Raising Money for Tomorrow’s Disaster

Yes, I am going to ask for your money. Let me tell you why.

Raising Money was never my job. I certainly didn’t start out as a fundraising specialist. Which is probably a good thing. Not only is it MUCH harder than I would have thought, but it is also pretty difficult just to ask people for their money. Try walking up to a stranger and asking him to open his wallet, and you will know what I mean. After all, my training was in the fire service and paramedicine, two of the most trusted professions. Armed with those skills, previous disaster response experience and along with good ideas and a great cause, people would immediately see the need and send money.

Hmmm…. not.

The reality is that there are many thousands of charitable organizations out there, good, bad and just plain silly. In fact, I get more mail, E-mail and texts from professional fundraising companies than I do from donors. Charity fundraising services, classes, and internet programs are big business. If they just pooled what they spend on trying to sell me their services and donated it instead I could stop harassing you for funds. Alas, that is not to be.

Making it Personal.

When I first came to Central America a decade ago it was not as a dedicated relief worker, but simply to discover the land from which my immigrant grandfather came. What I found was a place filled with natural beauty. Where people still say hello to strangers on the street, where they actually care about how you are doing, and where, though impoverished, they share a common dream of making their country better.

Equipped only with my high-school and street Spanish, I began to volunteer for a small NGO and quickly discovered the “mission” that would consume the next decade of my life, and become my full-time, unsalaried job when I retired from the fire service. I met incredible people and talented volunteers, people who would become my dearest friends and valued co-workers in a daunting task, to make things just a little bit better. If it sounds like I am trying to be noble, I am not. I get far more from the people I work with than I could ever give in return.

It is not until you watch firefighters have their boots burn off their feet searching smouldering hot volcanic ash, then offer you the shirt off their back (Thank You, Henri!) that you begin to understand Guatemala. Share a humble meal with a teacher in a rural village who hasn’t been paid in six months, yet goes to work each day. Spend a morning with a Maya elder speaking of the spirits of the mountains or an afternoon with a farmer who explains the intricacies of growing papaya or a fifth grader harvesting coffee in the mountains to earn a few extra quetzales for his family. Once you know these people, it is difficult not to want to help. Raising money is a small price to pay.

The Sales Pitch

AMEDICAusa was born of a simple idea. Take the expertise and experience of our founding board members and volunteers and apply them to some of the major problems in Guatemala and Central America. Medical care, education and disaster relief. Make a big bang for the buck. Use targeted programs to help in specific areas and not try duplicate the “big guys”.

We Are There Before, During and After the Disaster.

Perhaps what AMEDICAusa is best known for is our disaster relief and training programs. Existence here can be dangerous. Guatemala is the most “at risk” non-island country on earth from natural disasters. Volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, storms and hurricanes from both the pacific and atlantic oceans, landslides or flooding are nearly daily occurrences. Add to that the “normal” emergencies of daily life and the violence endemic in the cities.

Most disaster relief organizations are reactive. Choosing to “bank” donations in accounts that may never be used, or relying solely on “Disaster Relief Teams” to respond to future disasters, days or weeks after the event. These efforts are valuable, to be sure. But they do not provide immediate response in the all important first seventy two hours after the event.

The AMEDICAusa Difference

AMEDICAusa chooses to be proactive. As in the United States, the primary Guatemalan emergency response in case of disaster is the Fire Service. They provide the rescue and emergency medical care for the vast majority of the nation. But they are stretched thin, having only about 250 stations in the entire country. (For comparison, Tennessee, about the same land area, has over 1200 fire stations for its 6 million residents. Guatemala’s population is well over 17 million.)

Many of the firefighters and medics are volunteers. The career firefighters are woefully underpaid (about $300 a month for 24 on – 24 off schedule). Training is hit and miss. Equipment is in short supply. Paramedics must purchase their own medications out of pocket. Government support is meager at best. Many stations still must rely on bucket brigades for firefighting because they have no fire engine. And, the roads are bad. Seriously bad. Travel times between stations can be greater than four HOURS. That’s a long time to wait for help.

By providing donated equipment and training to the Emergency Services of Guatemala on an ongoing and “pre-disaster” basis AMEDICAusa and our partners, The Reds Team, can make an impact in disaster response before the ground even stops shaking. Not just in major disasters, but in the smaller, non-newsmaking events that happen on a daily basis.

