First
Project
The first project is to build a small library for the
village of San Antonio La Nueva Esperanza, a poor Mayan village high in
the mountains of Guatemala. The library will be built at Colegio La Libertad,
a middle school in the village, and will serve as
a resource for approximately 9,000 people—the residents of San Antonio
La Nueva Esperanza as well as eight surrounding villages.
The
School
Colegio La Libertad is a middle school founded in 2001 by a South African
couple, Greg and Helaine Walton. They started the school with six pupils
and by 2006 the enrollment had grown to 75 students from eight different
villages.
After school, adults receive primary level instruction in reading and
writing. The education program has expanded to include agricultural instruction,
including the planting of different traditional and non traditional crops,
animal husbandry and reforestation.
As the school has grown so has the infrastructure. Village parents and
students gave many hours of time and labor for the construction, which
is a great source of pride and satisfaction for the people.
“Any
book that helps a child to form a habit of reading, to make
reading one of his deep and continuing needs, is good
for him. ”
–Maya Angelou
