Help 40 Guatemalan children unlock their potential

Greetings from our team in Guatemala! We hope this message finds you well. Brazilian writer Paulo Coelho said "The great victory, which appears so simple today, was the result of a series of small victories that went unnoticed." Today we wanted to hone in to one of the small victories that we have been noticing during our Saturday Christian Montessori program. First, for a little bit of context, Guatemala ranks 2nd in illiteracy in the Americas just behind Haiti. While there is no official data available, the majority of the indigenous people over 40 in our town of San Andres Itzapa are completely illiterate and those over 30 are only somewhat literate. The majority of the students in our programs are from families where their parents have less than an elementary education. Children's books cost more than 1 or 2 day's salary of an agricultural worker. Not surprisingly, children in our community have few opportunities to sit down and read a good book. At the end of each of our Saturday school session the students gather in our upstairs tent area and sit and listen to a reading from a children's book. At first the students fidgeted while they listened and had a hard time concentrating and comprehending the reading. Over the past few months we have forged ahead and the students are now captivated by the reading and even the youngest students are able to respond correctly to the comprehension questions. So far, we have read 3 books together and are halfway through our 4th book. We just wanted to take the time to celebrate these small victories that your donations have made possible. Thank you for being a part of this great project!

Best wishes,

Colleen