but young adults face obstacles beyond their control. Their parents cannot afford school tuition and other expenses for middle, high school, and college students. Indigenous students living in remote villages are at a disadvantage because they do not have access to computers and the internet.
Our scholarship program supports the cost of tuition, uniforms, and supplies. Students have access to computers and the internet at our learning center. We offer our students tutoring in English, math, statistics, physics, and computer skills. The student and their families have access to our health and dental clinics.
Guidance is provided by our Scholarship Coordinator, who is a trained psychologist. Students’ grades are reviewed every three months and counseling is provided when necessary. Our goal is to help the students achieve passing grades and graduate.
To be accepted into our program, an applicant must prove need (we do home visits), take a test designed to determine how committed he or she is to attend school, participate in an interview with the student’s parent/guardian, and grades from previous classes must be above a C average. The student and parent/guardian signs a contract detailing all of the responsibilities of the student, parent/guardian, and us. Each year we have more students apply for help than we have resources.
Sponsor a student:
You can choose to contribute monthly or annually to help a motivated and bright student stay in school.DONATE NOW