In September, Child Aid added five new literacy trainers to our team, bringing the total Guatemalan staff to 20 people. The additional staffers mean we are on target to help 20,000 students learn to read in 2018. “Our five new employees blew us away with their poise and presence in the interview process,” says Angus Fredenburg, […] Continue Reading

When teachers walk into their first Child Aid workshop, they often don’t know what to expect and their expectations are usually low. That’s because training for Guatemalan teachers is generally of very poor quality. Trainings are conducted in a lecture format with up to 150 to 200 teachers in a session. Presenters talk from a podium […] Continue Reading

A delivery of new books arrives for the local school in the town of Cerro de Oro, Guatemala. Each school participating in Child Aid’s teacher training and literacy program, Reading for Life, receives a donation of books each year. The books are used in classroom instruction and literacy programs to provide students more opportunities to […] Continue Reading

Gerson Barreno is an elementary school teacher in the remote village of Xecotoj, Guatemala. His classroom has flimsy, corrugated metal walls, dirt floors and no windows. It is dimly lit by a tiny light bulb in the center of the ceiling. In summer it’s like an oven inside. When it rains, he says, it’s so […] Continue Reading

For the past 12 years, beginning when he retired from his teaching position at a local school in Tecpán, Guatemala, Don Ramón, as everyone affectionately calls him, has been doing everything he can to make his local library a better resource for children. Year after year, he requested help from the mayor’s office. He pounded […] Continue Reading

Last year, in the highland community of Pasaq, Guatemala, second-grade teacher Andrés Choc noticed a remarkable student with a keen interest and ability in reading. After being impressed by the student’s enthusiasm and skill, Andrés asked the student where he had learned to read so well. The student replied he had spent the school break […] Continue Reading