Child Aid - Building Brighter Futures

At five and seven years old,  Joselyn and Karen Guarchaj already face the sad possibility of living lives of extreme poverty, just as their family has for generations. But thanks to Child Aid and its supporters, the two sisters also face another possibility: a future in which they know how to read and possess the education they need to lift themselves from poverty. That opportunity is one that their parent’s never had.

Joselyn and Karen Guarchaj (at right) are second-year participants in Child Aid’s school-break reading program.

Joselyn and Karen are participants in Child Aid’s Reading for Life literacy program. Thanks to the program, they now have a fully stocked library in their village and a full-time librarian, trained by Child Aid. Through the program, all of the teachers in their village are receiving training so that they can learn how to teach reading more effectively. (As throughout Guatemala, most of the teachers in their village are young and have little training beyond what they received in high school.) 

Outside of the school year, Joselyn and Karen also have access to a school-break reading program called Adventures in Reading.  Child Aid created this program to keep children engaged in reading activities during Guatemala’s three-month school break. The girls have participated in the program for two years in a row.

For Child Aid, improving literacy in a village like Joselyn’s and Karen’s goes far beyond delivering books and creating libraries. We do both of these and know they are critical components of an effective literacy program. But we also know that to truly improve literacy in a community that has never even had books, we must go further.

For this reason, we make long-term commitments to the villages where we work. We provide one-on-one training for teachers for a minimum of three years. We help communities identify, hire and train librarians from their own villages so we can foster local investment and ensure that the libraries we help create stay open to children every day. Reading for Life is a multifaceted program and, because of this, it works.

Joselyn and Karen could easily have faced a future where illiteracy and poverty were their only paths. But thanks to Reading for Life and Child Aid supporters, there are others.   

Before Child Aid brought Reading for Life to their village, these children in Guatemala had no access to books or reading programs. By helping them learn to read and succeed in school, Child Aid provides children opportunity and the hope for a better future.

Child Aid literacy programs do much more than help children learn to read. The literacy trainings we provide are transformative and empowering to librarians and teachers and have rippling effects across local communities.

Teachers and librarians learn skills and tools to implement effective reading programs, but they also gain personal confidence with these new abilities. Before participating in Child Aid trainings, Luis, a librarian in the community of Chicacao, had a fear of public speaking which gave him “cold hands.”  Now he says he has completely overcome this fear, enabling him to be a more effective educator.

Luis follows up with Claudia, a Child Aid trained teacher, in her classroom.

Other teachers echo the same sentiment expressed by Luis. “I used to be afraid to try new things or to speak up for what I wanted,” says Flor de Maria, “but now I have the courage and skills to be a better leader.” Flor was a teacher who was recently promoted to school director in her community of Chicacao. She travels to nearby communities to promote reading and train other teachers.

Flor de Maria presents the new Child Aid training manual to a group of teachers and librarians.

After participating in Child Aid trainings, many teachers and librarians are taking an increasingly active role in their communities, not just in their schools. These teachers and librarians are becoming more vocal community advocates, such as the librarians of Pasaq. (Read previous story about a student in Pasaq here.) After learning of an upcoming meeting with the regional school superintendent, all three community librarians wanted to attend in order to express their opinions and show their support for Child Aid literacy programs. One of the librarians said, “I feel better equipped and motivated to participate in the development of my community through education.”

Child Aid’s literacy programs not only teach young students essential skills, but they help develop inspired local leaders who are dedicated to community transformation through education.

Greetings from Guatemala!

What a difference time, training and leadership makes.

A few years ago the library in Tzumpango, Guatemala was much like any municipal library in the country. It had a few well-guarded books and almost no children’s books. Lending practices were restricted to approved teachers and for students only under very strict guidelines. In other words, few books were ever accessible for children to read.

Things are different now.

After three years of Child Aid trainings, head librarian Yolanda Taquiej has made tremendous changes.

Yolanda, the community’s librarian, in front of the newly renovated children’s library.

Yolanda’s first goal was to bring books to children by creating a lending program. Child Aid donated over 150 new Spanish-language story books and she began making a full inventory of their collection by cataloging the books using the Dewey Decimal System. Then she began loaning books, a practice which is practically non-existent in Guatemala. The library now loans out around 175 books a month, and has not lost a single book! Yolanda also implemented Child Aid’s Hour of Reading program to promote better reading skills for the community’s children. This year a small group of students have been coming to the library once a week to read a book together.

She asked for the Mayor’s approval to renovate a small community building to be used as a Rincón Infantil (Children’s Corner). The Mayor agreed and the community cleaned and painted the building, repaired the roof, and set up bookshelves. The community is inaugurating the space by implementing Child Aid’s Adventures in Reading, a school-year break program that helps children develop better reading skills. Thirty kids now participate in this program every day.

Child Aid trainer works with librarian sorting new books.

When Yolanda began working in the library there were about 50 users a day. Now over 200 users come to the library every day to read books and to participate in Child Aid’s reading programs. These are huge strides in a community that just a few years ago had an inaccessible library and no literacy programs.

This is a great example of how committed individuals in a community can create better learning opportunities for their children when given support, resources and materials they need. Thanks to Child Aid’s donors for helping make this possible for Tzumpango and many other communities.

