Fundación Educando a los Niños - Education for the Children

I am applying for the Elevate Prize because I know the funding as well as the leadership development and capacity building support provided will help me expand and improve the valuable work my organization is doing in Guatemala.  The Education for the Children Foundation (EFTC) recognized my potential, entrusting me with the leadership of the organization in Guatemala as a young woman relatively early in my career. They trusted in my passion, capabilities, and vision for the project. The Elevate prize would mean I could further develop our primarily Guatemalan and young female staff into strong and passionate leaders, driven to make a change in their community. I could increase the impact of our programs showing clear results and ultimately changing the course of a generation of children.  Furthermore, with the prize money we could strengthen and expand our initiatives, so that our students can lead healthy, informed, stable, and fulfilling lives.  Lastly, we could target our services to help our students overcome the devastation that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused, so that they do not have to sacrifice their education.

Since I was very young, I have been driven to work alongside extraordinary people  to challenge injustice and achieve true equality for the global community.  In the 1st grade I confidently declared I would grow up to be a United States Peace Corps volunteer, and I did 18 years later.  After spending two unforgettable years in a rural Mayan community in Guatemala, working closely with teenagers and female leadership groups, I ended my service and began to seek work with an organization in Guatemala that was addressing the inequalities, and the violence that I had seen plague my students. I found the organization I was looking for in EFTC. They share my vision, and the purpose I want for my life.  To work with communities and see people as individuals, in order to address gross disparities, lack of opportunity, and cycles of poverty and violence that keep generation after generation from being able to live safe, secure, and fulfilling lives. I was able to grow up to be who I wanted to be, my goal for the future is that our students in Guatemala will get the same chance.

EFTC stands to solve economic disparities through quality education, health services, employment preparation, and nutrition. We run a kindergarten through 9th grade school, then as students graduate they receive a full scholarship to external high schools and colleges. There is a giant wealth disparity in Guatemala, with 66% of the population living in abject poverty.  Mass inequality in access to education, healthcare, social services, and exposure to opportunities and social capital keep generations of Guatemalans from being able to meet their basic needs. The majority of the country is born into, grows up in, and dies in this systemic cycle of poverty. In regards to education, Guatemala has the lowest literacy rate in Latin America with 80% of children never reaching high school and a large percentage dropping out in elementary school.  EFTC is proud to say 87.5% of our high schoolers graduated last year and 64.2% of our employed high school graduates are already earning more than their parents even before they obtain their college degree, with 50% of them earning three times as much. Our programs are individualized, tailored to the needs of our students, so that they can lead secure, safe, and fulfilling lives.

Our work is unique because we focus on our students as individuals, we understand that they have different goals for their future, that they face numerous challenges, and that the best way we can support them is to let them pave their own path. We don’t limit them, instead we guide them and provide expert orientation. Our program is innovative because we offer holistic services. From healthy meals rich in vitamins and minerals to providing health services given by a highly trained team, helping our students overcome cycles of trauma and abuse. We believe that they cannot learn if they are scared, sick, hurt, and hungry. We strive to help them grow, learn and succeed in everything we do. Lastly, we are the only program in the area that offers full scholarships to both high school and university to all of our students. We know that they need advanced degrees in order to secure stable employment and escape the informal economy where many have toiled away since early childhood. We don’t believe that scholarships should go to only the brilliant or exceptional, we believe all of our students deserve access to a comprehensive education and dignified employment.

EFTC has an impact on humanity through student centered and data driven programming. We use internationally recognized software in order to help our students bridge the gap from which they start their education.  Our model sets individualized goals not driven by grade level nor the rest of the class, but by the pace each student learns at. Our students receive career and academic counseling, so they can forge their own path in the world. Through mentorship and multiple initiatives EFTC widens students’ horizons, exposing them to new people, fresh ideas, and exciting opportunities.  We are proud of our big successes, such as 17 university and 300 high school graduates as well as the small impact on individuals like one current 8th grader who is a young resilient mother. This student is still in school despite all odds, her son is happy and healthy and she has come a very long way in the years she has been in our program. Growing from a traumatized and quiet little girl to a confident young woman. To EFTC, the individual impact on humanity is the most important of all. Every child deserves a champion, unwavering compassion and a fair chance in this world.