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Background
Guatemala is a land of beauty and color. Springs, lakes, jungles, rainforests, tuk-tuks, volcanoes, mangoes, plantains, markets – everywhere you look, you find beauty, color, and smiles. In the education sector, huge strides have been made over the past decade, but many challenges remain. The average child only attends school through age 11, and over half of the population lives in poverty. The literacy rate for women is 76% but only 52% for indigenous women(1)(2). Our organization is working to help people improve their lives and future prospects through education and literacy.
San Antonio Aguas Calientes
The town of San Antonio Aguas Calientes has a large indigenous population. The Canadian organization Creating Opportunities for Guatemalans operates a community center in town, assisting students with homework after school and providing workshops for locals during the day. We are working with the organization to expand their Spanish collection of books and organize the library so that it can be used as a community library by the locals in town.
Quetzaltenango
The city of Quetzaltenango is located in the highlands in the western part of the country. The school Colegio Miguel Angel Asturias started a library with another organization in 2010. Volunteers from our organization will support the school’s literacy efforts by visiting the school to add books to the library’s collection, conduct programs for the students, and train teachers and parents.
Libraries for the World 