You’re Making a Difference Here
GUATEMALA
In Guatemala, where over 50% of the population lives below the poverty line, socioeconomic status is one of the biggest barriers to accessing a quality education (World Bank 2013). The average length of schooling for a Guatemalan child is only 4 years and 24.1% of the population is illiterate (US Aid 2014; World Bank 2014).
Pencils of Promise works with 168 communities in Guatemala to ensure our students overcome these, and other, barriers to accessing a quality education. To date, PoP has impacted over 221,000 lives in Guatemala.
QUICHÉ REGION
Quiché is a mountainous region located in northwestern Guatemala. PoP’s base in Quiché is in the city of Nebaj, which is about five hours northeast of our Guatemala headquarters in Xela.
To date, we’ve built 72 schools in the region and plan to continue to scale our builds, along with teacher training workshops, across Quiché.
Before the PoP School Build
Prior to the PoP build, students of Caserío Xesupio were located in an aging provisional structure made of wood and corrugated metal. Due to limited space, different grade levels had to alternate using a single room. As a result of the overcrowding, students had limited mobility and difficulty concentrating. The building was also built on an incline, which resulted in water entering classrooms, especially during the rainy season, making for muddy and messy conditions for the students. The combination of all of these factors hindered student success.
Your Impact with the New PoP School
You recognized that these conditions were not conducive to learning and responded by helping PoP and Caserío Xesupio community break ground on a new school. Teachers, parents and community members were dedicated and committed to the project, contributing up to 20 percent of resources and labor. After five months of construction, we mounted the plaque and inaugurated the school, concluding tireless work to build a three-classroom school equipped with ceiling fans, blackboards, benches, desks, doors, walls and windows. You made this school build possible, creating a safe and strong structural foundation that will allow the students in Caserío Xesupio to learn and realize their potential and their promise.