How We Do It

We supply equipment donated by agencies all across the United States. Generally used, but serviceable, gear that represents a substantial improvement over what little they have in Guatemala. Collecting, sorting and transporting this equipment, (everything from Helmets and boots to fully equipped fire engines) is only the beginning of our mission. The gear itself is valuable, but the training to use it is equally important.

Our instructors are all volunteers, professional firefighters, paramedics and rescue technicians. They donate their time and expertise to help their brother and sister first responders do their jobs more safely and effectively. From small scale classes with two or three departments to biennial large scale schools with up to fifty departments participating, we are constantly supporting the disaster response of the most important rescuers… those that are already “in-country”.

What’s up, Doc?

Medical care in rural Guatemala is scant. Something like 90% of the physicians in the country are concentrated in the two largest cities leaving the more rural population with little care. Relied upon by most of the people, the national hospital system is underfunded, understaffed and ill equipped. But, they do what they can with what little they have.

AMEDICAusa provides donated equipment, medications and volunteers in rural hospitals and clinics in Guatemala. Supporting specialized medical and dental missions, providing internships and clinics to rural villages, and EMS training to the fire service we are helping to improve the care available to the poor and indigenous of the country.

It’s About the Kids Too

Education. Simply attending school can be difficult or impossible for the poor and indigenous people of Guatemala. One of the things I noticed as I travelled around the country is how many children are out and about during what should be school hours. Many thousands of children in Guatemala are unable to attend or finish elementary school simply because their parents can not buy the simple supplies needed.

Basic school supplies are expensive. Particularly when you only make a dollar or two a day. AMEDICAusa provides these supplies, at no cost to the families, directly to the individual children in rural schools. By purchasing the supplies from wholesalers in Guatemala, and having our volunteers deliver them, we stretch the available dollars. This adds a little to the local economy, and reaches farther than I ever expected. But it does cost money. Our reach is limited only by your generosity. Keeping children in school and improving their education is perhaps the greatest gift you can provide to kids struggling in poverty.

Tying It All Together

So, three major programs, what do they have in common? They actually tie together more closely than you might think. It is rare that I do a school supply mission and I am not asked to examine an ill or injured child. Firefighters often serve as our volunteers on school missions and are always our most valuable ambassadors into a community. (Who knows a community better than the local firefighters?) Does it do any good to teach CPR if the local hospital does not have the equipment to treat the patient? One program flows into the other and all are important.

Yes, I am Raising Money

Raising money was never supposed to be my life’s work. Frankly, I would much rather be teaching firefighting in the lowlands of Petén, visiting a small school somewhere in the mangroves or seeing patients in a mountain village. But the fact is, none of those things can happen without you.

The reality is that raising money is probably my most important job. It is what allows our other volunteers, instructors and experts to reach the communities where they are most needed and can do the most good. Taking good care of that money, being as miserly as Scrooge with costs while being as generous as Santa with aid, is probably a close second.

If you have read this far, I hope I have “sold” you on the benefits of what we do. There are a LOT of charities out there and you are going to hear from them all over the next few weeks. But I am extraordinarily proud of our work and of the people, volunteers all, who make it possible. So, please, forgive me if I brag a little.

And, please, take a little time to open your heart and your wallet, and donate to AMEDICAusa.

Fire-Rescue Instructors Get “Schooled” in Guatemala

AMEDICAusa and REDS Team Fire-Rescue Instructors deliver school supplies in Retalhuleu, Guatemala

Annual Fire-Rescue School Takes a Break

Retalhuleu, Guatemala- It is a tough job. It’s hot, humid and the days are long. The logistics are difficult, the equipment minimal. So, it takes some tough, experienced people to train fire and rescue personnel in Guatemala.

Our annual Fire-Rescue school in Guatemala is a joint project of the REDS Team, of Garner, North Carolina and AMEDICAusa. Twenty-seven fire departments, the Guatemalan army’s humanitarian rescue team (UHR) and the Red Cross attended this year for classes including Water Rescue and Fireground operations.

After several grueling days spent in the water and on the training grounds, the instructors and the Army were given a little break. This morning, we loaded up the military truck with supplies and headed off to visit two local elementary schools.

