Educating underserved children in Maya communities in Guatemala

STARTS WITH YOU

Los Quineles

TEACH supported this site from 2009 through 2018. After the area flooded, the site basically ceased to exist as the population moved away leaving no children to educate.

The trip to the Los Quineles Primary School is for those who love an adventure. In order to reach this remote agricultural village, they ride in a pickup truck for over an hour along a dusty road through a vast banana plantation, crossing in and out of Honduras (without border formalities!), then cross the Motagua River by boat (there is no bridge) and ride upstream for twenty minutes to a pasture where horses are grazing, then mount the horses and ride forty-five minutes along a path where the mud is sometimes over the horses’ knees.

In addition to funding the teacher’s salary, TEACH was instrumental in finding the funds from an Italian NGO to construct the school building to replace an outdoor classroom. The extraordinarily dedicated teachers who work here have classes everyday for the first twenty-three days of each month, and then return to their home villages for the rest of the month. Almost all the children in the village complete the sixth grade.

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The first leg of a trip to TEACH’s most remote site, Los Quineles, is an hour truck ride on a dirt road through a banana plantation.

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The second leg is a 20 minute boat ride.

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The last leg is a 45-minute ride on horseback. At times the mud is over the horses’ knees.

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Miguel López, who is the mayor of Los Quineles, invited the TEACH delegation to his home for lunch.

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This student went to a lot of trouble to say farewell to the TEACH representatives at the end of the day.

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Chickens and ducks are constantly under foot.

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Pre-school children waiting for the beginning of the performance that their older brothers and sisters are putting on for TEACH.

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The performance showcased the dances, clothing styles, and food characterizing some of the different ethnic groups of Guatemala. The parents were as eager to see it as were the TEACH representatives.