Attending middle school and high school in Chajul is costly: students are faced with fees for registration, tuition, uniforms, and school supplies, and time spent on school means lost work time for the family’s well-being and income. To combat these challenges LHI provides youth with sponsor-based scholarships to fund a student’s studies in middle school and high school. Students are provided with school supplies and monthly scholarship payments, which cover the direct costs of schooling for middle school students and a portion of these costs for high school students.

Pursuing an education requires much more than financial support. LHI provides youth with access to a study center with a computer lab and library so that they have a quiet, well-lit place to focus on their assignments. In order to provide youth with the extra support they need to succeed academically, LHI also provides youth with three skill-development classes:

Intensive Spanish language course

Because Chajul’s population is primarily monolingual Ixil, a language that is only spoken within a half hour radius of the town, youth must work hard to develop the strong Spanish language abilities that are necessary for academic success (school is taught in Spanish), for success in finding work, and for civic participation. This month-long, 70-hour course is offered annually during school vacation and is taught by a professional Spanish language instructor. Participants also receive a nutritious snack each day to keep them nourished and attentive. Each LHI student is required graduate from this course, which dramatically improves the youth’s ability to communicate in Spanish with skill and confidence.

Computer classes

Weekly computer classes with an experienced teacher helps students fulfill an academic requirement at their schools that calls for students to learn basic computer skills. Furthermore, in a place where books are often hard to come by, access to computers provides a wealth of valuable information for students through electronic encyclopedia programs like Encarta. LHI students are required to graduate from this course during their first year in the program and are invited to continue participating throughout their time with LHI to further master their skills.

Tutoring

Due to Chajul’s extremely high illiteracy rate, the great majority of parents cannot help their children with their schoolwork. LHI provides scholarship students with weekly tutoring sessions led by a dynamic, well-educated local teacher, giving them the opportunity to get professional assistance with their assignments as well as time to work together with their peers. Tutoring is offered to all interested LHI students and is required for those with lower grades. The teacher helps students with their homework and reinforces Spanish language skills, good study habits, and critical thinking skills, which Chajul’s students often do not develop through their formal education.

Students in Chajul often dream of becoming professionals but do not have access to information about how to pursue these dreams nor to the opportunities that will help them make their dreams a reality. LHI offers three services to support youth in their transition from students to professionals and from youth to young adults.

Career counseling LHI educates students about their education and career options and prepares and supports them throughout their transition onto new horizons, whether the workforce or higher education. We provide counseling for the youth and their parents, job shadowing opportunities, career panel presentations with local professionals, information about scholarship opportunities, and trips to visit educational institutions. We also offer students tutoring and materials to prepare for entrance exams; their lack of formal academic preparation remains a primary barrier to accessing the country’s best educational institutions.

Work to (L)earn work-study opportunities

LHI’s work-study program gives LHI youth in 9th grade and above the opportunity to develop their professional skills, earn extra income at a fair wage to supplement their scholarships, and support their community. Jobs include working in LHI’s community library, building safe stoves, selling health products through Community Kiosk campaigns, creating products for and assisting with the LHI Artisan Program, acting as guides and cultural mediators for visitors to Chajul, hosting tourists in their home for weaving or tortilla-making activities, and cooking snacks for groups of visitors. Work to (L)earn encourages youth and their families to earn additional money for their education, providing them with a ‘hand-up’ rather than a ‘hand-out,’ and allowing them to feel ownership and pride in their achievements.

Leadership and life skills workshops These workshops focus on developing knowledge and life skills that are important for the personal and professional development of youth. Workshops present themes that the formal education system in Chajul does not emphasize, including critical thinking, financial literacy, time management and personal organization, self-discipline and effective study habits, leadership, and healthy living skills. LHI collaborates with a variety of professionals to present and develop the materials for these workshops. We offer at least nine workshops annually, of which LHI youth are required to attend three of their choosing. In order to encourage parents of LHI youth to become more active in their children’s education and development, we also offer workshops for mothers on topics such as how to speak with confidence and how to best support their child’s educational success.

Because homes are typically smoky, crowded, and poorly lit, the library provides a valuable quiet space for students, teachers, and the rest of the community. It is a comfortable, welcoming, well-lit, and safe space to read, study, complete homework assignments, plan lessons, and work on group projects.

The library collection contains over 2,400 titles consisting primarily of storybooks for children and academic textbooks. Since schools in Chajul own only a single copy of textbooks (if at all), teachers come and use the library’s books to prepare lessons and also send their students to consult them for homework. LHI regularly consults with local educators to get their suggestions for books and materials to add to the collection.

With the goals of developing a love of learning, a culture of literacy, creativity, and to expose children to the Spanish language at an early age, Saber Sin Límites hosts twice-weekly Story Hour for children. During this activity, the librarian reads a story interactively, translating between Spanish and Ixil. Children are then invited to participate in an art activity that connects with the story’s theme. Story Hour has proven to be wildly popular among youth of all ages, with an average of 38 children participating in each session.

Saber Sin Límites goes beyond simply providing books; library staff strives to teach members how to look for information and how to think critically about the information they find. Staff also provide students with the homework help that their often-illiterate parents cannot.

Almost every family in Chajul cooks over an open fire inside the home with little to no ventilation, producing a smoke-filled living environment. The dependence on open cooking fires compromises health in a number of ways. To address this challenge, LHI has partnered with the Philanthropiece Foundation, Fundación Ixil (Ixil Foundation), and several local and international organizations to promote and construct safe, clean-burning stoves which replace open cooking fires and improve the health and safety of families, as well as the environment. Currently, LHI staff is working in a consulting capacity to help train students in Philanthropiece’s Scholars program to take over management of this initiative.

In partnership with Community Enterprise Solutions and Philanthropiece, LHI has brought a community health-promoting kiosk to Chajul. This kiosk provides access to useful products that can’t be found elsewhere in Chajul. Purifying water filters, solar-powered lamps, reading glasses, energy efficient light bulbs, and vegetable seeds are all available through the kiosk at fair market prices. Kiosk campaigns take place on a monthly basis at the LHI Community Center. Currently, LHI staff is working in a consulting capacity to help train students in Philanthropiece’s Scholars program to take over management of this initiative.

In October 2011 LHI celebrated its first class of high school graduates. They are among the top students in their classes, yet high school graduates in Chajul have very little or no ability to attend university. In addition, for the small percentage that do graduate from high school, very few job opportunities exist in their home community. Philanthropiece is addressing this challenge by implementing an integrated program approach where exceptional LHI graduates are trained in sustainable community development and receive a scholarship to attend University weekend studies. The Philanthropiece Scholars are training and working in their focused area of community development including Sustainable Agriculture, Literacy, Environment, Appropriate Technology, and Health.