Empower a Girl in Guatemala: Education after COVID

Deymin is a determined, strong and tenacious girl, with the vitality of her twelve years shows a combination of maturity and innocence. She lives in a small community called Labor Mirasol in the municipality of Flores Costa Cuca on the south coast of Quetzaltenango Guatemala. It is located in the middle of rubber plantations and farms.

Three years ago her father died in a terrible accident, therefore she lives with her mother, a 14-year-old brother and her 7-year-old sister. She is currently in the sixth grade of elementary school and her biggest dream is to continue studying in order to work and to help her mother, who she admires deeply.

Her mother works washing other people's clothes and doing household chores in houses near her house. Their daily income is Q25.00 (approximately 3 dollars a day), income that is not enough to buy the basic food for a family that costs Q3,848.00 ($525) per month. This situation has forced her older brother to drop out of school and work as a "day laborer" on rubber plantations.

According to the reports of her teachers Deymin shows great performance, being willing and creative in all areas. Her interest in science is deep, showing a lot of inclination for knowledge and respect for nature and the environment.

FUNDAP's Scholarship for Girls program began to care for Deymin two years ago when she was about to leave school because of her father's death. During the personalized accompaniment of the first days a lot of fear and insecurity was identified on one hand caused by the mourning but also by the extreme deficiencies in her home.

She has been extremely participative and helpful in the extracurricular lessons that the program provides. She has taken on the responsibility of being a mentor to two other small girls in her community who find mathematics difficult. 

Her dream is to help her community, she wants to study hard and find a "recipe" (as she expresses it) so that nature is not destroyed and everyone can have a plate of food on the table. Her hands are a little cracked by working in her house, task that she takes to help mother, but her eyes show hope and tremendous inner strength.

Education is a right, but in Guatemala there are many girls who still do not have that opportunity. FUNDAP wants to expand its activities by reaching 50 girls in high vulnerability who live in the municipality of Comitancillo San Marcos, where poverty levels reach 9 out of 10 families.