Meet Josselin, the first beneficiary of our new Guatemala University Scholarships program!
Josselin graduated in late 2022 from the Ak’ Tenamit School in Sarstun, Guatemala. (Ak’ Tenamit School is where TIES sponsors several girls in our high school scholarship project.) When Josselin graduated, she returned to her home town of Aldea Chamil, San Juan Chamelco, Alta Verapaz to look for work. But she also wanted to continue her education, so she borrowed money to register at the nearby Rafael Landivar University. However, the monthly tuition cost would be beyond her reach since her father farms to provide food for the family and there isn’t much left to sell for cash. So TIES has stepped in to provide a scholarship for Josselin to begin her university studies.
Josselin is Q’eqchi’ Mayan and speaks Spanish as her second language, so supporting her is a triple win for TIES. We not only promote gender equity in education and address economic disadvantage, we also support a member of an Indigenous family. Unfortunately, Guatemala is the worst country in the Americas as measured by poverty rate (an indicator of economic disparity within a country), and addressing this issue is a top priority for TIES.
If you look at a map of Guatemala, you’ll notice that Josselin’s village is a long, long way from Ak’ Tenamit School on the Rio Dulche. Government support for the education system is so poor, and school fees are so high, that students like Josselin choose to travel a great distance to get an education.
We have a lot of students that travel two days to get to our school because they don’t have any viable options closer.
Steve Dudenhoefer, Founder of Ak’ Tenamit School
We are very pleased to be able to support a young woman like Josselin, and hope that with your support we can support more young women like her.