CEF visits Bella Vista school in Guatemala

Our trip to visit the Bella Vista school was an enriching and humbling experience. And with your generous donations we not only met our target of $2500, we surpassed it by about $2000!

Six board members and one volunteer UK photographer were guided on our visit by the good people at Cause Canada. Cause has projects of Micro-Financing and Women’s Health Assistance in Guatemala, and because they hosted and drove us daily to these remote locales, our mission was a success. They are amazing people, and we couldn't have done any of our travels without them.

Bella Vista is in a remote community, perched on a hillside above farms layered down the valley to the river. It is about a 45-minute drive uphill through rough terrain from Comitancillo, where Cause Canada has an office, and what became our home base.

The community had prepared a whole day of celebrations welcoming us with music, performances by the students and speeches from the teachers, and community members. It was a joyous time, with their gratitude of our making the journey to be with them and our humility in being embraced with such warmth.

We had pre-ordered school supplies for the kids and had the backpacks with us when we arrived. They were filled with notebooks, pencils, pencil crayons, rulers, paint and brushes, soap and dental packs, and skipping rope. The kids were thrilled and so were the teachers - as supplies from the Ministry of Education had not yet arrived and the kids had no notebooks.

There are 63 kids from preschool to Grade 6 (the limit of "public" schooling in Guatemala). They come to school without Spanish. Preschool is funded by CEF so older kids can go to school, otherwise they would be taking care of their younger siblings. Attendance is now standard for the kids which is a change in the last 19 years. The school has become the social and physical heart of the community.

The community are Indigenous Mam speakers (a subset of the Mayan Indigenous group). The locals live very simple lives - most are subsistence farmers on that incredibly steep terrain growing corn, squash, beans, and peaches. Over the three days we visited their homes, heard their stories, and visited their farms. We learned about their farming practices and discovered opportunities to teach them methods to increase their yields and offer more potential for growth.

The school is in good shape – the facilities, while modest, are solid. There is a computer lab, so the kids have access to the outside world and somewhat current technology.

After 19 years of funding, there have still not been any students who have gone on to "high school " (which starts at grade 10). The reasons being logistical (they have to live away from home), financial and societal (no support from family).

Girls still marry very young and start having children in their teens. Cell phones are now ubiquitous. Migration has become a huge issue, with teens and young adults trying to make it to the US creating an age gap. It is still seen as the best way to support family back home.

We talked at length with the community and the teachers about these issues. We also have a list of things that can benefit their daily lives and we will fund what are priorities with the excess funds raised. All of the funds will go to the community. And we will discuss how to support the community to be more self-sufficient and successful into the future.

It was an enriching experience for each of us, rewarding in knowing that our work in giving them assistance is beneficial to them. We extend a heartfelt thank you for your support! Because of your generosity, we were able to increase the supplies considerably. We will continue to update on our progress on our social channels.