When Programs Collide

Life for a child in rural Guatemala can be rough. Most parents work as subsistence farmers or campesinos on larger farms. Money is scarce, most living on about $1.75 a day. Clothes, books and even meals are difficult to come by. The grim statistics are that in Guatemala there are tens of thousands of school age children who are not in school. Simply because they can not afford the supplies.

AMEDICAusa provides a supply program to elementary schools in rural areas in Guatemala. Placing the basic education supplies directly into the hands of the students ensures that at least one worry is taken care of. Each packet contains enough supplies for about three months of school.

This is the first such supply trip that our instructors have experienced. But the crossover between our programs is not at all unusual. Because we work closely with the local fire departments, and the firefighters know EVERYBODY, we get many referrals of schools in need from them. Local firefighters also frequently serve as volunteers on our missions.

“Tough Guy” Hearts Melt, and it Isn’t the Heat

Our previous Fire-Rescue schools have always been at the Air Force base in Guatemala City. Logistically this was easier, and the City’s altitude provides a more temperate climate. But Guatemala City has no river, and water rescue classes require, obviously, water.

Moving to the pacific lowlands, where there are rivers, but also extreme heat and humidity, presented some challenges. However, it also gave our instructors the opportunity to see a great deal more of rural Guatemala, and to meet people outside of the fire service and military.

A classroom wall built of egg cartons. You use what you have in Guatemala.

An escuelita in rural Central America bears little resemblance to a typical elementary school in the U.S.. Construction is generally primitive. Dirt floors are common, many have bamboo walls, and electricity and running water are often only a dream. Fans or air-conditioning are unknown, even in the heat of the lowlands. The Ministry of Education provides a teacher’s salary, such as it is (around $300 usd a month), and not much else. It is one thing to know about the poverty of the Guatemalan people, it is quite another to experience it first hand. No where is it more evident than in a rural escuelita.

Our instructors are both shocked and amazed. Seeing how little these kids have, and how grateful they are for a little help is a humbling experience. Several are so moved that they offer to come back simply to help with more school missions. We will be glad to have them.

Practicing AMEDICAusa Goggles with the kids (photo: The REDS Team)

Time to get to work.

The kids are a little shy at first. We are far from the Guatemala City or the tourist towns of Antigua and Lake Atitlán, so the children have had little or no interaction with “Gringos” before. Breaking the ice isn’t difficult, teaching the kids how to put on our our “AMEDICAusa Goggles” does the trick, along with taking their pictures and simply asking their names and speaking with them in broken Spanish.

A lollipop break with the kids

Each child is given his or her own package containing notebooks, pens, pencils, erasers and, as a small bonus, a lollipop. Everyone gets into the act, exchanging a smile, a brief word or a fist bump as the kids get their packet. The time is too brief. While all of us could easily spend the entire day here, but we have another school to supply, and classes to instruct this afternoon.

Teaching students and soldiers to put on AMEDICAusa goggles

Fire Instructor Captain Allen Jenkins distributes school supplies and smiles in equal measure

Firefighter & Water Rescue instructor David Thompson exchanges a fist bump with a schoolboy.

Water Rescue instructor Kirsten Steele, herself a teacher, with Guatemalan school kids.

UHR soldiers distribute school supplies with AMEDICAusa

AMEDICAusa president Neale Brown during school supplies mission in Retalhuleu

Teniente (Lt.) Angela Werner of the Guatemalan Army UHR

Water Rescue Instructors Kirsten Steele and Emily Harrison with some new friends

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Double Your Caring and Kindness with your Gift to AMEDICAusa.

140,000 Children in Guatemala Can’t Go to School in Guatemala due to Poverty. Every $2 you give allows us to reach one more child.

Its that season again, and we’re all absorbed in the question of what gifts to give. I invite you to consider a gift that lasts a lifetime…give a child in rural Guatemala a chance at an education.

Our program is designed to get elementary age students into school, and keep them there, by delivering the basic school supplies that they would not otherwise be able to afford. While this may seem a relatively low-tech program, it is actually a simple solution to a very large problem in Guatemala. At least 140,000 school age Guatemalan children are not enrolled in school. The principal reason: an inability of the families to afford the simple school supplies needed for their children. Most of these kids are in the rural and indigenous sections of the country where we are most active.

