Breaking The Cycle of Poverty Takes Helping Hands & Open Hearts |
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Like many families in the villages of Guatemala, the children have little hope of ever breaking the circle of poverty they were born into. From day to day parents make the difficult choice of deciding if they can put food on the table or shoes on their children's feet. Poverty and education are inextricably linked. Education gives children the power to dream of a better future and the confidence to create change that will help generations to come.
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More than 50% of families in Guatemala live below the poverty line
Many indigenous families still do not have an opportunity to receive an education
Making a Difference“My Melody School” opened in 2003, in the remote indigenous town of Chimaltenango, Guatemala, with just a five students in a single inauspicious one-room building. The director of the school rode his bike to the markets and knocked on doors to deliver the message of hope through education. The director originally worked three jobs to pay the costs of running the school. As sponsors for the children came on board the school has grown to 95 students from kindergarten to grade 10.
In addition to providing education, the director initiated Project Chaq'laxel (meaning "little sibling," in a native Mayan language) to ensure that underprivileged children, also receive daily nutritious meals, proper personal hygiene, develop self confidence and receive additional support. The funding provided by sponsors also ensures access to health care that the families would not have otherwise. The ultimate goal is to expand the project each year to improve the lives of more children and families. With the hope that Melody School will eventually be able to provide for more students from childhood through to adulthood. Thus creating future leaders. |
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How can you help ?With high illiteracy rates within the Mayan community, the
biggest impact is through teaching children to read and write. My Melody School receives no government funding, it is only through donations that the children continue to learn, the student body continues to grow, and this poor community continues to thrive. |
