Another world – 11 km away…..

I will share a personal story with you because it reflects so well what we see here in NM.

Last weekend I (Filipa) went to Teleman, more specifically on Sunday. It is not an easy day to get transportation, so I waited for almost an hour for a pick up to take me. While I was waiting I got the company of this young boy, C. , he is 13 and attending 6 grado in Teleman. We had seen each other before as a friend is friend’s with his father, so he saw me waiting and started chatting. Firstly he asked me, perfect Spanish, were was I going, and living, were I was from….all of those regular ‘get to know you questions’. At a point I gave him a compliment for his Spanish level, further into the conversation I asked him about his q’eqchi, he didn’t speak q’eqchi. His sister is studying Medicine, his mother was a teacher at the local school and at least one of his uncles is a teacher. 

Picture of Teleman - source: https://mw2.google.com/mw-panoramio/photos/medium/27180348.jpg

He was complaining about the garbage in the floor and telling me he would like to study in Flores (up north) as the capital was too noisy and dangerous and he likes Flores. He practices sport at school and three times per week he has soccer training to play in the local football team.

‘Are there many girls in your class?’ –I asked him;

‘More than man!’ – he replied.

If we compare the reality of ‘the town’ to ‘the community we quickly realize that there is a bigger distance between them than the actual number of km separating both.

As I hopped on the pick-up that took me home, through the cloud of dust raising from the unpaved roads, I saw the dust as a metaphor to our conversation: exactly as the paved road ends by Teleman’s exit many other things end too. This boy is 11 km away from the kids at NM but they would probably have troubles communicating, as language levels, on both sides, do not meet. He is 13 and planning to study further, he has travelled, understands the importance of keeping nature clean and safe….Losing his native language is a pity, but at the end of the day he is the one getting to pursue his studies, having and giving better living standards to his family and dependants (hopefully!).

These two realities are a world away, but here in NM Li Ch’utams work tries to bring those worlds closer as we all deserve to live on the same one.

We have great news regarding a new volunteer joining the team early May, and thanks to our local volunteers there is also progress in finalizing the library, the activities are ongoing and we keep our weekly visits to the Kitchen Garden project, counting now with 15 active families and one family about to enter the project (next week). The results have been good though we have to insist in the watering, as it has been very hot and the seeds need extra water to grow. One of the families, Olga’s, appeared to be frustrated due to their first attempt and they told us they were waiting for the rains (may) to start planting. You can’t imagine how happy we were when we passed by theirs and noticed they had prepared and fenced the land and were willing to try again, Edwin helped them plant and now is just wait and water…..

The 8^th of May we will start a new activity: a cycle of info sessions given by qe’qchi speaking professionals on subjects that matter to the community: education, defence of nature, health, nutrition… are some of the foreseen topics.

With this pilot info session the 8^th we will measure the communities’ interest and engagement, if it is positive then we can start planning the following ones.

Last time I wrote, I mentioned our current challenges with the IT classes, soon we will get another laptop and some usb sticks with a lighter version of the programme, this might allow us to recover a couple more of pcs and re-activate the PC related activities. I am not using the term ‘IT literacy’ because it is much more than that. Getting to know a little bit better the programme I realized how it can help kids developing their capacities and competencies, not only in using a computer but on the main-basic subjects – maths, reading, logic, physics… 

Meanwhile we will keep meeting old and new partners strengthening our position and raising the changes for synergies in order to solve this computer issue.

Talk to you soon :) 

 

Li Ch'utam's Projects in the Polochic Valley

Our Projects in the Polochic

We rolled in to Nueva Mercedes last night after a few hop, skips, and jumps through the mountains. The kids ran up to the fence to welcome us back as we played soccer with the adults…5-4, I let in the last goal, but it’s more about laughs and time spent together as a community. We are happy to be back in school with the kids everyday trying to be good examples for the 1&2 grade teachers who are making class more creative and efficient… poco a poco (little by little.)  They kids don’t learn much in class, but it’s something we’re working to fix every day and show them that learning can be fun, interesting, and challenging.

They are so fun to be with when they are learning new things; their faces are so bright and amazed to see the photo they’ve just taken, or a sentence they’ve written on a computer, or play a new sport.  We’ve been very lucky so far to have such good friends passing by to meet the community and have fun on a cultural exchange.  One of our Australian friends from Mexico even decided to stay as a 1-3 grade teacher for our friends at Sepur private school a few rivers down.  Now we are working in two sites in the Polochic and have a great team of people trying to improve the local primary education. Any and all ideas can be adapted for both groups. We are happy to welcome Li Ch’utam’s next volunteers in early March. They are Northeastern students who are happy to help and practice their own style of sustainable development. As I type they are surrounding a table at Espresso Royal Café in Boston planning a week-long photography/phys ed curriculum playfully dubbed Kodaks and Crayons that will help the kids look at life through a different lens. This will be part of our after-school program for anyone who wants help with their schoolwork, wants extra work, or is just curious as to what the big fuss is all about.

This after school program is intended to help more students develop their education past the 6^th grade where the majority ends their studies each year.  Kids who wish to pursue their education and interests will have access to tutors, computers full of educational software, books, and fun projects to grow individual & community development. Any ideas about creative, interesting after school activities or curriculum would be warmly accepted and likely adapted for our curriculum if relevant, so please do send those comments to my facebook page or e-mail, kando.d@neu.edu.

 In the name of innovation and sustainable development we have been exploring with our partners at Campus Tec in the city some very interesting possibilities for educational technology. We were invited to Maria Zaghi’s Innovation class at Universidad del Valle in Guatemala City this past week. Her students were wonderful and have decided to develop an open-source software for cheap tablet pc’s that will put the nation curriculum for all Guatemalan primary school students into an interactive adventure video game that will allow students to  journey through an educational world using the touch screen tablets and pens. I’m sure they will do a great job and enjoy their experience working as a team and producing something with so much potential for replicability.  Our feet are firmly planted in the fertile soil of Nueva Mercedes where we will work with the people to develop local educated leaders, and in the name of innovation as global social entrepreneurs we’re reaching for the stars.