AMEDICAusa school supply mission in Champerico, Guatemala

AMEDICAusa volunteers, usually led led by Silvana Ayuso, our Vice President in Guatemala, deliver the supplies directly into the hands of the children. Based on the UNICEF “School in a Box” concept, we have modified it to suit the needs of Guatemala. Pencils, pens, notebooks, erasers…you get the idea. Even a small toy and a treat are included. Simple things, but a great boon to those who often make less than a dollar a day.

Rather than just send a box of supplies to a school, we have individualized the packets to ensure that the supplies actually reach the children for whom they were intended, and broken it up into amounts suitable for approximately 3-4 months. This helps insure that the items get used by the students, not sold or ruined in the often-challenging climate. We try and reach each school we supply three times during the school year.

We use our funds frugally. AMEDICAusa buys all of our supplies from wholesalers in Guatemala. This is not only vastly less expensive than in the U.S., but also saves us shipping costs (often more than the supplies themselves), and gives a little boost to the local economy.

Guatemalan firefighters delivering school supplies – AMEDICAusa

Besides the obvious educational benefits, this program also often serves as our gateway into the rural communities. It is the rare visit where we are not called upon to see, treat and/or transport a sick or injured child. This allows us to introduce our medical programs. Many of our volunteers are from the local fire departments with whom we work closely in our disaster aid and training programs. They aid us in delivering the supplies and help introduce us to the local population. It also the best introduction to Guatemala for our U.S. volunteers who are invited to participate in the school supply delivery missions.

We are in the midst of our annual fund-raising drive for next year’s programs. We are also soliciting partner agencies to help support the missions. If you, someone you know, or a group would be interested in helping, please feel free to contact me any time. Browse our website and let us know if you have any questions, and please…Give generously.

Thank you for your kind consideration,

Neale

Neale S. Brown

President, AMEDICAusa, Inc.

Giving the Gift of Education

.A Simple Gift That Makes a World of Difference.

AMEDICAusa school supply mission in Champerico, Guatemala

Guatemalan firefighters delivering school supplies – AMEDICAusa

Thank you for your kind consideration,

Neale

Neale S. Brown

President, AMEDICAusa, Inc.

Why We Chose Guatemala and Why You Should Too

An indigenous woman donates to the local Fire Department in Champerico, Guatemala

Violence, Corruption, Poverty, War and Natural Disaster
have long been synonymous with the so-called “banana republics”. Historically, Guatemala has been no exception. There is poverty and need throughout the Americas, so why did AMEDICAusa choose this small country, rather than my wife’s suggestion of providing aid in the vineyards of Tuscany?

Certainly, there is need. The third poorest country in the hemisphere, an astounding 60% of the total population lives in poverty. In the rural and indigenous Maya populations, that rises to nearly 80%. Malnutrition is rampant, illiteracy more common than not and health care is largely unavailable. Obviously, a fertile ground for the efforts of an international charity. But, of course, that is true of other countries as well.

Wild Cacao at Takalik Abaj, an ancient Maya city which prospered in the pre-columbian chocolate trade.

It’s not because of the rugged beauty of the country, though it certainly has that. From the volcanic mountains of the central highlands, to the rain forest of Peten and the black sand beaches of the coast, the topography is challenging, exotic and gorgeous. It also hides the potential for the reoccurring natural disasters that periodically strike the country.

It’s not just because Guatemala is one of our near neighbors (Guatemala City is closer to Miami than is Chicago) and the people are fellow Americans in the larger sense. Though that too, might be justification enough.

It’s not even because of the large debt the world owes Guatemala for their ancient discovery of chocolate.

The Difference is in the People of Guatemala.

It sounds almost trite, but it is very true. Yes, people are people. There are probably just as many good and bad Guatemalans, by percentage, as anywhere else, and Guatemala is a diverse country with 23 official indigenous languages as well as Spanish. But what we have found is a wide spread desire, at all levels of society, to individually help make their country just a little bit better. This is markedly different than what we have found working in other countries in Central America.

Let me be clear. This isn’t the false bonhomie of someone getting something for free. After all, it is easy to be nice to someone giving stuff to you and yours for nothing. Rather this is the sincere, well intentioned partnership with the people that every NGO says they want, but few achieve.

The well-to-do “Gym Club” of Guatemala City, who donate their time and talents as translators and school program volunteers. The working poor who offer their labor and services for free just to be part of the effort to make things better. The Guatemalan firefighters, poorly paid and overworked, serving as our volunteers on their day off. All aid us delivering programs to rural villages and alert us to problems, such as special needs children, in the communities where we can help.

