Child Aid - Building Brighter Futures

I recently returned from Oaxaca, Mexico, essentially the birthplace of Child Aid 21 years ago. Then, my wife and I, co-founders of the organization, met some committed and wonderful parents and doctors who desperately wanted to help deaf and hard-of-hearing kids to escape their lonely and silent world and have a chance at a better life. The problem was there were no services, and these children were routinely excluded from school.

Testing for hearing impairment; CORAL’s early detection program

What a transformation I saw this year: kids getting therapy so that they hear and communicate, play with friends, and go to school; parents being trained to extend the therapy sessions to their homes;  testing outreach to the vast rural area of the state – there are 10,000 communities in Oaxaca State – so that hearing problems can be detected at a very young age and kids can learn to listen and hear while their brains are maximally receptive to language development; a well-equipped clinic for final diagnosis and fitting of hearing aids – on the grounds of a full-service hospital that serves the poor, La Clínica del Pueblo; a functioning board of directors guiding this organization, CORAL, which has been Child Aid’s partner all of these years.

Yes, the organization Child Aid started with is an adult now, and watching and nurturing its growth has been a labor of love.  And satisfaction as well —knowing that we and CORAL have given a shot at a brighter future to so many hundreds of kids!

In 2007, Child Aid began its Rural Librarian Training Program after recognizing that there was a desperate need for librarian training. The program has been hugely successful and is now a key part of our work. It’s an incredible program, and I thought you’d be interested in learning more about it. So here’s very brief summary:

Some Background
As you probably know, Child Aid has been working in Guatemala for over 15 years helping to establish and improve libraries in rural, mostly Mayan communities. Most rural librarians, however, have only a high school education, and virtually none have received any training. (Trained librarians typically work in Guatemala City for private schools and universities.) The purpose of the Rural Librarian Training Program is to promote and support the development of library science skills in rural librarians so that their libraries can provide better services in research, literacy, and community information.

Rural Librarians
The rural librarians are a dedicated group of individuals working hard in isolation with meager resources. They are aware of their modest skill levels and have been clamoring for more opportunities for training. The sad fact is that there is literally no one other than Child Aid offering these individuals the opportunity learn how to better run and improve their libraries. Helping these individuals acquire library science skills is an ongoing process and Child Aid does not want to see their awakened interest die. In 2007, we provided training to thirty librarians; in 2008, 43 librarians participated. This year, we hope to help more.

So who else benefits?
While the librarians who participate in the program directly benefit from the trainings, the real winners – and the reason we’re putting so much energy into this – are the literally tens of thousands of children who use the libraries every year. School teachers also benefit because part of the training is specifically designed to connect the library with the local schools through our hugely successful reading programs. The teachers then bring the reading programs into the classroom, which engages the students, inspires them to read and, as a result, helps them succeed and stay in school. We have also seen that the community as a whole benefits tremendously by having a resource that helps their children do better in school.

Our donors make this program possible!

I recently had an email exchange with Kristen Anderson and John van Keppel (two of our staff members in Guatemala) about lending libraries. As little as a few years ago, most of the 29 libraries Child Aid helped create with PROBIGUA were not lending libraries; children could use the libraries but they couldn’t borrow books. We feel lending libraries are extremely important, primarily because they allow kids to spend more time reading, which, in turn, helps them do better in school. So we’ve been working hard to get libraries to set up lending programs. It’s been a long but steady process.

The books Maria checked out at Melotto Library

Now, there are lending programs at seven Child Aid/PROBIGUA libraries: at Tiquisate, Chicacao, Tzanchaj, Tecpan, Chimaltenango, Pedro Molina and El Tejar. The library at Socorro (a partner school in Antigua for indigenous women) will begin loaning books this year, as will the library at Sunzo, Monterrico. Just to give you an idea, the Melotto Library, in Chimaltenango, loaned 1800 books in 2007 and 2100 books in 2008 – with minimal losses. Since the lending programs mean more time with books, we’re extremely excited about these developments. 

¡Bienvenido! Child Aid finally has a blog! We want to keep you up to date on the great things you’re helping us do for children and indigenous communities in Guatemala and Oaxaca, Mexico, and we thought this would be the best way to do it. Now you can check in whenever you want and we don’t have to bombard anyone with emails (you’d probably delete them anyway).

Passport to Reading program, Chicacao

When things happen, we’ll tell you about them here. We’ll keep you posted on some of the children who receive scholarships and how they’re doing. If a container of donated books goes to Guatemala, we’ll give you the full scoop here. When community libraries get new shelves, an anticipated set of reference books or new furniture built by a local trades person, we’ll show you the smiles. Our staff and volunteers in Guatemala and Mexico will send reports whenever they can, and our US staff and participating board members will post trip reports whenever we go down.

One more thing: we need your help spreading the word. We’d appreciate it immensely if you could forward this blog to your friends and to anyone you think might be interested in Child Aid’s work in building brighter futures for poor children in Latin America.  ¡Adios – and thank you for your support!!