Help Us Keep 500 Guatemalan Children Healthy!

"2023 will be a very important year for El Patojismo"

We have finally returned to normal after the pandemic restrictions, all our students are coming every day. We have been able to provide them with breakfast, lunch, psychological assessment, medical appointments and of course, the best education methodology they can receive in the community we work with.

We are also very excited to announce the official opening of our new school, Centro de Oportunidades. It will be our first building just for teenagers where we will be focusing on project based learning which teaches our students useful skills that will help and assist them to achieve better job opportunities. Here in Guatemala having secure employment is key to hope for the future.

We started 2023 with 225 students at the Semillero, the primary school, and we have 185 students at the Centro de Oportunidades, our high school.

Our wellness program at both schools is the first important component for our students. In order to give our students the best possible chance, the team needed more training. These last three months we have been receiving different workshops from experts in different areas through our new alliance with a center of integral learning rehabilitation (ARI). The first workshop was about learning difficulties so teachers can assist kids to learn in ways that work for them, including personal programs and different approaches to successful learning.

The second workshop was about curricular adaptation in which the teacher learned the tools for creating different alternatives based on the needs of the kids. The third workshop was about educative inclusion, where teachers learned about students with special needs and how the correct inclusion should be handled in the classroom since in our program we do have some students with down syndrome and other needs.

Our psychologist has been holding 5 therapy sessions per day with the parents and continuing therapies for students with the most needs. We can already see a difference with the students that she has been treating, they are more stable, able to sit in class, and are ready to participate with fellow students and teachers.

Valentina is an example of the success of our wellness program. Through music therapy, support from the music teacher and the psychologist, Valentina has been able to overcome most of her psychological problems that she had been suffering from while in isolation at home during the pandemic.

We are very proud of Valentina. She has performed in several marimba concerts around our town and she supports her school in almost all the activities after her classes are over. She, like many other kids, stay at school during the afternoons because they see the school as their safe haven.

"We thank each of you for your kind and generous support. This program is your success. Muchas Gracias!"