Ann and Gustavo (staff at Avivara) asked me if I wanted to teach English 2 days a week at El Yalu, one of the schools we visited this week. The school has a government mandate to teach English, yet there is no one in the town that speaks English! The education system never seems to make sense here. I will be riding in on the back of one of the teacher’s motorcycles to make it to class because it is in a pretty isolated area a good distance from Antigua. It was quite sweet for the teacher to volunteer to pick me up. Gustavo and Ann have explained to me that teachers spend a lot of money buying supplies for students and traveling long distances to teach at these schools. They make very little money to begin with and must have a hard time getting by.
I will work with students for about 3 hours and then I will teach a class to the 11 teachers for about 2 hours. I think it will be quite a challenge because I am use to having materials to work with and I will be operating so much in Spanish. Plus, Spanish is a second language in the community. A Mayan language called Kaqchikel is the community's first language. I think it will be a challenge, but also an adventure. Gary (Executive Director of Avivara) gave me a great lesson on what to teach. He has done it several times before and had some excellent advice. I start on Tuesday. Stay tuned to see how it goes!
Details about the school I’ll be working at from the Avivara website (and for other school profiles of Avivara click here):
El Yalu
Student Enrollment: 364 (Pre-school-6th)
Number of Faculty: 11
Community Characteristics: Predominantly Kaqchikel Mayan community; Spanish is a second language; lacking potable water system
Primary Occupations in the Community: Campesino; small farm and finca laborers
Primary Products: Corn, other vegetables
Municipality & Department: Sumpango, Sacatepequez
Latitude & Longitude: 14º 41′ 49.92″ N, 90º 44′ 42.83″ W
Poverty Statistics: 68% living in poverty, 24% living in extreme poverty (total-92%)
Improvement Grant Focus: Classroom desks and chairs, student supplies, teaching supplies
Additional Needs: Building repairs, upgraded water system
School-to-School Partner: St. Monica School, Mercer Island WA
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