Child Aid - Building Brighter Futures

Recently, I had the immense pleasure of showing three of our Reading for Life program staff members from Guatemala around Portland, Oregon. The purpose of their visit was to spend time shadowing teachers and to share their experiences in literacy work with students, volunteers and Child Aid supporters. Child Aid recruits and trains its literacy staff from regions where we work.

Graciela Sajbochol (right), a Child Aid literacy trainer, reads a book out loud with a student during her visit to the U.S.

U.S.-based international organizations routinely send workers to villages in the developing world to carry out their missions. But rarely do nonprofit workers from the developing world – particularly indigenous people – have a chance to come here to share their perspectives with people in the United States.

Carlos Pos Ben (right), a Child Aid literacy trainer, learns about classroom activities with a school principal.

Carlos Pos Ben, a Kaqchikel Mayan, was one of the staff members, and this was his first time ever on an airplane. “All I’m hoping from this experience is to learn,” said Carlos, who, along with coworkers Graciela Sajbochol and Norma Guzmán, visited several Portland-area schools, as well as Portland State University’s Bilingual Teacher’s Pathway program, where they had the opportunity to observe classroom activities, as well as discuss ideas about literacy and educational practices with educators.

In the end, our staff were absolutely thrilled from the visit. “My family is so proud of me,” said Carlos. He stepped back and expressed his life-long passion for literacy and education. While many growing up around him didn’t give it much thought, Carlos loved reading and the many opportunities it allowed for him – such as being the first in his family to finish school. “I want to share what I have learned from this visit with the children I work with. There are many opportunities out there for those who have a passion like me for reading and education,” Carlos said, smiling.

Graciela, Norma and Carlos share stories about Guatemala with U.S. students.

We’d like to thank Milwaukie Elementary School / El Puente Bilingual Program and all the schools for opening their doors to our organization.

We just received some photos from our Program Director in Guatemala, John van Keppel, of a celebration in one of the communities where Child Aid works. Yesterday, the Kaqchikel community of Las Canoas gathered to inaugurate new furniture, bookshelves and a computer for the library. Thanks to the Planet Wheeler Foundation, the kids now have tables to sit at, and newly delivered Child Aid books are on shelves low enough for them to reach. The Las Canoas librarian is cataloguing the books and will be using the new computer to help with the book-lending program.

During the celebration, students displayed exhibits outside each classroom showing the various reading techniques they learned in Child Aid workshops. Director of Development Danny Palmerlee was able to attend.  He described the community’s excitement in seeing teachers and students so involved in reading activities. The local school director has been very supportive of Child Aid’s work in Las Canoas, and teachers are regularly using the techniques they have learned. Many teachers, for example, are using the “Star Readers” charts (shown in a photo from John) to encourage reading, and such techniques have realized impressive results. Primary schools students have become more engaged in and enthusiastic about reading. Also, the librarian reports that, with more reading in classrooms, kids are using the library more than ever.

Danny Palmerlee mentioned that the Ministry of Education recently passed a law requiring every child in school to read five books per year. Within the schools where Child Aid works, however, teachers report that some students are reading five books per month. The entire school attended the event to show support for the library and reading programs, as did parents, community members, and the mayor of Las Canoas. Yesterday’s celebration was an excellent opportunity to see the results of and enthusiasm for Child Aid’s work.

Chores onstage at the Kenton Club

Friday night’s benefit show at Portland’s World Famous Kenton Club was not only a hootin’ good time (by 1am, it seemed like half the crowd was on stage dancing with the band!) it was a big success as well. The event raised $1,215 which will go directly to Las Canoas’ library.

Las Canoas is a small, extremely poor Kaqchikel-Maya community above Lago Atitlán in the Guatemalan Highlands. Most of the families here earn $100 to $200 a month working intermittently in agriculture or busing to nearby Panajachel to sell crafts or other goods to tourists. The school here is poorly funded, the classrooms lack books and the library recently closed for lack of funds. With the help of everyone involved with the Las Canoas benefit, Child Aid is working to reopen the library, stock it with age-appropriate books for the children, provide training for a new librarian and the local teachers and start reading programs.

Portland musician and music educator Ivy Ross set the whole thing up after she spent a month volunteering and traveling in Guatemala. We owe her a huge thanks!

And then there were the bands: Pink Widower, Chores and Tine! They took time out of busy schedules and rocked the Kenton Club free of charge, bringing in loads of fans who donated at the door to support Las Canoas. Help us thank them for their support by checking out their My Space pages and buying their CDs! We also owe a big, big thanks to the Kenton Club itself, which donated 15% of the bar tab to the cause. Now that’s a bar with returning to! And of course, thank you to each and every one of you who made it to the club and donated to the benefit. All of us at Child Aid - not to mention the community of Las Canoas - appreciate your support tremendously!

Thank you!!!!!!

Pink Widower and their mighty horn section

(And by the way, if you’d like to organize a benefit or special event for Child Aid, we certainly could use your help! Just contact us .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)or call 503-223-3008. The Kenton Club show was a great community builder and is yet another example of what people can make happen for people.)

Guatemala is a country with 22 distinct languages. Some think that the Maya languages are closely related and that they share many of the same words. The reality is that there are more Spanish words in common than shared Maya words.

Carlos Pos Ben, a native Kakchiquel speaker, reads to a class in Spanish while the teacher translates into Tz’utujil

Child Aid works in regions where different Maya languages are spoken. In the Lake Atitlán region part of the villages speak Kakchiquel (Kaqchiquel), while another portion speak Tz’utujil, and another K’iche. In the rural areas the children learn their mother tongue at home and then begin to learn Spanish while they are in school. The first few years are hard for them, the teachers begin teaching everything in their home language, as they graduate to higher grades the teachers use more and more Spanish. By the fourth grade all classes are typically taught in Spanish. While they do well in school, it is still obvious that their first language is not Spanish in that their vocabulary is limited. Reading can make a difference. Through books the students are exposed to more words, and the words they hear are reinforced by words they read. Furthermore, they can take their time in understanding the context of how the words are used. One school director told me that students whose first language is not Spanish do not do as well in high school because their vocabulary is typically not well developed. However, she told me, that by reading more, they can do very well.

Guatemala’s multiple languages present both challenges and great opportunities for us. Our regional coordinator in the lake region, Carlos Pos Ben, speaks Kakquichel, while people in the community of Tzanchaj, which we’ve partnered with, speak Tz’ utujil. When Carlos is working with the teachers and students of the first three grades, he relies heavily on assistance from the teachers. Carlos and the local teacher read a story “tag-team” style. The teacher will interject with Tz’ utujil words when he realizes that the students won’t understand something. In this way, the students get further exposure to books, their mother language is reaffirmed, and the kids can enjoy the book instead of be frustrated by not understanding what is going on.

The teachers in the Tzanchaj school are grateful for Child Aid’s assistance. One teacher told me that it is difficult for him to read a story by himself and keep the attention of the kids because he tries to translate the whole book. He said Carlos’ assistance makes it easier for him and more fun for the kids.

Have you ever tried to calm a bunch of kids who just ran into the classroom after recess? This teacher in Santo Domingo Xenacoj, Guatemala, has her 3rd grade students sing a song before they sit down to listen to a story, just to release any extra energy. In this song they are counting to ten in their native language, Kaqchikel, one of more than 20 Mayan languages spoken in Guatemala.