"The person who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones."
- William Faulkner
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| The Current State of Education in Guatemala
Many schools in Guatemala have only limited resources to purchase much needed educational materials. It is common to see classrooms with bare walls, some old tables or desks, and maybe a blackboard. Things that we take for granted in schools in the United States, such as books, maps, science equipment, math materials, colorful wall posters, etc., are non-existent in most rural Guatemalan schools. Teachers, when they do have teaching materials in their classrooms, have often purchased these things from their very meager salaries. (The typical salary for an elementary teacher in Guatemala is between $250.00 to $300.00 per month.)
Generally, the government provides the basic shell of a school building, but rarely does it have the funds to install lighting or purchase desks and other equipment necessary for fully functioning classrooms. Rural schools often purchase (or scrounge) used classroom furniture that has been discarded from the more affluent schools in the cities. In many cases, students and teachers simply make do with whatever is available. Avivara grants have funded the installation of lighting in classrooms, the purchase desks, chairs, whiteboards and other teaching materials, and for one school, the installation a water delivery system.
The vast majority of the teachers we work with have demonstrated tremendous commitment to the education of their students. In spite of minimal pay and poor working conditions, they will often travel for an hour or more by bus and by foot to reach the schools where they teach. We have tremendous respect for the work they are accomplishing under very difficult circumstances. To assist them, Avivara has provided teacher curriculum guides, as well as funding for additional teacher training and staffing.
Because of the lack of funding for the schools, the families are expected to provide their children with all of the paper, pencils, books, and other miscellaneous supplies needed for their schoolwork. Unfortunately, many of the families simply cannot afford these supplies. Part of the support from Avivara includes purchasing school supplies for those students who are unable to provide the supplies themselves. In one of our schools, the thing most needed by the students was an adequate breakfast. In that case, we worked with the mothers in the village to set up a daily breakfast program.
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Using a Collaborative Process
During
our time in Guatemala, we have had the opportunity to observe a number
of projects and foreign NGO's. From those experiences, we have learned
several "do's and don'ts."
First, it is
extremely important to work with the local people to determine what is
most needed and what they think will work. We have witnessed first hand
a number of well-meaning people coming to Guatemala and imposing their
"help" (i.e., their external solutions and value systems) on local
Guatemalan communities. This not only creates frustration and
resentment on both sides, it does not generally result in sustainable
organizations nor positive community development.
It is also
very important to develop criteria for providing support and systems of
accountability. Because of the extreme poverty that is encountered in
Guatemala, there can be the strong desire to do something, anything
to help. However, without thoughtful planning and follow-up evaluation
of a program's effectiveness, limited resources can be squandered.
Additionally, the extreme poverty combined with a long history of
corruption and cronyism within the country, does mean that one cannot
be naive in how money is distributed.
For these reasons, Avivara employs the following steps in its Grant to Schools Program:
1. Screening: All
schools are visited by our staff prior to any grants being
considered in order to evaluate the level of poverty in the village, the school's
needs, the quality and commitment of its leadership, the commitment of
the teachers to student learning, and the level of energy and
enthusiasm for moving forward within the school community.
2. Discernment of Needs:
After the initial visit to the school, our staff then meets with the
school staff and parents to determine what the priority needs are for
improving student learning in the school. This is usually different for
each community. In some cases, it is purchasing supplies for students.
For other schools it might be upgrading facilities, or a breakfast program. This discernment
process is one which is facilitated, but not directed, by the Avivara staff.
3. Determination of Grant:
After identifying the school's needs, our staff evaluates the school's
proposal and determines the level of support that will be needed to
adequately meet those needs, how much of the cost can realistically be borne by the
school, and how the grant amount fits within our budget.
3. Purchase and Delivery:
After determining the grant amount, our staff researches vendors
to determine which supplier is able to provide us the best value for our money. For example, rather than buying student supplies for each
school separately, Avivara purchases these items in bulk from a
wholesaler, thus reducing the overall costs for these supplies by
around 40%. After purchasing the supplies, our staff delivers the
materials and has each school complete an inventory and signed receipt for services and
supplies provided.
