Empower a Girl in Guatemala: Education after COVID

Luisa is a 13-year-old girl who lives with her parents and grandparents on the premises of the San Felipe school, as her grandmother is the school’s caretaker.

Luisa joined the Scholarships for Girls Program at the age of 10, when she was in 4th grade, and has stood out for being a very responsible, cheerful and studious student. In addition, she has shown herself to be a leader in the training sessions, because she always coordinates the group’s activities.

At the closing ceremony of 6th grade, the girl presented her life project, where she emphasised her desire to continue her studies and her enthusiasm for the change of level, but also the expectations she had of getting much closer to her dream: to become a professional, although at that time she was not sure of the profession she would choose.

However, she is now studying 1st grade at the community high school. Because of the pandemic, her classes are distance learning, which has made it difficult for her to complete her homework. However, her father supports her as much as he can, as he did not have the opportunity to study.

Even so, this has never been an obstacle for him to help her with her work, handicrafts or explanations of something she does not understand, as his experience of living near the school has helped him gain knowledge. And the same is true for María, as she has taken advantage of it to have more time with the teachers and to learn a little more from them.

She tells us that her life project is to graduate as a teacher so that she can teach the children, with patience, love and kindness, in the same way that her father has been teaching her things for her personal and academic life.