Yearning for Learning!

January is usually back to school season in Guatemala—the time when we would normally welcome our students back into the renovated and expanded facilities at Escuela El Molino near Tecpán. But everything is a little different this year…

Even before the pandemic, Guatemala was seeing a steady rise in student absenteeism. via UNESCO.org

COVID in Guatemala, much like elsewhere in the world, is slightly less prevalent now than in the recent past, but a worldwide uptick (due in no small part to the new Omicron variant) has many in Guatemala preparing for the worst. That’s why the government recently pushed back all public school reopenings to at least March.

For a population described by UNICEF as having endured the longest school shut downs and highest rate of school drop outs of any in the world, this was an understandably hard pill to swallow.

However…

Thanks to the generous support of our donors and the unbelievable drive of our staff, the already disadvantaged communities we serve won’t have to wait that long! After an information session for parents on January 14th stressing the importance of keeping kids in school, El Molino is set to begin social distanced learning starting January 17th. This, in addition to continued service from the IEP BookTuk™, promises to keep students engaged at least until they’re able to regain some of the educational ground lost to shutdowns in 2021.

The IEP BookTuk™ is bringing education TO the students!

This doesn’t mean that we won’t continue to see a decline in attendance in the coming year if we aren’t careful. We’re fighting an uphill battle, and the fact that students are dropping out of school to start earning money for their families is a reality we have to come to terms with. Having said that, there are positive signs for the future.

High School Girls Club, 2021

Our brand new 10th grade class has FOUR new students this year from other districts in the area. Enough can not be said about what this means for IEP’s mission in Guatemala. Our work in education, health, and community infrastructure has been so successful that we’re regularly petitioned by other localities for different forms of aid. And while we’re slowly expanding to other regions, one of the ways we can change lives now is by taking these kids in to the El Molino family.

In a country where only two out of every ten students who start school graduate as seniors, tenth grade is a HUGE milestone for these teens. We’ll be working hard to keep them engaged and challenged in 2022! And on top of that, FIVE of the total nine tenth graders are young women! Female empowerment is at the core of IEP’s grassroots mission, and in addition to our new ETTC vocational training courses, giving girls an equal chance at education is one of the main ways we will achieve it.

Happy New Year, and may it be as full of enrichment and learning as we know it will be for our students!