4. Follow-up and Evaluation:
Periodically, our staff visits each school (usually around once each month) to see how the supplies and/or materials are being utilized. If
they are being used, that is excellent. If they are not being used, we meet with the teachers to determine why that might be
happening. At the end of each year, our staff looks at how well each
school used the materials or improvements that were provided to them and whether the
grant had a positive impact on student learning.
By using this process, Avivara is able to
support schools in ways that are meaningful and important to that
particular community, as well as ensure that the resources donated to us are used effectively.
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| Meeting with teachers in San Jose Pacul |
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| Breakfast program planning in Segunda Cruz |
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| Visiting with students in Don Pancho |
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School Profiles
Currently, Avivara provides school improvement grants to eleven schools with a combined enrollment of approximately 1600 students. The schools vary in size from 35 students to over 520 students. Some are housed in concrete block buildings, while others make do in wood structures with lamina metal roofs. Most of the communities we support have high levels of poverty and a high percentage of indigenous children attending the school. Below are summary descriptions for the six schools we have been working with the longest. The data for each community are derived from our own research and statistics from the Guatemala government's Instituto Nacional de Estadisticas (INE). In addition, each school's latitude and longitude coordinates are provided. With improved satellite photos of Guatemala now available on Google Earth, it is possible to view the school and its surrounding community in fairly high detail.
The poverty statistics provided are estimates based on government data for the departments in which the villages and schools that we work with are located. In Guatemala, "regular" poverty is defined as having enough income to meet basic nutritional requirements, but insufficient income to cover housing, medical and educational expenses. "Extreme" poverty is defined as not having sufficient income to meet basic nutritional requirements.
(Note: We are still in the process of building profiles for some of the schools that we have just recently started supporting, so not all of the profiles are complete at this time.)
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Cerro Nino
Student Enrollment: 85 students (K-6)
Number of Faculty: 5
Community Characteristics An outskirt hillside community with primarily cane and lamina houses connected by dirt paths
Primary Occupations in the Community: Campesino (farmhand) and artisan
Primary Products: Corn, vegetables, fruits, leather goods
Municipality & Department: Pastores, Sacatepequez
Latitude & Longitude: 14º 36′ 02.20″ N, 90º 45′ 41.76″ W
Poverty Statistics: 62% living in poverty, 18% living in extreme poverty (total-80%)
Improvement Grant Focus: Teacher and student supplies
Additional Needs: Classroom equipment
U.S. Partner School: Archbishop Murphy High School, Everett, WA
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Don Pancho
Student Enrollment: 96 (K-4)
Number of Faculty: 4
Community Characteristics: Very small community, highly dependent economically on large nearby finca
Primary Occupations in the Community: farm laborers on the Don Pancho Finca
Primary Products: Coffee, cardamon
Municipality & Department: El Rodeo, Escuintla
Latitude & Longitude: 14º 23′ 01.85″ N, 90º 51′ 21.58″ W
Poverty Statistics: 64% living in poverty, 21% living in extreme poverty (total-85%)
Improvement Grant Focus: Teacher and student supplies
Additional Needs: Teacher Training and classroom furniture
U.S. Partner School(s): St. Madeleine Sophie School, Bellevue WA and Thornton Creek Elementary School, Seattle WA
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El Yalu
Student Enrollment: 527 (Pre-school-6th)
Number of Faculty: 17
Community Characteristics: Predominantly Kaqchikel Mayan community; Spanish is a second language; lacking potable water system
Primary Occupations in the Community: Campesino; small farm and finca laborers
Primary Products: Corn, other vegetables
Municipality & Department: Sumpango, Sacatepequez
Latitude & Longitude: 14º 41′ 49.92″ N, 90º 44′ 42.83″ W
Poverty Statistics: 68% living in poverty, 24% living in extreme poverty (total-92%)
