LED "Leadership, Education and Sustainable Development" is coordinated by the Central American Institute for Social Science and Development -INCEDES-. We dream of a Guatemala in which people have the right not to migrate and we believe that education, especially secondary education, is critical in achieving this future. We insist that secondary education is a right and not simply an opportunity. Secondary schooling catalyzes sustainable, holistic changes in the student’s well-being as well as that of his/her family. In Guatemala, however, secondary schooling is privatized; a middle and high school education is available only to those who can afford the cost of tuition. A rural, indigenous family’s budget is designated to basic survival and educating one child may cost up to 1/2 of the total monthly income. Two children… Three children… Six children… Being forced to drop-out is common. To change these conditions we work with families living in the most impoverished and excluded conditions in the Maya-K’iche village of Chuatroj, Guatemala. Together with Chuatroj’s education administrators, we work to turn schools into a hub for actions that empower students and families to transform their livelihoods through their own capacities and without creating dependence on welfare programs. One of the primary challenges is student attendance due to the fact that it is often limited due to factors related their poverty – the need to work, lack of school supplies, malnutrition, sickness, etc- and tuition scholarships are rarely enough to guarantee that students are able to continue studying. To overcome this challenge our scholarship not only covers the cost of schooling expenses but also covers improvements in nutrition, health care, and creates a savings account for students. Our Student Counselor also works with students and their families to help students access the services and support they need to pull ahead.
