Guatemala Delivery Tour

Posted by Derek Haines 
 

Four Rotarians from the Rotary Club of Grand Cayman will be traveling to Guatemala in February where they will join with the Cooperative for Education (CoEd) and Rotarians from the USA and Canada to deliver books to secondary schools and open computer centers.

 

The Cooperative for Education is a Cincinnati based non-profit organization dedicated to breaking the cycle of poverty in Guatemala by providing textbooks and educational opportunities to under-privileged schoolchildren in impoverished areas.  The programmes are designed to improve both traditional and technological literacy, which are the corner stones of economic development. CoEd was founded in 1996 by brothers Joe and Jeff Berninger who were both on the tour.

 

Rotarians Joey Hew, Trevor Neckles, Alan Roffey and Derek Haines will assist in the project during the 10 day trip from the 4th to 13th February; during which they will cover several hundred miles over bumpy roads in mountainous terrain.

 

This will be the 3rd trip for Past President (PP) Joey who said, "This project brings vital textbooks to secondary schools in Guatemala. Studies show that the use of books in the classroom improves grades by 30% and the amount of material covered by over 70%."

 

How it works:-

 

  • Candidate schools are matched with donors such as Rotary clubs, companies, churches, foundations, and individuals.
  • Donated funds from the above groups are used to purchase textbooks in Guatemala in the vital areas of math, science, Spanish language, and social studies.
  • After delivering the textbooks, CoEd trains the teachers and students in methods for effective use and care of books. This training is essential because most teachers have never instructed using a book and most students have never owned a book nor do they have books in their homes.
  • Finally, CoEd help the school set up a rental program whereby it rents its books to the students for a small fee. The fees are put into a revolving fund that the school uses to purchase a new set of books when the original ones wear out.

 

Since the end of the Civil War in1996, that killed over 200,000 people, over 143,000 textbooks have been provided by the programme to 155 communities in Guatemala.

 

On what will be his fourth trip Rotarian Trevor observed "This project establishes computer centers within secondary schools, teaching the students Microsoft software basics and how to access the Internet. Eighty percent of mid-level jobs in Guatemala require computer skills; CoEd Computer Centers provide training necessary to obtain those positions."

 

How it works:-

 

  • CoEd identifies candidate secondary schools, typically from its pool of successful textbook project schools.
  • The computer center teachers are selected, directly trained and supervised by CoEd.
  • Like the textbook projects, the computer centers are made possible by matching them with donors and striving for self-sufficiency through the schools' revolving fund process. Also, individual, corporate or other donors can directly sponsor the computer centers themselves, or individual workstations
  • 30 computer centers have been established in Guatemala, benefiting over 12,800 students together with 39 libraries. Scholarships have been provided for over 240 secondary students.

 

Trevor and his wife Sally and family are private donors to the computer project as are PP Derek, his wife Helen and family and PP Joey and family.

 

PP Derek will also be on his third trip and has been very impressed with what he saw previously. He said, "When one considers that 75% of the rural community is illiterate this programme is vital to the educational needs of the communities. I was delighted at the reception we received at all of the schools and the children were extremely enthusiastic and welcoming. It was obvious to all how hungry they are to learn and I will be happy to recommend that we continue to support the programme in the future."

 

On his first trip, PP Alan said,"I am really excited about going and becoming involved. The enthusiasm shown by my Rotary chums is infectious and I feel the project will be most rewarding. This is what Rotary is all about."

 

Besides supporting the programme financially Rotary Grand Cayman has also purchased one thousand dollars worth of sporting equipment and the Cayman attendees are providing funds for toilets at one of the schools to be visited.