Guatemala Field Report: School for Jose

Posted on December 30th, 2009 by Keith Ferrazzi
jose

My Guide and Aspiring Student, Jose

Today I met Carlos. Carlos is a social entrepreneur who no longer wants to be reliant on donations for the kids he’s trying to save.  He wants to help his village by creating self-sustaining entrepreneurial projects.

As for what the proceeds do, Carlos' earnings help educate and care for 150 children as an alternative to them hitting the coffee fields as early as 4 years old.  Even at that age, they can help their families make their 100 lbs of coffee beans picked a day – a feat that makes them enough money to live in small dirt shacks, 4 to a small mattress, and to eat a tortilla a day to have something in their stomach, and some beans and rice if they are lucky.  That's called doing well around here.

Carlos wants to set a new standard. He wants the kids to be able to choose to go to school.  Our self appointed guide for the day was a little guy named Jose.  He walked with us everywhere, even after we left the project.  Jose reminded me of me.  I remember so distinctly as a little boy overhearing my pop talk to the CEO of the company he worked for about his son's potential - if only he could get an education. I remember standing there, as if I was on show, thinking that if I just looked the right way, that my father’s hopes for me would be realized.  So I imagined Jose walking along side of me and feeling the same way about this American and his mother's hopes for him. She could have sent him to the fields, but she hopes for more for her boy and two girls.

Carlos has created a pre-school, a first grade, and a 2nd/3rd grade combined class for starters. Until recently he was able to provide nourishment for 40 babies once a week, but he lost his funding - and for this reason has vowed not to be in this position again.

At first many of the mothers sent their children to school as a way for their kids to get some nourishment. Now that this is no longer part of the program, fewer consider the education reason enough to keep them from the fields.

Carlos has identified five kids who have the support of parents and really have potential to break out. For those kids who have a chance, like Jose, $300 dollars per kid per year would give them schooling. The top five are Jose, Anna Bella, who has 14 siblings, Arolda, Ingrid, and Brenda, whose mom has 8 kids. When we went to Brenda's house I noticed that the joy and hope in the kids really doesn't show their desperate state.

To give more of a sense of how little it would cost to keep the school afloat: A project teachers' salary (Carlos has 3 of them) is 200 a month.

Anyway, Carlos, looking for self-sufficiency for the school, has decided to teach this village to fish. His resourcefulness has gained the village a soy milk production machine and 200 pounds of soy (about 60 bucks).  Grant Moncur, the head of our tech support company EStream, donated 500 bucks, which has now allowed the village the refrigeration system to store the milk for sale to schools in the area – so now the village has an industry. By the way, Carlos wasn't going to let doubt hold him back.  He started making the milk knowing that he would find a way to refrigerate and sell the product, and he did!

The pictures from the day together were joyful and heartbreaking.  But more joyful. These kids don't have water or clean living spaces, but they have joy.  I'm serious, they are constantly hugging and taking care of each other. They help each other do even the most basic things, like carry water to the toilet at the school when it’s time to flush (a few times a day). They are there for each other.

If you want to support Carlos' program or one of the kids, any amount is welcome from $10 (a significant amount of money which can feed a family for a week or more) or $300 to send a high potential child to school for a year.

I can barely keep my eyes open, but I’m going to bed at midnight thinking of Jose, who has not had light since 6.30 tonight.  What was he thinking as he lay in bed with his family going back over the day, the supplies he got and food he brought home for his family... I hope he had not only sweet dreams, but visions of a future that involves him finishing school.

To donate to the kids I'm helping in Guatemala, click here.

Click here to see my Guatemala album on Facebook.

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3 comments // In Philanthropy
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3 Responses so far | Have Your Say!

  1. Thanks for making this post! I really appreciate the free information.

  2. We hear every day from all sectors of our society about the importance of education. Our politicians always run under the slogan of “I am for education“,” I want to change our educational system, so we can compete with other immerging countries .

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