Child Aid’s first reading program was based in the library located in El Tejar, a few miles up the mountains from Antigua. The program, Adventures in Reading (Aventuras en Lectura)was designed to help school age kids engage in reading during their school year break. Since then Child Aid has continued to run Adventures in Reading during the school year break and has provided training to hundreds of rural librarians, helping them help children develop reading skills they’ll keep for life.

Children listen to a story during Adventures in Reading

The librarian trainings and Adventures in Reading program both promote reading as well. The library in El Tejar is a perfect example.  The librarians here visit three schools each week where they read books with students in 11 different classes. The nearly 400 children in these classes are currently reading a book by Ann Cameron called Colibri, a story about a Mayan child kidnapped from her parents in Guatemala City and her long journey back to her family. The children read a few chapters each week as a class. After the reading session, the librarians lead the students through activities that help the students develop better critical thinking skills and comprehension skills,  and encourage them to use their imagination.

The program has sparked in the students a great interest in reading. Teachers say the kids refer to the stories throughout the week in class. The students are also reading books on their own, partly because of the reading program, but also because the library now has open stacks and a lending program. This means the children can peruse the books and can borrow the ones they like and read them at home.

This is a stark contrast to many communities in Guatemala where books simply do not exist, where students don’t have the opportunity to develop comprehension skills for reading, or learn to enjoy books for pleasure. Through the efforts of Child Aid we are making a difference in many of these communities by providing materials, training, and support and helping children develop better reading skills and stay in school.

Lago Atitlán, sin olas!

Viajando el día 20 de abril, hacia la biblioteca de Santiago Atitlán en una Cantón que le denominan Tzanchaj. Para llegar tengo que cruzar el Lago Atitlán, tomando la lancha en el Municipio de Panajachel. Durante el día todo fue muy bien en el desarrollo de nuestra actividad, apoyando al bibliotecario del lugar con forma de orientación y busqueda de tareas por los estudiantes que visitan la biblioteca. Lo complicado fué al momento de regreso. Era 4:30pm, en la ultima lancha, había mucha tumbería aproximadamente de 1 metro de altura y por ser la última lancha habían muchas personas. Las olas eran muy grandes y por el peso de las personas, nos asustamos. Ya cansado durante el día me quedé dormido en la lancha, cuando sentí el chipotazo de agua en la cara, yo personalmente me asusté. Pensé que en ese instante nos estabamos undiendo porque la lancha que normalmente es para 16 personas, en ese instante la lancha se tambaleaba en medio del lago, estuvimos durante 45 minutos sobre el lago y por fin llegamos a Panajachel, Gracias a Dios lo puedo contar aun. Para mí fue una experiencia aunque asustado pero pudimos trabajar con el bibliotecario.
Feliz noche, le estaré enviando otras historias sobre los desafíos que tenemos por realizar nuestro trabajo. Hasta pronto.

Att.-
P.C. Carlos José Pos Ben
Coordinador de Programas para Bibliotecarios, Región Lago Atitlán

(Carlos José is our program coordinator for the Lago Atitlan region in the Guatemalan Highlands. He’s an outstanding librarian and helps Child Aid train other librarians. He works with them on cataloging and basically gets the local libraries we work with functioning in tip top shape. He wrote to the Portland office with this story about his recent trip across Lago Atitlán, which he boated across to get to reach one of the libraries we work with. The boat ride in the morning was fine, but on the return trip they had to endure 3-foot waves and Carlos, at one point, thought the boat was sinking! He truly braves the elements to do his job!)

Chicacao, Guatemala

Blanca standing outside the library with children who are waiting for their turn to go inside

How does she do it?

I am talking about Blanca Esquina, the fiery librarian in Chicacao who works tirelessly to help the children in her community receive an education. The library has more than 1,500 users a month. At times it overflows with students, and many wait outside until there is space available for them to come inside.

More children waiting to use Chicacao’s library, proof of its success in the community!

On top of attending to students in the library, she overseas five students who have received Child Aid scholarships to help when the library is busiest. She visits eight schools every week to promote reading in various classes, she has a weekly program for 14 three- to four-year-olds whose parents bring them to the library to introduce them to reading at an early age. This month, on top of everything else, she even organized a celebration for International Book Day. She has activities planned in the central plaza that will highlight reading, recognize a teacher for promoting reading in the classroom, and even has relay races planned using books to pass between teams of families and teachers.

Blanca loves what she gets to do every day. I asked her where she gets her energy and she responded by telling me that when she goes home she is spent. Her daughter will ask her what she wants for dinner and Blanca replies by saying “I am not hungry, I have been eating books all day”. What a spirit!

One thing that keeps pushing Blanca is the dream to see more kids go to college. She knows that the only way for the children of Chicacao to have a better life is to get an education, and she knows that reading and a well-functioning library is a key to success for these kids.

Inside Chicacao’s community library, which Child Aid donors made possible

Seeing the library brimming with kids, I asked Blanca if there were any developments on getting a bigger space. (The current library, which Child Aid helped Blanca and the library committee create, is already bigger than the original library and has become so popular that even more space is needed!) She told me that several parents are forming a Parent Committee because they see the need for more space and they are going to meet with the mayor to demand he give them property to build a larger library. She says the mayor will ask how they will build it, and her response was, If they get the property, the community and others will come around and build the library themselves. 

Blanca lives a life of fulfilled dreams and knows that the secret to a life well lived is a life given in service to her community. That is what keeps her going.