Education Programs - AMEDICAusa

School Supply Delivery Nuevo San Carlos, Retalhuleu Pre-Natal Classes Champerico, Retalhuleu Firefighter Training Retalhuleu, Retalhuleu School Supply Mission Retalhuleu Women's Health Class San Andres Villa Seco, Retalhuleu

Education: it is not just for Kids…

AMEDICAusa believes that education is the key to a better life, opening doors that would otherwise be shut to the poor and indigenous of Guatemala. That is why education is a major component of all of our programs, from our basic school supply and childhood reading programs, to medical care and women’s health to firefighter and paramedic training classes.

As a keystone of the “One village at a time” concept, our educational programs are designed to integrate with the specific needs of the residents and help build stronger communities. As we learn from the community, we then tailor our programs to bring the right resources to bear. As is often the case, we find we learn as much from the people we serve as they do from us.

School Supply, Health Education and Reading Program

VP Silvana Ayuso on a school mission in El Chal, Petén, Guatemala

At the heart of our childhood education program is the school supply program. Four times a year, volunteers deliver badly needed educational supplies (modified from the UNICEF “School in a Box” concept) directly into the hands of the students who need them. The communities we serve are very poor, and the basic supplies we take for granted are rarely available to the students of the village schools of Central America. This aid alone can often make the difference between a child being able to attend school or not.

While delivering these supplies, volunteers also provide brief, age and grade appropriate health education classes, developed in consultation with our local medical practitioners to meet the needs of the local conditions. By integrating the two programs, we can address the communities concerns, and meet their medical AND educational needs.

It has been said that if you can read well, you can learn and do anything. Unfortunately, the children of rural Guatemala have very limited access to books thus the opportunity to read outside of school or for fun is pretty much non-existent. With a very high drop out rate after 6th grade, (only about 18% finish high school) a great many Guatemalans remain functionally illiterate as adults.
To help combat this, AMEDICAusa is delivering small

Kaqchikel Maya School girls, Tzununá, Sololá

collections of grade appropriate books that can be used by the teachers as a lending library, allowing the children to take a book home over the weekend to read to their families and returning it to school on Monday. This program allows the children to read for fun (there are few video games in Guatemalan villages), expand their horizons and practice a valuable life skill.