{"id":16048,"date":"2017-09-05T10:59:07","date_gmt":"2017-09-05T14:59:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/?p=16048\/"},"modified":"2024-11-01T16:41:26","modified_gmt":"2024-11-01T20:41:26","slug":"giving-the-gift-of-education-in-guatemala","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/en\/giving-life\/connecting-with-charities\/giving-the-gift-of-education-in-guatemala\/","title":{"rendered":"Giving the Gift of Education in Guatemala"},"content":{"rendered":"

Charity Spotlight: This blog post was provided by Daniel Rehak, Founder and Director of Together Education Works, as part of our ongoing charity spotlight series.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Can you imagine starting the school year knowing that you and your fellow students wouldn\u2019t have access to any textbooks since your school has none to give?\u00a0 Students would have to write everything down in their cuaderno (notebook) and try to absorb as much information as they can during class. \u00a0It\u2019s certainly a different reality from what Canadian students face as they head back to class this September, but unfortunately this is considered normal for students attending school next to a large garbage dump in Guatemala City.<\/p>\n

Monday mornings are always difficult at the grade school next to the garbage dump. \u00a0All of the students live in the \u201cRed Zone,\u201d an area near the school that lacks any kind of infrastructure (parks, streets, stores, medical facilities, etc.).\u00a0 It is dangerous, controlled by various gangs, and most of the students come to school without any breakfast.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Monday morning school assembly at Colegio Francisco Coll in zona three, Guatemala.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Monday mornings are always difficult at the grade school next to the garbage dump. \u00a0All of the students live in the \u201cRed Zone,\u201d an area near the school that lacks any kind of infrastructure (parks, streets, stores, medical facilities, etc.).\u00a0 It is dangerous, controlled by various gangs, and most of the students come to school without any breakfast.<\/p>\n

Mateo and Sebasti\u00e1n\u2019s Story<\/strong><\/h2>\n

9-year-old Mateo* sits quietly in his grade two class and intently reads, while holding his English book four inches from one eye.\u00a0 He lives with his mother, who works in the garbage dump as a guajera<\/em> (recycler).\u00a0 Small for his age, Mateo has Amblyopia and his eyes point outwards in opposite directions.\u00a0 In Canada, some corrective surgery would have already taken place by his age, but his mother cannot afford to pay for the corrective surgery in Guatemala.\u00a0 Luckily, Mateo now has an apadrinada<\/em> (benefactor) who is willing to cover all medical costs, and will soon undergo surgery in an effort to correct his vision.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Sebasti\u00e1n\u2019s living quarters in a two-room house.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sebasti\u00e1n*, Mateo\u2019s younger brother, is eight and enrolled in the third grade.\u00a0 He lives with nine other family members in a tiny two-room house made of corrugated steel sheets.\u00a0 His aunt, who also works as a guajera at the dump, works six days a week, 12 hours a day recycling plastic and earns $7.50 a day.\u00a0 Recently, she was unable to work for three weeks because her 4-month old baby was sick with pneumonia and she had no one else to look after her during the day.\u00a0 Lunch was being prepared during my visit with their family and I watched as they first cleaned the chicken skins in water and then cooked them on a small wood stove along with a few tortillas.\u00a0 The aunt claims the water is drinkable; however it is not, by Canadian standards. \u00a0The water is highly contaminated and is the cause of gastro-intestinal and other illnesses.<\/p>\n

We Believe in the Right to a Quality Education<\/strong><\/h2>\n

I first worked in Guatemala in 2004 and have since returned several times to complete projects at 3 schools.\u00a0 In 2016, I created Together Education Works to continue helping students access the necessary education, which may in turn lead to \u00a0a brighter future.<\/p>\n

Together Education Works promotes and supports education by helping to improve school infrastructure including access to food, water, and other basic necessities for students and teachers. \u00a0At Together Education Works, we believe that education is at the heart of systemic change.<\/p>\n

\u201cEducation is the most powerful weapon, which you can use to change the world.\u201d\u00a0 Nelson Mandela<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"
Students design a poster in English class.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In May 2017, Together Education Works designed a three-volume set of English workbooks that can be used for grades one through six at the schools in Guatemala. \u00a0Thirty copies are made available for all of the students.\u00a0 A new breakfast program was started recently at one of the schools.\u00a0 It consists of a cup of warm milk, atol (hot drink made of corn flour, sugar and water) or incaparina \u00a0(food supplement made of corn and soy flour enhanced with vitamins and minerals), and a bun, banana, or cookies.<\/p>\n

With food in their tummies and the chance to learn, we believe the next generation of students in Guatemala will have a brighter future and access to better employment opportunities.<\/p>\n

To learn more about Together Education Works, or to make a donation, visit their <\/strong>Charity Profile Page<\/strong><\/a>.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

*Names have been changed to protect the identity and privacy of those mentioned.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Charity Spotlight: This blog post was provided by Daniel Rehak, Founder and Director of Together Education Works, as part of our ongoing charity spotlight series. … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":16062,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16048","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-connecting-with-charities"],"acf":{"meta_description":"","author_bio":false,"date_to_display":true},"yoast_head":"\nGiving the Gift of Education in Guatemala | CanadaHelps - Donate to any charity in Canada<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/en\/giving-life\/connecting-with-charities\/giving-the-gift-of-education-in-guatemala\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Giving the Gift of Education in Guatemala | CanadaHelps - Donate to any charity in Canada\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Charity Spotlight: This blog post was provided by Daniel Rehak, Founder and Director of Together Education Works, as part of our ongoing charity spotlight series. ... 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