Without Education We Cannot Save Our Home

In the Q’eqchí-speaking village of Seacacar, literacy is cloaked in reforestation, sustainable tourism and agriculture, and it is powerful. With tens of thousands of tropical saplings planted, the town’s well-prepared staff is already welcoming visitors to their beautiful lodge.  Recently the Guatemalan Tourism Institute chose the Seacacar Nature Reserve as a preferred tourist destination.  And now with a sizeable grant financed by a German association, all fourteen villages in the Rio Sauce watershed will begin extensive reforestation.

Thank you, GlobalGivers! In Seacacar your gifts keep giving. Now, armed with high quality Guatemalan textbooks, teen-aged students envision a world of possibilities. Though still living in wooden huts and cooking over wood, young people are speaking of their future. Some plan to guide tourists in the rainforest, others will teach, create local businesses, or become doctors and nurses. Literacy is the source of it all.

In October From Books to Brilliance volunteers will celebrate with middle school graduates. Several will continue their education at Ak Tenamit, a school accessible only by water, where they study rural economic development and sustainable tourism. These young leaders will return to their villages with the ideas and skills necessary to edify their communities.

Seacacar is now the seat of education for all fourteen villages in the Rio Sauce watershed. Our next report will tell of recruiting students "upriver." With your support we will purchase many more textbooks and serve additional students. For thousands of Mayans whose home is the Rio Sauce watershed, reading has become a skill necessary for survival. We value your support.

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