Why Not Sponsor a Guatemalan Student?

Sponsor a Guatemalan Student

(A message from Mayan Families, an NGO in Panajachel, Guatemala.)

Schools in Guatemala are out for their three-month break, and we want to send a big thank you to everyone who sponsored a student this year.

Thanks to your help we have sponsored over 2,000 children to go to school this year! But despite this progress, many in the Sololá region are still without access to education: while 86% attend Primaria (Elementary School), older students are often forced to drop out and work. Only 19.6% complete Básico (Junior High School grades 7-9), and only 7.9% complete Carerra (High School grades 10-12).

The consequences of dropping out follow students for the rest of their lives. A Carerra education provides training for work in tourism, teaching, business, medicine, mechanical work or a host of other steady, higher-wage professions. Without this education, students are confined to unskilled labor-jobs that will never bring in more than a few dollars a day.

The gift of a Elementary, Junior High School or a High School education will bring students benefits that last a lifetime. A sponsorship for a year for Elementary School costs $190, Junior High School costs $390, a year of High School costs $490 and a University Education costs $1,250 a year. To read more about the student sponsorship program, and to meet some of the students seeking sponsors, click here.

http://www.mayanfamilies.org/SponsoraStudent