Newsletter
January 2008
The Aid and Education Project, Inc.
“ El Proyecto de Ayuda y Educación “
With the
school year starting in mid-January in
The
Scholarship Program
The
Scholarship Program is our principal program in
Individual
sponsors provide the bulk of the funds for this program, but in reality, now
that our students are moving ahead in school (with only a few dropouts),
educational costs are much higher than they used to be.
We now have students up to the 6th year at the university
level. Fortunately, we have received
several generous grants from foundations to help us cover costs, as well as to
add new students.
We expect
about 68 students to start school in 2008 with scholarships, up from 60 last
year.
However, we still have students without sponsors. If you have an interest in sponsorship ($360 per year), please check out our website: www.aidanded.org, then click on “See STUDENTS NEEDING SPONSORS.”
Something
New: Micro-Loans for Students /
Student Loan Program
Unlike in our
own countries, in
For these
reasons, we have started a Student Loan Program in which we make small loans to
students. These loans help cover
living expenses so students can devote more time to studying and less time to
working. The students need not repay
the loans until they leave school (either because they graduate or because they
decide not to continue).
The interest
on the loans is nominal, and is more to teach the students about loans and
interest, than to actually make money for the organization.
We do, however, require that any student receiving a full loan
concentrate entirely on their studies, and not work.
With Student
Loans we can “recycle” educational funds, first helping one student, then as
funds are repaid, helping another, then another, then another…
If you would
like to know more about this program, please contact us at mpitts@aidanded.org
. If you have an interest in
contributing to this program, please mark donations as “for student loans.”
Wendy,
our star student, had to work full time in 2007 to help support her family, all
the while attending the university full time.
A
Teacher’s Story
Valerie
Carlisle and Gail D’Alessio are retired teachers who still substitute in their
local schools. Val tells the story
of their experiences with their own students in the
The
four students sponsored by Valerie Carlisle, Gail D’Alessio, and students in
the
Val’s Story:
When
I think about my last trip to
As our planned trip in November drew closer, I began looking through the website and, of course, wished I could sponsor them all. Unfortunately, as a retired teacher, this was not an option. However, I suggested to my son that he might enjoy forming a club at his high school to earn money to sponsor another student. He and his friends quickly latched onto the idea, being college-bound they knew they could help, have fun, and add it to their “resume” of community service. I also suggested that if they could collect school supplies, I would be willing to take them with me instead of those clothes I didn’t really need. Boxfuls of supplies were donated. To help them I used PowerPoint to create small posters using photos from the website showcasing the students without sponsors. So far, the Arlington High School Guatemala Aid and Education Club has held two coin drops at a local food store garnering about $360, enough to sponsor Maria of San Antonio Aguas Calientes, and they have plans to raise more.
Meanwhile,
I still substitute in the
I had put out a flier within this district also to collect school supplies, and the days before my trip, I was picking up more “stuff” than I dreamed of. Teachers in different schools had grabbed onto the idea and kids and staff had collected boxfuls. One school jumped in and collected money from the staff as well, and sponsored another student.
As you can imagine, the trip itself was wonderful. I packed up about 250 pounds of supplies and delivered them to San Antonio Aguas Calientes, where they will be distributed to the sponsored children at the start of school. We were delighted to meet the director, Osbilda Santos, and her daughter, who in turn helped us meet with the children. The children were shy and very serious, but there is nothing like meeting them in person. I brought back pictures and memories to share with all those kids who excitedly wanted to know if I had met Jose, Franklin and Maria.
Val’s
class that raised money for José
I
am writing this with the hopes that someone out there reading it may be inspired
to become a part of a new chain of events. It
seems like everyone has a teacher somewhere in the family, or children or
grandchildren, or scout groups or churches.
The people who were enriched from this experience are definitely not only
the children of
Computer
Literary
To date, we have shipped over 350 computers to
The following
is a letter recently received from
“This
great help from the Project to the education in Maya communities is a big step
forward… You are planting seeds that will generate ideas and solutions,
through the education of Maya children… All the people who have received
computers are very thankful for this initiative that is so positive and so
change-provoking…that the kids will get to work on a computer for the first
time…”
Unfortunately,
the government of
ESL
Again in 2007,
Board Member and Director of the ESL Program, Carlyn Syvanen, and her husband
Steve Vause spent 6 weeks in San Pedro La Laguna on
Maya
Cultural Education – Vacation Maya Schools
Maya Cultural
Education – simply put, teaching indigenous Maya children and young adults
about their own history and culture – has become more popular than we ever
expected. In the Vacation Maya
Schools in 2007 over 775 children and young adults completed the classes.
In 2007 the theme of the schools was “The Natural World and the World
of the Maya.”
Although we do
not offer the classes in a large number of communities, we do have them in
several areas of the country and among a diverse group (this year among speakers
of Kaqchikel, Tz’utujiil, K’iche’, and Q’echi’).
We don’t
“go it alone” in arranging or funding these classes.
Instead we work with other institutions that promote and preserve local
Maya culture. These other
institutions help provide needed funds, but even more importantly, they provide
profound knowledge of the Maya culture of
Finally, we
are most fortunate to be able to announce that Laura Martin joined our Board of
Directors in 2007. Laura recently
retired from
Among other
things, Laura has led workshops for training the indigenous teachers in our
Vacation Maya Schools. This is just
one part of an ongoing effort to make the schools always better and more
professional.
Volunteers
Besides cash
(a very important ingredient), volunteers are essential for what we do in
If you can
commit to a half day per week (average) for
at least six months, please contact us.
The pay is not great (since there is none), but we can guarantee the job
will pay other dividends.
Donations
Made Easy
It is now easy
to donate on line using Paypal. Just
connect to http://www.aidanded.org/CreditCardDonationPage.htm
and start clicking.
Also, please
keep in mind that many employers will match all or part of any donation that you
make to charity.
Donating
appreciated stock, rather than cash, will generally provide additional tax
savings. Finally, don’t forget
about the possibility of leaving funds in a will or trust for a long-term
investment in education for the poor in
Thanks
from all of us, and several hundred kids in
For the Board
of Directors,
Mark Pitts
Executive
Director
The
Aid and Education Project, Inc.
“El
Proyecto de Ayuda y Educación”
The
Aid and Education Project, Inc.
14 Zander Lane
Randolph, NJ 07869
USA Tel: 973-366-3119
email:
mpitts@aidanded.org
www.aidanded.org