A group of the Gym Club volunteers at a children’s shelter in Sololá, Guatemala

The Gym Club Volunteers

A group of well-to-do members of an athletic club of Guatemala City, there is no obvious material benefit to their association with AMEDICAusa. They could be off jet setting around the world. Instead, they often spend their free time passing out school supplies to the poor children in a dusty little villages, or translating for instructors at fire and rescue classes across the country.

Fire Officer Wilfredo Morales volunteering to deliver school supplies near Santa Cruz Muluá, Guatemala

The Firefighters of Guatemala

Of course, it goes without saying that firefighters are all around good people. Perhaps no group in Guatemala is more overworked and underpaid than the Bomberos. Working a 24 hours on, 24 hours off shift schedule, you would think that they have given enough of their lives to their community. Instead, they often volunteer to work with us on their off days, and have been instrumental in identifying other areas that need assistance.

Don Chepe, Master Boatman, guides us to El Chico, Guatemala

The Working Poor

Nothing makes the point better than the experience we have had working with the day to day people of Guatemala. A couple of weeks ago, we were working in a small village in the mangroves of southwest of Guatemala. The village, El Chico, is inaccessible by road and can be reached only by a forty minute, somewhat difficult, boat ride from the nearest boat launch. We hired a boatman, Don Chepe, to take us, our volunteers, a couple of policemen for security and all of our supplies into the mangrove.

Its a long trip. Using a lot of sparsely available and expensive fuel, and he must wait hours for us to finish our mission. During the trip, he cannot carry the cargo or harvest the fish that would otherwise make up his daily wage. We readily agreed to his asking price of 150 quetzales (about $20) for the boat and a day’s work. Once he delivered us back to the beach he tried to refuse his fee. Just to be part of the effort. (Though a very kind offer, we of course paid him anyway.)

Hope and Change in Guatemala
have historically been distant dreams. Guatemala suffered nearly forty years of civil war and decades of systemic government corruption in that war’s aftermath. What makes the difference now?Perhaps it is the creation of the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) and its success in rooting out much of the corruption that robbed the country’s treasury and ultimately its people. Perhaps it is the changing world technology, bringing a new outlook to old problems. Perhaps the Guatemalan people have just grown tired of waiting for change and have decided to take their future into their own hands.

An Investment in Guatemala’s Future

All charity is (or should be) an investment. The return on the investment is changing the lives and circumstances of the recipients for the better. Like all investments, this return is dependent on the dedication of all of the stakeholders to the ultimate success of the venture. On that basis, Guatemala seems a pretty safe bet.

AMEDICAusa volunteers at Nueva Cajolá, Guatemala

AMEDICAusa, inc. is an I.R.S. 501(C)(3) registered charity, headquartered in Frederick, Maryland.

We are always looking for volunteers who wish to help in Guatemala. Get the details here.

Donating to AMEDICAusa ‘s ongoing programs is easy. Get the details here.

Tens of Thousands of Guatemala’s Children Can Not Go To School

The village school house at Aldea El Manchón, Guatemala

Simple School Program Helps fill gaps in rural Guatemalan Schools

El Manchón, Retalhuleu, Guatemala – The little blue and white schoolhouse on the beach in the village of El Manchón (the Jungle) is incredibly picturesque. Touched by sea breezes on nice days, dotted by sea grasses, across a rough and rutted road from the thatched roof village, surrounded by palms and year-round flowers, it seems almost idyllic.

Aldea El Manchón

But look a little closer and you will note some things that are apparent only in their absence. There is no electricity, nor running water. The little school building is careworn. Gaps in its clapboard walls provide some light, but allow in rain and insects with equal alacrity. Within it’s tiny two rooms are some forty three children and two teachers who often struggle to make it through the school year.

The people of El Manchón mostly work the River Lxqulla (Lsh-cú-ya), poling shallow boats deep into its tangled mangrove jungle, in search of fish and shrimp. Others are campesinos (farm workers) on nearby fincas, harvesting sugar cane. Laboring in the intense heat of Guatemala’s pacific lowlands, none make much more than a dollar or two a day.

On such meager wages, the struggle for food, clothes and shelter demand the lion’s share of income. School books, pens, pencils and such seem a luxury.

