Here’s a great story from The Guatemalan Tomorrow Fund (GTF) newsletter about students in Guatemala (some who are supported by the TIES Ak’ Tenamit High School Scholarships program) learning new skills.
“Their first day on site, visiting Rotarians taught a group of girls (most without electricity in their home communities) to measure and cut lumber with power tools and how to build picnic tables.”
See the students in action in this 2-minute video (courtesy ofAk’ Tenamit – Guatemala Tomorrow Fund):
These students are relentless in their pursuit of an education! Read the full newsletter here:
The Ak’ Tenamit school is a vocational school meaning that every student graduates with practical skills that can be put to use in the job market. And in 25 years their program has evolved from “boys only” to today’s level of 46% females. Great to see such progress towards gender equity.
The newsletter article referred to many of the girls’ being “without electricity in their home communities”. Two of the indigenous Mayan villages in the Sarstun region of Guatemala were equipped with unique human powered generator/battery units last year as part of the TIES NowLight Field Test. The NowLights provided light for students’ studies, and USB charging for tablets and mobile phones. We hope to provide additional NowLights to more villages this year.
How you can help
Canadians may use the link on our Donate page to donate to either TIES project; Guatemala High School Sponsorships, or NowLight Projects. Just use the drop-down arrow on the TIES PayPal form.
American taxpayers may receive a tax receipt by donating directly to GTF using this link.