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Reforestation Project
The project's main facility is a forest nursery, located in the Labor San Antonio in Quetzaltenango's Zone 9, about two kilometers from the center of the city. The nursery is under the supervision of the ICAmigos NGO and is staffed by a team of temporary and permanent workers.
The project's mission is to raise a hundred thousand trees of local species such as alder, cypress, pine, and eucalyptus. The project begins with seed collection and continues until the saplings can survive in the mountains without special projection. It serves various areas, including Santa Barbara in the La Esperanza area, Las Majadas, Chuicavioc, El Papal, Cerro Siete Orejas (the Seven Ears Hill), and Cerro Quemado (Burned Hill), where 15 thousand trees have been planted.
Currently, two areas are designated for reforestation in a project, which began in 2000 and should last until 2005. One of the projects is on land owned by the Catholic Church in Zone 10 of the city and the other is owned by the City of Quetzaltenango, on the hill named El Baul (The Trunk) in Zone 5. More than twenty thousand trees have been planted in these areas and they are currently being maintained.
-->OBJECTIVES
+To promote the establishment of community nurseries.
+To protect the water levels in the natural water sources in the area.
+To raise trees and thus reduce costs.
+To raise rapidly growing trees that provide organic material to the forest environment.
+To raise forest trees and fruit trees indigenous to the area.
+To maintain an annual production of more that one hundred thousand saplings.
+To increase the awareness of ecological issues among schoolchildren, rural communities, and the general population.
+To maintain a cooperative relationship with the various environmental organizations in the area.
LOCATION OF THE PROJECT
The forest nursery is currently located in the Labor San Antonio, an undeveloped tract of land in Zone 9 of the city of Quetzaltenango, about 2 kilometers from the center of the city. Quetzaltenango is the second largest city in Guatemala, located in a mountainous region in the western part of the country, about 200 kilometers from the capital, Guatemala City. Its altitude is 2,334 meters above sea level; its climate is cool with average temperature of 16C/63F.
Bilingual Education Program
The project consists of an Official Rural Coeducational School named B’E (road or way in Mam), which provides education in two languages: Mam, the language of the community, and Spanish. Classes are provided to children of Mayan culture and heritage, between 5 and 13 years of age, including pre primary and primary (through grade 6) grades. The academic year is approximately 10 months, from January to October of each year. Classes are offered from 7:45 AM to 12:30 PM, from Monday through Friday.
-->OBJECTIVES
+To improve the level of education of the local community by increasing the availability of formal and informal education, taking into consideration issues of ethnicity, language, gender equality, and social and geographic issues.
+To transform the educational system into a multicultural, multiethnic and multilingual one, with high standards of academic excellence, equality and community integration to promote individual and community development.
+To achieve the ongoing, organized participation of all members of the educational community, to advocate for its interests and needs.
+To promote the personal and academic development of the students, in their own culture, using effective teaching techniques.
+To strengthen the first language of the students, using intercultural, bilingual educational strategies in Mam and Spanish.
LOCATION OF THE PROJECT
Buena Vista Los Corrales, Cabricán, Quetzaltanango is a neighborhood of the municipality of Cabricán, located in the northern part of the department of Quetzaltenango, 45 kilometers from the capital city of the department and 2 kilometers from the center of Cabricán. Buena Vista’s climate is cold and it is at 1750 meters above sea level. The municipality has a population of 13,000, and Buena Vista has a population of 900. The majority of residents work in agriculture, others are day laborers, and all are descendants of the Mayan culture Mam.
The Education Project
The schools has up to 500 students, usually a mixed group of Mayans, Non-Mayan Guatemalans, and immigrants. The schools are staffed by a Principal, and 13 full-time and part-time teachers. The government funds these positions and provides classes to pre-primary and primary level students from 4.5 to 13 years of age.
Volunteers assist in the classroom, teaching English and helping children to write.
-->OBJECTIVES
+To assist the teachers who have classes of over 50 students.
+To personalize the education program in cases of students with social problems.
+To provide volunteers with the didactic material necessary for them to most effectively complete their work.
+To facilitate cultural interchange between Quiché speaking Mayans and other cultures.
LOCATION OF THE PROJECT
The project is located in Zone 1 of the city of Quetzaltenango, two kilometers from the Spanish school (about a 20 minute walk).
Woman's Artisan Project
The project provides planning and direct assistance to the various communities that participate, as well as training, education, and technical assistance. The project began with the objective of improving the quality of life of Mayan communities who were suffering from the after-effects of the 36-year civil war. These towns had for generations struggled to gain recognition of and respect for their rights. The project works with four groups in different communities which are populated largely by women: Chirijox and Chuacruz in the department of Sololá, and Quiejel and Xepatuj in the department of El Quiché, in the northern part of Guatemala. With the awareness that education is the major weapon against lack of development, the program focuses on literacy training. Groups are offered assistance in opening new markets for the sale and promotion of their products, not only at the national level but internationally as well. As a result, sales increase and at the same time the women are able to improve the economic situation of their families.
-->OBJECTIVES
+To maintain sales in existing markets.
+To open new markets, both national and international.
+To provide training in literacy and adult education.
+Improve weaving techniques.
+To increase the income of participating women, their families and communities through improved marketing of their goods.
+To reduce the high rate of illiteracy in the country through an aggressive literacy-training program, thus promoting development at the local level.
LOCATION OF THE PROJECT
The project takes place in four different communities: the neighborhood of Chuacruz, in the department of Sololá, and its group, "WAJXAQ' IB KAN" (The eighth day of the year in the Mayan calendar, which is a holy day), the neighborhood Chirijox, in Santa Catarina Ixtahuacán in the department of Sololá, and its group "KAQATO' QIB" ("Let's Help Each Other"), the neighborhood of Xepatuj, Nahualá, in the department of Sololá and its group "AJKEINAB' MYIB' ("Mayan Weavers"), and Quiejel, Chichicastenango in the department of El Quiché and its group "AK KASTEMAL" ("New Life").
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