AMEDICAusa always knew, from experience in villages like El Manchón, that many children in Guatemala are unable to go to school because they simply can’t afford it. Many families are forced to chose which, if any, of their children can go to school. Often this choice is made in favor of the boys, as has been traditionally thought that girls have less need for education. The new government study highlights the problem.

A young boy poles his canoa in search of fish, instead of going to school, near El Manchón, Guatemala.

An over-sized pick-up, accompanied by a cloud of dust and the ambulance from the nearest town, thumps and sways down the “road” that leads into the village. The ambulance, filled with Champerico’s off duty firefighters, isn’t here for a medical emergency. The firefighters have volunteered to spend their day off helping AMEDICAusa distribute school supplies to El Manchón’s children and then to another school deeper in the mangroves. Though the village is more than an hour’s drive from Company 13’s fire station, they represent the only emergency services in the area.

When the worst of the dust settles, AMEDICAusa volunteers and the firefighters unload and dust off the cargo from the bed of the pickup, and carry it inside the school. After introductions and a short classroom exercise, the children are each given a small bag. The bags contain all the basic school supplies for three months. Notebooks, pens, pencils, erasers, pencil sharpeners, crayons, and, for each, a rare lollipop.

The idea is simple. Provide enough school supplies to keep a family from having to decide between eating or sending their kids to school.

“Education here is key to escaping poverty.” said Neale Brown, President of AMEDICAusa. “Those who think these folk’s lives are simple and intellectually undemanding, need to understand the problems that confront their communities.”

“Expansion of sugar cane and palm oil plantations near the river have expanded their job market somewhat, but the wages in the fields are very low. It has given them some choices in where to work, but not the ability to escape poverty. Unfortunately, the new plantations require irrigation and a whole lot of water. Increasingly, this water is being drawn from the river, sometimes illegally, and has dropped the water flows in the river significantly. Robbing fresh water from the river removes it from the mangrove. It is increasing the salinity of the estuary, killing the trees, poisoning water wells, driving away the native wildlife and significantly harming the fishery. ” he says.

Fishing Vessel in Champerico in better days.

This challenge will be difficult to overcome for a fishing village. The area was hard hit by the decline of the fishing port of Champerico, whose jetty collapsed in 2003. The failed attempt at rebuilding the port in 2008 – 2010 did further damage to the mangroves, and worsened an already disastrous situation. The declining ecological conditions are just one more thing to contend with.

“El Manchón is not alone. Whether on the coast, in the lowlands or in the mountains, rural villages in Guatemala all face similar problems. Solutions to these problems will take an educated local population. The combination of local knowledge, tradition and education is the only way these communities can find the answers. Fortunately, the people of Guatemala are really motivated to make things better. Programs that help keep kids in school can really help them move forward.” said Brown.

The village’s future leaders studying at the El Manchón school

“It really didn’t take a government study for us to know that poverty was forcing kids out of school. We hear that all the time in the rural villages. It is good to know we are on the right track with our programs, but, if anything I think the census data understates the problem. “

New census reveals almost 150,000 Guatemalan kids not attending school

(Prensa Libre – Translated from Spanish) After consolidating the data obtained through the school census, the Ministry of Education (Mineduc) determined that of the 141,337 children who are not attending school, 37,706 are from San Marcos, Quiché and Huehuetenango.

By Yanira Alvizurez / Prensa Libre/ Guatemala

March 13, 2017 at 2:58 p.m.

The school census was carried out from January 16 to February 3 and was conducted in coordination with the departments of Education and local teachers. They visited homes near schools in 12,850 communities in both the urban and rural areas of Guatemala.

Juana Morales, a native of the village of La Puerta, Chinique, Quiché, says that poverty is one of the factors that influence school drop-out rates (Photo Prensa Libre: Héctor Cordero)

According to Mineduc authorities, the survey was designed for data collection, and the data was entered directly by teachers into the Educational Registry System (SIRE). They interviewed 20,412 people in urban areas and 120,000 in rural areas.

