Official fund raising has begun for the Concepcion Huista Junior High Computer Lab!

I have secured a promise of 20 computers from an organization founded by a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer that ships refurbished computers for a total price of $65-$105 a pop, depending on specs, to Guatemala. The goal is 20 computers at $100 a pop (let's aim high!) for the school.

Concepcion Huista was my Peace Corps town from 2004-2006 and I worked as a Rural Youth at Risk Volunteer in the junior high. I taught a class called Personal Development, which touched on subjects like self-esteem, values, stereotypes, family planning and decision-making. And most of you know, I LOVE THOSE KIDS!!!!!

Being a Peace Corps Volunteer was an amazing experience. I became very invested in my work and continue to visit Concepcion at least once a year. I see my old students now... as adults, some of them are now intern teachers in the junior high, and it is amazing. They are amazing kids who have overcome incredible obstacles to do what you and I consider as "normal," like attend junior high, for one. Families make big sacrifices to send their children to junior high because it is not free. Over the years, because of the support of family and friends like you and some o' my own cash-ola, we have given several kids scholarships. It has made a big impact. Concepcion is in dire need for a generation of educated youth to develop their community, to be future leaders.

Case in point: Nehemias.

Labeled a troubled kid in 7th grade, he was one of the students I had during my whole two years in the Peace Corps. He had very little motivation to go to school. Over the years, I kept on him, including various conversations about the temptation to work in the US and the value or even purpose of getting an education. In 2007, Nehemias graduated from junior high. When he told me, I cried. I couldn't believe it. He was truly an underdog, even the previous director had written him off, but he did it. And I'll always remember what Nehemias said when he told me he graduated: "I did it for me." Incredible kid.

Nehemias is not just a student, he also works full time as a carpenter in his family's shop. His father is in a wheelchair and never leaves the house; his face is pallid and sickly, but the rare times I do see him, he always gives me a wave from inside their workshop. Nehemias took some time off school, unable to travel out of Concepcion to continue in high school, until last year when a "weekend high school" was created (a project created years ago by teachers forced out of Guatemala because of the civil war and persecution of the army). I told Nehemias if he wanted to go to school, it was on me. He enrolled last year and is now very successful and in the equivalent of 11th grade! He works during the week and attends school Friday night, Saturday and Sunday; an incredible effort for a young man surrounded by a community that does not typically make such sacrifices and show such determination for what we call "basic education." Here, there is no "free public education" to 12th grade. Thanks to some former Dragons students, Nehemias is studying again, "full ride" this year.... and doing marvelously.

Some history
In 2004, the two Peace Corps Volunteers before me got 15 computers from a USAID grant. Back then, the computers were amazing and like little humming, whizzing technological nuggets. Now, they are painfully slow and mostly broken, they have very small hard drives and can hardly stand Windows. If you've been a faithful follower of this here bloggy-blog, you know I've just invested too much of my own "fake" money (aka credit card purchase), and with a donation from two of my former Dragons students, on repairing the salvageable computers and purchasing 3 new machines. After that week in Concepcion, 9 computers were fixed (sluggish and temperamental, but functioning), plus the 3 new ones - the computer lab is at least alive again.


Some facts about Concepcion Huista

1. To this date, there is no college graduate from Concepcion Huista, which is incredibly significant because neighboring towns do in fact have local professionals: doctors, lawyers, engineers.
   
2. There is no pavement on the road for a full 3 hours to the south. In 2006, the road north to neighboring sister-city Jacaltenango was paved, but widely speculated to be with work of foreign mining companies in preparation for pending mining projects in the Rio Azul region. Still a very important and current issue, mining has not yet happened in the region. Concepcion remains a very isolated town.
   
3. From personal experience, I can tell you that literacy rates are very low in Concepcion Huista. The current mayor is the FIRST to have passed 6th grade. Most women do not speak Spanish, unless they are teachers. In other blog posts I have mentioned the growing trend to send kids to school (and even adults to go back to school!), but Concepcion remains a town where people are skeptical about the value of school. Many kids still drop out before completing 6th grade. The students in the junior high are quite special. They have come a long way and it is my goal to keep them moving forward!
   
4. Some of the primary schools in town still have walls made of plastic tarp.
5. There is quite a bit of corruption in the town, including the growth of local authorities' houses and personal wealth and the lack of funding for school walls.
   
6. The junior high is one of the few nationally certified bilingual schools: Maya/Spanish, and uses a very amazing curriculum in which students are taught subjects integrated with Mayan history, math, sport and culture.
7. The director of the junior high, Hector, gets paid $25 a month for his work. I swear. He allows his fellow teachers and the school's secretary to be paid more (up to $100 a month for full time work), especially if this is their only job. Some teachers, including Hector, also teach in the mornings in the elementary school.
   

Other plans to support the computer project
In order to really get things going and foster a real knowledge about computation and invest in the future education of these students, in May a 3-day "Computer Maintenance and Repair" workshop will be given by an experienced teacher and ex-alum of the school to all students. Students will now and forever be given lessons on computer maintenance in order to involve the students in the care of these gifts.

In the long term, a future goal I will call "Phase II" (after securing the 20 machines), is to install internet capabilities so that:

• Students have the ability to do research and expand their knowledge of the internet
• The computer lab can serve as a Community Internet Lab run by students when classes are not in session there by earning income for the school to pay for the monthly internet bill, student scholarships and even teacher's wages

What I need from you, from anyone who is willing to pitch in some dollars, is to raise as much as possible, with the ultimate goal of $2,000. Extra will go to Phase II (internet in the computer lab).



Send a check to:
(*Please write: COLLEEN RICE, RPCV on your donation) - and please let me know so that I can know what to expect from the local FOG coordinator

FRIENDS OF GUATEMALA
PO Box 33018
Washington, DC 20033

*This is an organization created by Returned Peace Corps Volunteers. Funds are sent to the DC address then sent to the FOG representative here in Guatemala, who in turn relays the donation to the PCV.*