Rich & Gloria Strayer and their Rise students (Getty Images)
This Past Tuesday, March 7, 2023
Last week, we hosted our very own Downey Rotarian Rich Strayer, who spoke about the Guatemala Literacy Project. Over 1600 Rotarians have visited Guatemala for this project, including some here!
In Guatemala, the government pays for the education of children for up to 6 years and after that, it is up to each individual family to pay for any further education. Most of the time, families will only have enough money to send one student and will send their son to school while their daughters stay home. The implementation of the RISE program changes this. With the RISE program, over 6,000 scholarships have been awarded. There are currently a total of 931 scholars in the program currently.
How can we get involved and help?
Part of our dues go directly to the GLP, so you are already helping! In addition, you can sponsor a student. Continue reading below to see just how easy it is to sponsor a student.
Rich & Gloria present the Downey Rotary flag to Rotary International president Jennifer Jones.
THE RISE YOUTH DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM:
The Rise Program identifies promising young students who would otherwise be forced to drop out of school, and gives them the tools to break the cycle of poverty. In addition to providing them with full academic scholarships, Rise offers comprehensive support services from mentors, counselors, and psychologists, and engages students in workshops, community service, and visits local businesses and universities that transform the way they think about their future.
It's more than a scholarship, in addition to removing economic barriers to education, the Rise program provides a support system to help students rise above the challenges they face, such as alcoholism, gangs, child marriage, teen pregnancy, and abuse.
Currently, 53% of program graduates are helping to pay for their younger siblings education - breaking the cycle of poverty for more young people in their own generation.
Choose the student you want to sponsor and click on their name. (if you want Coed to choose your student, click on "Student Most in Need")
Click on your sponsorship level - full or half.
Enter your credit card info they click "Make Payment"
CONGRATULATIONS - YOU HAVE JUST CHANGED A YOUNG PERSONS LIFE!
Next Tuesday, March 14, 2023
Join us next Tuesday March 714th at Rio Hondo. We will have guest Nadia Roldan who will be speaking to us about the Unified Sports program at Warren High School. Lunch begins at noon, see you there!
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The Arc Walk for Independence
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Lissette Rivera
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SPONSOR A STUDENT THROUGH THE GUATEMALA LITERACY PROGRAM!
In Guatemala, it takes 12 years of education to support a two-person family above the poverty line, but 90% of impoverished kids never reach that milestone. Many come from regions where individuals typically complete fewer than two years of schooling. Families often live on less than $4 a day and can neither afford the direct cost of attending school (tuition and fees) nor the opportunity cost of keeping children in school when they could be working and contributing to the family’s income.
In addition to economic challenges, students face many other pressures to drop out including alcoholism, gangs, teen pregnancy, abuse, and a lack of support from their families.
More Than a Scholarship
Each year, with the help of sponsors, the GLP provides full academic scholarships to hundreds of indigenous Maya students in impoverished communities throughout Guatemala. In addition to removing economic barriers to education, the Rise Program also wraps students in a support system to help them overcome the pressure to drop out of school:
Sponsors’ investment in students’ education inspires them to persevere.
Program staff provides social work, academic support, and guidance to see students through to graduation.
Teacher guides serve as mentors and keep a watchful eye on struggling students.
Peer mentoring builds a support system among students.
Home visits involve parents in their children’s success.
Becoming Leaders
The youth development component of the Rise Youth Development Program involves students in leadership, professional, and life skills training.
Broadening Worldviews: Workshops on topics like entrepreneurship, women’s rights, and teamwork help students expand their worldviews and overcome obstacles to achieving their dreams.
Career Readiness: By visiting local businesses and meeting role models in different careers, students explore the possibilities for their own future.
Giving Back: By planning and executing their own community service projects, students learn leadership skills and develop a spirit of service.
Sustainability
The Rise Program achieves sustainability by transforming the lives of indigenous young people who then contribute to the development of their entire country. Currently, 53% of program graduates are helping to pay for their younger siblings’ education—breaking the cycle of poverty for more young people in their own generation.
Samuel Buc, former Coordinator of the Rise Program, put it this way: “I believe that these students will be the ones who change Guatemala as they assume roles as professionals, business owners, and fathers and mothers, and that they will be the first of many more generations with better opportunities and a solid foundation of values. “
President Amelia Sanchez opened the meeting by ringing a white cowbell, part of the stolen loot and club regalia that has been returned to her.
Before she could continue however, Tom Hutchinson stood up, saying he rose to speak in defense of the stealers of the presidential gavel. In return for “a small ransom, whatever is appropriate,” Tom proposed on behalf of the cartel to return it for next week’s meeting. This generated much comment from the members.
The ethics of the situation were compounded when Prez Mel stated that the gavel had been stolen “from my purse.” A woman’s purse is off-limits, and going into it without her permission is a categorical no-no. Tune in next week for developments.
In honor of the international program to follow, Fine Master Jazlyn Acebal posed travel- related questions. We knew all seven of the continents and that the smallest country is Vatican City, and the largest Russia. We also knew that Russia has 3 times zones. But did you know that People’s Republic of China, the third largest in land area and roughly the size of the continental U.S., has only one?
That’s because in 1949, Chairman Mao Zedong decreed that all of China would henceforth be on Beijing time for the purposes of national unity.
That must also make for national confusion, when it's 7 a.m. in the Forbidden City, and also officially 7 a.m. 2,000 miles to the west in Urumqi, the capital of the Xinjiang region, even though the stars are out because it’s still night. Read the Bub and learn.
World Traveler Rich Strayer spoke about Rotary and the Guatemala Literacy Program, a grassroots, multi-club, multi-district project. Guatemala is one of the poorest countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, having highly unequal incomes and chronically malnourished children. The country lacks skilled workers and infrastructure.
How to break the cycle of poverty?
Rich, Gloria and an enthusiastic Guatemalan student
How to break the cycle of poverty? For thirty years now over 600 Rotary Clubs have been working on the Guatemala Literacy Program (GLP) with the Cooperative for Education (CoEd) a non-profit organization based in Cincinnati. It is coordinated by the Rotary eClub of Ohio Pathways, District 6600.
As a grassroots, multi-club, multi-district project, RI President Ian Riseley said of the Guatemala Literacy Program, “The GLP is the gold standard of Rotary projects.”
The problem: in Guatemala, public education is free and compulsory but only through sixth grade, or between the ages of 7 and 14. And that’s not enough.
Rich’s focus was on GLP’s Rise Program, that provides full academic scholarships so students can continue to high school level. Rise does more, offering comprehensive support services.to help students rise above the
challenges they face, such as alcoholism, gangs, child marriage, teen pregnancy, and abuse.
How does Rise work? The Rise scholarships have enabled students to finish their education, in local private schools, through high school, and they can then get jobs above the manual labor level.
The only higher –level occupations they know at first are teacher and nurse, because they are the only role models they have seen. But with a high school degree they can become lawyers, architects, doctors, and small business entrepreneurs.
Is the program a success? 53% of program graduates are helping to pay for their younger siblings’ education - breaking the cycle of poverty for more young people in their own generation.
What can one Rotarian do? Dale and Karen Self have sponsored two students to finish their education. If you go there on a Rotary humanitarian study tour, you can see for yourself how this works.
