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 169 communities in Guatemala to ensure our students overcome these, and other, barriers to accessing a quality education. To date, PoP has impacted over 221,501 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 5 hours northeast of our Guatemala headquarters in Xela.
To date, we’ve built over 70 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 new build, the students of Chojox attended classes in either one of 5 formal classrooms or 2 aging provisional ones. The provisional structures, which were for the pre-primary and 5th grade students (58 total) were in total disrepair, with corrugated tin roofs held up only by wooden logs. They lacked walls, were constantly damp and the dirt floors become muddy when it rained. The whole school only had 2 latrines for all 218 students and these were also in very poor shape.
Your Impact with the New PoP School
Through your commitment to global education and your partnership with PoP, you helped PoP and the Chojox community break ground on a new 2-classroom school building. Teachers, parents and community members were dedicated and committed to the project, and contributed up to 20 percent of resources and labor. These new classrooms, which are dedicated spaces for the pre-primary and 5th grade students, relieve the teachers and students from the overcrowding issue. Additionally, the construction of 7 new latrines has drastically enhanced sanitation and waiting times for students.
To complete the build process, our Guatemala team mounted this plaque to dedicate the new PoP school to you!