Improvement Grant Focus: Classroom desks and chairs, student supplies, teaching supplies
Additional Needs: Building repairs, New classrooms
U.S. Partner School: St. Monica School, Mercer Island WA
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Patzun Alpha y Omega
Student Enrollment: 120 (K-6)
Number of Faculty: 5
Community Characteristics: Kaqchikel
Primary Occupations in the Community: Farming
Primary Products: Corn, broccoli, onions, tomatoes, squash
Municipality & Department: Patzun, Chimaltenango
Latitude & Longitude: Not yet determined
Poverty Statistics: Not yet determined
Improvement Grant Focus: Teaching Materials, student supplies, classroom furniture
Additional Needs:
U.S. Partner School: None at this time
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Rancho Alegre
Student Enrollment: 120 (K-6)
Number of Faculty: 5
Community Characteristics: Kaqchikel
Primary Occupations in the Community: Farming
Primary Products: Corn, broccoli, onions, tomatoes, squash
Municipality & Department: Sumpango, Sacatepequez
Latitude & Longitude: Not yet determined
Poverty Statistics: Not yet determined
Improvement Grant Focus: Teaching Materials, student supplies
Additional Needs:
U.S. Partner School: None at this time
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San Jose Pacul
Student Enrollment: 285 (K-6)
Number of Faculty: 9
Community Characteristics: Predominantly Kaqchikel Mayan community, village sits on a high altitude plateau
Primary Occupations in the Community: Campesino (farm hand or small plot farming)
Primary Products: Corn, fruits,
Municipality & Department: Santiago, Sacatepequez
Latitude & Longitude: 14º 39′ 10.56″ N, 90º 39′ 10.16″ W
Poverty Statistics: 58% living in poverty, 14% living in extreme poverty (total-72%)
Improvement Grant Focus: Teacher development, student supplies, classroom furniture
U.S. Partner School: St. Bernadette School, Burien WA
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San Miguel Escobar
Student Enrollment: 230 (K-9)
Number of Faculty: 7
Community Characteristics: Semi-urban, severely damaged during Tormenta Agatha, 2010.
Primary Occupations in the Community: Small businesses, farming
Primary Products: Agricultural products, retail products
Municipality & Department: Ciudad Vieja, Sacatepequez
Latitude & Longitude: Not yet determined
Poverty Statistics: Not yet determined
Improvement Grant Focus: Funding for junior high teaching staff (Math & English), textbooks
Additional Needs:
U.S. Partner School: None at this time
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Segunda Cruz
Student Enrollment: 35 (K-5)
Number of Faculty: 2
Community Characteristics: Very small, predominantly Kaqchikel Mayan community
Primary Occupations in the Community: Campesino (farm hand or small plot farming)
Primary Products: Corn, vegetables, fruits,
Municipality & Department: Sumpango, Sacatepequez
Latitude & Longitude: 14º 36′ 56.91″ N, 90º 44′ 52.05″ W
Poverty Statistics: 68% living in poverty, 22% living in extreme poverty (total-90%)
Improvement Grant Focus: School Breakfast Program
Additional Needs: Materials for newly added 3-4th grade classrooms
U.S. Partner School: St. Anthony School, Renton WA
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| Segunda Cruz |
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Tunino
Student Enrollment: 80 (K-6)
Number of Faculty: 5
Community Characteristics: One of the most isolated of the communities we work with, located in a ravine with the school on the steep hillside
Primary Occupations in the Community: Campesino (farm hand or small plot farming)
Primary Products: Corn, vegetables, fruits
Municipality & Department: Sumpango, Sacatepequez
Latitude & Longitude: 14º 37′ 20.16″ N, 90º 44′ 23.07″ W
Poverty Statistics: 58% living in poverty, 17% living in extreme poverty (total-75%)
Improvement Grant Focus: Teacher development, student supplies, classroom furniture
Additional Needs: Kitchen equipment
U.S. Partner School: Bowman Elementary School, Anchorage, AK
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Xeatzan Alto
Student Enrollment: 120 (K-6)
Number of Faculty: 5
Community Characteristics: Extremely remote Kaqchikel village
Primary Occupations in the Community: Farming
Primary Products: Corn, broccoli, onions, tomatoes, squash
Municipality & Department: Patzun, Chimaltenango
Latitude & Longitude: Not yet determined
Poverty Statistics: Not yet determined
Improvement Grant Focus: Teaching Materials, student supplies, classroom furniture
Additional Needs:
U.S. Partner School: None at this time
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