CONTEXT
Huehuetenango is situated in the Western Highlands of Guatemala. It is one of the most ethnically diverse states of the country with nine distinct Mayan languages and cultures out of the 22 represented nationally. 56% of the population of Huehuetenango is indigenous and lives primarily in rural areas. It is one of the main regions of Guatemala from which residents leave to immigrate to other places, frequently in search of better economic opportunities.
Improved secondary education is the most pressing need for Huehuetenango. 59.8% of youth between the age of 13 and 18 do not attend secondary school, the highest rate in the country. When asked the reason for not attending school, 49.6% of rural student age youth said for lack of money. Frequently there are no secondary schools in rural communities and students who wish to continue studying must travel or even move to a bigger city to be able to attend high school. This means paying high tuition rates at private schools on top of room and board and travel expenses that many families cannot afford. Without the resources to continue education, rural communities in Huehuetenango are limited in their ability to grow and develop.
OUR GOAL
The goal of the GuateMaya Alliance is to help rural communities find the tools they need to create, for themselves, solutions to the myriad of problems they face and overcome obstacles in the way of their growth and development. These issues range from creating secondary schools, to training teachers, to creating access to clean water, to providing scholarships for promising students to attend university.
The primary focus area of the GuateMaya Alliance is the implementation of Project Based Learning (PBL) in secondary schools. PBL is a methodology with an academic focus that includes giving students real-life problems, drawn from the context of their own community, to solve. PBL allows students to apply curriculum content to classroom projects through which they learn mathematics, chemistry, social studies, and other core subjects. When PBL was first implemented at the Seeds of Wisdom School in 2012, the score for graduating student in standardized tests went from 38% to 87%. Over approximately 80% of graduates have gone on to university and many have returned to Seeds of Wisdom to teach in the very classrooms they sat in as students.
While we will always maintain strong ties to San Mateo Ixtatán, where our work began, we are now looking to partner with more schools and communities across and beyond the Huehuetenango department to support other students in their studies and success.
PAST SUCCESSES
By addressing the need for secondary education, the Ixtatán Foundation has opened doors for the San Manteo Ixtatán youth. After 18 years of work and 13 successive graduating classes, we have firmly established the Seeds of Wisdom School that provides middle school and high school education to the town’s youth.
The following is a list of past award winning-programs and sustaining projects that the Ixtatán Foundation has helped implement through the Seeds of Wisdom School:
Clean Water: In 2007 the Ixtatán Foundation helped our students implement a clay water filter factory which garnered awards from the Ministry of Education of Guatemala as the best school project in the state of Huehuetenango. This water filter factory now sells water filters all over Guatemala, which helps provide for teachers’ salaries at the school.
Organic Farming: The following year, 2008, we established an organic demonstrative farm to instruct students in food production using local techniques and introducing them to the technical aspects of agriculture.
Computer Lab: In 2010, The Ixtatán Foundation also helped the Seeds of Wisdom to implement a computer academy that serves other schools in San Mateo as well as its own students, giving them computer skills that are necessary in today´s work environment.
In 2012, the Ixtatán Foundation implemented Project Based Learning (PBL) at the Seeds of Wisdom School. PBL is a dynamic approach to teaching in which students explore real-world problems and challenges. With this type of active and engaged learning, students are inspired to obtain a deeper knowledge of the subjects they are studying.
2001-2013: In addition to creating and growing the Seeds of Wisdom School, the Ixtatán Foundation has provided numerous scholarships to Mateano students for higher education in Guatemala and throughout Central and North America. There have been 10 outstanding students who have benefited from this program and have returned to their community to work.
2014 With the support of parents, community leaders, and the mayor of San Mateo Ixtatán, the Yinhatil Nab’en Community Education Center was able to transition from being a private school to a cooperative school. With this provision, the school, now the Yinhatil Nab’en (Seeds of Wisdom) Cooperative Institute, is permanently guaranteed financial support from the central government, the municipality of San Mateo Ixtatán, and the members of the community.
The ultimate goal of Ixtatán Foundation and of founder Beth Evans is that by the year 2021, Ixtatán Foundation and its work will have been given into the hands of local Guatemalan leaders, who by that time will have prepared themselves and gained the skills necessary to continue with the vision.
An important step towards this goal was taken in July 2012, when Elías Alonzo, an outstanding leader of Chuj origin, was named director of Ixtatán Foundation. This step marked the beginning of a transitional period of decision-making by local leadership and the opening of the Ixtatán Foundation’s headquarters in Guatemala. Since Elías came into this role, Ixtatán Foundation has continued to grow its projects and scope of impact.