Education Success Stories

This is the time of year that we should reflect back on what we are thankful for. Our latest newsletter highlights some of the things Amigos de Guatemala is thankful for. Happy Thanksgiving.

https://mailchi.mp/f6f197134566/spring-newsletter-from-amigos-de-guatemala-4838245

Click here to enjoy our latest newsletter.

One of our scholarship students lives in a house that is constantly compromised. It is along a steep cutout. When it rains, the water runs through the house causing damage to the structure and the family’s health. A caring supporter helped underwrite the cost of creating diversion walls so that the water will flow around the house and not through it.

Because we were not able to travel to Zacualpa, interviewing new students happened online. The students were in our scholarship library and the interviewers were at their homes in the U.S.

What a great group of young adults! We are so proud of them. The future is all theirs!

A senior from Cloverdale High School wrote the following in his scholarship application.

Interact Student’s Impressions

In my sophomore year at Cloverdale High, I joined the school’s Interact Club.  At our first meeting, I learned that our club was responsible for sponsoring the education of three children in Central America.

At first, I did not think much of this idea.  I appreciated that fact that I was helping kids overseas go to school, but most of my focus was on my own hometown.  For a while, my concerns stayed this way; that was, until I read the letters that they sent back to us.

The letters that these children wrote were some of the most heartfelt, profound pieces of writing I have ever heard.  They thanked us over and over again for giving them the money they needed to go to school, for allowing them to educate themselves rather than work in a field or factory.  They even called us, a small group of high school kids from California, their godparents.  The way they reacted to something that, to me, seemed like a basic right impacted me greatly, and it made me see the true value of education.

Although it may seem that way to some, the words of these students have shown me that education is not just a privilege; it is a necessity.  Without schooling the minds of potentially brilliant kids will be wasted, unutilized by the world.  Without education, people become trapped in a darkness of misinformation, malformed world views, and the struggles of poverty.  Education is the best, and the only way to break these chains, and that is why it is so important to me.

Guatemala is under shelter in place orders with a curfew which is strictly enforced.  Our students are learning virtually.  This is a challenge as many cannot afford the cost of the Internet data needed to attend classes.

There are so many things that we are grateful for.  Read the following newsletter to learn more:  https://mailchi.mp/0817df686c48/spring-newsletter-from-amigos-de-guatemala-3038561