Minister Óscar Hugo López revealed that, after consolidating the data, it was determined that the Departments with the highest incidence of children between 4 and 15 years old who are not attending or enrolled in the school system are: Guatemala with 13,272; Huehuetenango 13,331; San Marcos, 12,996, and Quiché, 11,709. Followed by Peten with 9,456; Alta Verapaz, 9,669; Escuintla, 7,865; Chiquimula, 7,865, and Suchitepéquez, 7,103; Chimaltenango, 5,635; Totonicapan, 5,126; Baja Verapaz, 4,901; Santa Rosa, 4,780; Jutiapa, 4,669; Quetzaltenango, 4,624; Izabal, 4,236; Sacatepéquez, 4,098; Jalapa 3,155; Sololá, 2,487; Retalhuleu, 2,289; Zacapa, 2,241 and El Progreso 1,487.

He explained that of the total, 73,000 between 5 and 7 years, have never attended school, and they have no formal education. The remaining 68,000, between ages of 7 and 14 , had attended some degree of schooling but had to withdraw for a variety of reasons.

The official said that a very important problem identified is that in 371 communities visited there is no nearby school, and children must walk up to three hours to reach their establishments. In addition, 6,629 children with special educational needs were identified.

“The census did not represent significant costs to the budget of the Mineduc, since it was done with our own personnel,” said Lopez.

Government Efforts

The minister said that they will work on programs to improve access to coverage, including conditional cash transfers to support children who are not going to school for economic reasons, and the expansion of educational coverage, which will allow more six year olds to enter elementary school.

He explained: “With the support of teachers, supervisors and the Ministry of Social Development, it is hoped to obtain positive results in the short term for children outside the education system.”

Mario Chang, department director of Education in San Marcos, said that they recently implemented an awareness campaign to encourage parents to send their children to study, as enrollment for the school year expires on March 31.

Most Want to Go to School

Raquel Juan Mateo, from the north of Huehuetenango, who would be in eighth grade, says that his parents are engaged in agriculture and that there is not enough money for food.

“My dream is to be a policeman to help protect citizens, especially those with limited resources who, like me, have no right to education,” he said.

Francisco Juan Ramirez, 70, father of the boy, says that because of the poverty conditions in which they live, they do not have the money to buy school supplies.

“The education of children is not free; On the contrary, it represents an expense for the parents, that is why many are left without going to school, “added Maria Mateo, the boy’s mother.

Valentina Rodas does domestic work, as she is not enrolled in school (Photo Prensa Libre: Whitmer Barrera)

In the village of Colima Dos, San Pablo, San Marcos, live the Rhodas-Chilel siblings, four of the 12,996 children in the department who, due to lack of financial resources, left school.

“I would like to go to school, but my parents do not have the money to buy supplies, uniform and do homework,” said Valentina, 17, who can not read or write.

The family is joined by Pedro Morales, 9, whose dream is to be a teacher to support the poor children of the village of La Puerta Chinique, Quiché, where he comes from.

The mother of the child, Juana Morales, said that her husband works as a day laborer on a farm on the South Coast and earns very little.

With information from H. Cordero, M. Castillo and W. Barrer

Read the Story in Spanish at Prensa Libre

AMEDICAusa school supply mission in Champerico, Guatemala

AMEDICAusa’s simple school supply program makes it possible for more of the the poor and indigenous children of Guatemala to attend and stay in school. By providing basic school supplies directly to the children and helping the teachers with materials, we can make a big difference in the lives of these kids and their families. With careful allocation of donated dollars, we are able to do this at a very low cost, but it is not free. Your donation is critical to our programs. Each packet we deliver provides a child with the necessities for three months of school. Every $2 you donate allows us to reach one more kid. Your tax deductible donation can be easily and securely made through our donation page.

Sharing a Post Has Consequences… like a new school.

A Reporter’s Simple Story Gets Big Results

Aspiring Guatemalan reporter Brian Quevedo visited the small village of El Xab (pronounced El SHAB) just to do a little piece about their school. The impoverished community had banded together to build its own elementary school. Quevedo wanted to document their struggles to educate their children.

When the story appeared on Canal 46 TV in Retalhuleu, it caught the attention of AMEDICAusa. We contacted Brian to get the full story so that we could aid the school. Within a few days AMEDICAusa volunteers were in El Xab delivering educational supplies and evaluating the needs of the school with an eye toward improving its construction.

AMEDICAusa volunteers deliver school supplies to El Xab in March

The school’s needs are many. Hand built by local volunteers, it is constructed largely of bamboo, has no running water (and its well has since gone dry), no electricity, only improvised outhouses for sanitation, and dirt floors. Its tables and desks are mostly improvised from discarded wood and cement blocks.
Even pencils, paper and books are in short supply.

