You’re Making a Difference Here
WHY 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 four years and 24.1% of the population is illiterate (US Aid 2014; World Bank 2014).
Pencils of Promise works with 190 communities in Guatemala to ensure our students overcome these, and other, barriers to accessing a quality education. Currently, PoP is impacting over 37,000 students in Guatemala.
SUCHITEPEQUEZ REGION
The region of Suchitepéquez, called Suchi by locals, lies southeast of our headquarters in Xela. PoP expanded here in early 2012, with our regional office located in Mazatenango.
Suchitepéquez offers a variety of exotic fruits and coffee as main crops, and the climate is much more tropical than the other regions in which we work. To date, we’ve broken ground on 47 schools in Suchitepéquez and plan to continue our partnership with these communities for years to come.
Before a PoP School Build
Currently, the students of Línea B-18, are learning in makeshift classrooms inside a warehouse built with block, metallic mesh sheets, pieces of wood and no formal foundation. In addition to these conditions, the teachers are overwhelmed with the number of multi-grade students currently learning in each classroom. These conditions pose a hazard to student safety and wellbeing, as well as to engagement and learning.
Your Impact with a New PoP School
You have recognized and are responding to these conditions by helping PoP and the Línea B-18 community break ground on a new two-classroom school that will impact 108 currently enrolled students. Community members, parents and teachers are in full support, vowing to contribute up to 20 percent of the build. Your support is helping to make this school build possible, creating a safe and strong structural foundation that now fosters an environment of educational growth and promise for the students of Línea B-18.