Guatemala Literacy Project
by Lorine Parks
Join the Snapshot Field trip to Guatemala next February, as part of the Rotary-sponsored Guatemala Literacy Project, the GLP.
You can go with Rich and Gloria Strayer, Larry and Chris McGrew, and Dale and Karen Self, as 55 Rotarians and their spouses help deliver badly needed textbooks, and inaugurate brand-new computer centers at Guatemalan schools. Though impoverished by material standards, the villagers are rich in ways of saying thanks to their North American visitors.
If exotic names like Huehuetenango in the western highlands, and Lake Atitlan, the sky-blue volcanic lake in the Sierra Madre Range, beckon to you, then plan to spend a week in Guatemala traveling by chartered bus and being welcomed by students, teachers and parents, with dances and songs.
Pine boughs will be strewn on the village streets, so your feet will never touch the ground, an honor given to you as a special visitor. In Quetzaltenango you will have dinner in the homes of members of the Rotary Club of Xela, and see the Zaculeu Mayan ruins.
Rich, Larry, Dale and Karen took turns showing a power point presentation of their last visit, which inspired them to “adopt” children with scholarships that enable them to keep on learning. The GLP is administered by Cooperative for Education, or Co-ed, an Ohio based organization dedicated to breaking the cycle of poverty in Guatemala through education.
“We had great time there,” says Larry. “And we showed them pictures of our families on our i-phones.” “You can see for yourself that it is the kids who get the money,” says Dale. “85% of the money raised goes directly into the project.” “The children want to read to you over and over,” says Karen. “They love reading so.”