School's Out!

Here in Guatemala, November is truly a joyous month. Not only does November mark the beginning of the dry season and Navidad preparations, but for children, the month also signifies summer vacation. Although most Guatemalan children neither travel nor attend summer programs as is customary in the United States, summer vacations still constitute a welcomed break from daily classes and a chance to spend time with friends and family.

For vacaciones in Chaquijyá, the MPIG team and I have decided to direct an educational summer camp for the students of la Primaria Central. During initial conversations, numerous community leaders of Chaquijyá expressed the desire for a program that would help stimulate children’s interests in academics and motivate them to continue their education at the Básico level. Having begun to form relationships with the children at la Primaria Central, we decided that a summer camp for our students would be an ideal mechanism to address this community-expressed need. Directing a summer camp would not only allow us to maximize our time with the students, but it also provides us with greater flexibility in the variety of activities we can offer, as our pursuits do not interfere with the topics and demands of the school-year curriculum.



Additionally, during the summer vacations, most students assist their parents’ work in farming or shop keeping. Community leaders have expressed that the children’s summer contributions are not essential to their families’ livelihoods, yet Chaquijyá currently lacks any educational or recreational enrichment programs to occupy the students’ free time during the vacation. Without any convenient opportunities for external scholastic stimulation, the children of Chaquijyá do not continue to develop mentally during the summer, and they do not receive the necessary additional encouragement to pursue higher levels of education.



Thus, we have created a six-week summer camp, and we have successfully completed our first week of the program. Held on the school’s campus, the camp currently hosts over 100 participants, who are divided into four groups, determined by age. Groups attend programs in English, Science, Arts, and Sports that all relate to the camp’s theme of “Un Viaje Alrededor del Mundo” (A Trip around the World). As most of students will never receive the opportunity to venture abroad, we chose an international theme, so as to introduce children to the unfamiliar topic of foreign cultures and also to stimulate an interest for learning in general. Every week, we gear our programs to focus on the cultures of different continent. For example, last week, the children ventured to North America, where they played volleyball in Sports class, made Native American dream catchers in Art, constructed and exploded volcanoes in Science, and learned the numbers in English. All of the participants have “passports” that receive stamps when they have completed an activity on each “continent.”



I am particularly excited for our special Thursday programs. Instead of normal classes, Thursdays consist of special activities designed to provide the children with hands-on experiences in which they can serve the community and have fun. For our first Thursday program, we will be showing Wall-E and then leading a trash clean-up activity, in which students will compete to fill the most trash bags with trash picked up from the community. Other programs will consist of painting a mural on the school grounds, recycling and health seminars, and even our own version of the Olympics.



With only a few logistical flubs, last week’s programs ran very smoothly and all the campers seemed to enjoy the classes. I was so happy with last week’s success and I cannot wait for the upcoming six weeks. Stay tuned for more to come on sustainability issues regarding camp and updates on other programs’ development.