The community is made up largely of indigenous Maya campesinos, subsistence farmers and field workers who often can not afford even shoes for their children, much less the school supplies for their education.

Quevedo’s follow up story about AMEDICAusa‘s mission to “the School Around the Mango” aired in Guatemala on March 14th. Widely shared on social media, the story made its way to the offices of Fundación Tigo , the charitable arm of the Latin American telecommunications giant.

Even Guatemala’s President Gets Involved In New School

Inspired by the story, Fundación Tigo moved with astonishing speed. Committing themselves to building the new school, they planned new buildings, with ten classrooms, utilities, modern sanitation, two sports fields and even a computer lab. What could normally be expected to take a year or more was accomplished in weeks.

President Jimmy Morales and Tigo set the first stone at the School Around the Mango (Courtesy Government of Guatemala)

On July 15th, Tigo officially broke ground on the rebuilding project, with Guatemala’s President, Jimmy Morales, ceremonially setting the first stone of the new building. Construction is scheduled to be completed by October of this year. The students will be in their new school when classes reopen after the winter break in February.

“We are proud to have been a small part of this,” said Neale Brown, President of AMEDICAusa “but this is really a story about how one reporter’s efforts and the power of social media can come together to create change in a community.”

“Brian’s stories reached people, even across different languages, in a personal way.” said Brown. “They inspired people to get involved and to do something, even if it was something as simple as sharing the story on Facebook. That made all the difference.”

AMEDICAusa, inc. is an I.R.S. 501(C)(3) registered charity, headquartered in Frederick, Maryland.

Donating to AMEDICAusa ‘s ongoing programs is easy. Get the details here.

AMEDICAusa Volunteers bring badly needed supplies.

Colonia Santa Elena, El Asintal, Guatemala-

With clapboard walls, dirt floors and some classes forced outside by the lack of space, The “Escuela Oficial Rural Mixta” (Official Co-ed Rural School) of this small village is typical of the elementary schools of rural Guatemala. Rain and insects enter the class rooms with equal alacrity, light streams in only from the roughed-in, uncovered windows and the spaces between the wall boards and tables are largely makeshift affairs, fashioned from cinderblock and unfinished boards.

The people here are “campesinos”, subsistence farmers or field hands of Maya decent, who, on those rare days that they actually get folding money, must make their living on around $1.50 a day…. The children wear second or third hand clothing, washed in the nearby creek beds by their mothers, rubbed against a rock to remove the worst of the stains. The diet is beans, rice and corn tortillas…the diversion a pickup game of soccer played on a field shared with cows and the odd horse.

Even elementary school here is a luxury that many families cannot really afford. The school uniforms meant to muddy the difference between the “haves” and the “have-nots” are beyond the reach of families in a village that has no “haves”, and basic school supplies are much too expensive for most.

The drop out rate is extreme, with less than 18% of the children going on to high school, and even fewer graduating and going on to any sort of trade school or college programs.

AMEDICAusa Volunteers with students in Colonia Santa Elena, Guatemala

AMEDICAusa volunteers arrived today bringing boxes of notebooks, pencils, pens, crayons and other basic educational supplies for delivery directly into the student’s hands. It is the tenth such mission to Guatemalan schools this year.

“By easing the burden on the families and assisting the teachers with basic educational supplies and equipment, we help the kids to stay in school.” said AMEDICAusa President Neale Brown. “Every kid who goes on to high school and beyond is a victory for us, and more importantly, a victory for his or her village.”

AMEDICAusa, headquartered in Frederick, Maryland, brings more than supplies to these educational missions. Dovetailing with their medical programs, these visits also bring basic health and dental education to the students and provide an opportunity to assess the health needs of the community, as well as identifying health concerns for particular students.

“We’ve seen everything from eye infections to broken bones and other traumatic injuries on these missions.” said Brown, a retired Fire Officer and Paramedic. “It’s a rare occasion when we don’t find at least one child or village resident who is in need of medical care, and whom we either refer to a clinic or, in the more severe cases transport ourselves.”

Anyone interested in volunteering on a school mission can get the details here. Those kind enough to donate to AMEDICAusa ‘s ongoing programs may do so here.

AMEDICAusa, inc. is a I.R.S. 501(C)(3) registered charity.

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