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We measure our short term success in terms of:
- Numbers of new students attending school
- Numbers of students graduating grade six
- More students seeking higher education
- Improved literacy rates
- Increased community involvement in education
- New constructive international friendships
Ultimately, we seek:
- Increased self sufficiency of individuals and
decreased unemployment
- Reduced poverty
- Improved social and economic conditions in affected
local communities
| Our
first students are graduating High School... |
| San Pedro
|
 San
Pedro was the flag-ship school for this program.
It serves the children of field workers who live
on a mountainside just outside Guatemala City.
Thirteen years ago when the school was first built,
the illiteracy rate in the community was almost
100%.
Through our program the school was built and furnished.
Its students were fed and provided with books
and teachers. They flourished and one student
even won a national scholarship.
From its opening when only three students turned
up, the school has grown to serve around 40-50
students at a time. The community and the Guatemalan
government have taken over the funding and management
of this school.
Today our program provides scholarships that allow
thirteen San Pedro’s graduates to continue
their education. This year the first students
will graduate from High School. They have ambitions
to become teachers, lawyers and architects. One
shyly even suggested he would like to be President. |
| A new
school is being constructed currently... |
| Yalchajti
- Coban |
 Yalchacti
is located in the jungle about 45 minutes drive
from Coban. It is off the highway, 8km down a
washboard gravel road and a two-rut track. The
area is home to non-Spanish speaking indigenous
people. Poverty is reputed to be greater than
in Haiti. Illiteracy officially exceeds 43%.
Today, construction is well underway to build
a new four room school The current school can
only accommodate about half of the students wishing
to attend. Given that most people in the community
lack mechanized transport, access to more distant
schools was difficult; moreover, there was little
likelihood that other schools in the area would
be able to handle an influx of students from Yalchajti. |
| Young
people have been helping build schools and new
relationships... |
| Building
Goodwill |
 The
St Andrew's Youth Group made a goodwill visit
to the San Pedro school in….. They spent
two days there learning about the life of the
Guatemalan students and teaching them about Canada.
This Youth Group group of ….has raised $....to
support the students it met there.
This year, many of these young Canadians will
return with their friends to revisit Guatemala
and spend time with the graduates of “their”
school.
The youth group will also visit Pezzarossi school
in Esquintla to develop additional friendships. |
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