First Day of School – 44 degrees in the house! (It will warm
up to 70 once the sun comes up.) I have hot water, but except for the youngest
children, most of the others have to shower with cold water. The school day
begins with a 5am wake up call. (During their three-month “summer” vacation,
they could sleep till 8.) Cleaning/bathing and chores go until 6, followed by a
hot breakfast in the Comedor and the school bell ringing at 7.
Once at school, the children line up according to grade
level on the cement playground, where they are greeted by their teachers. Once
a week they perform their civic duty of singing the national anthem and
pledging allegiance to their flag. This is also a time for any announcements
regarding the day or the week ahead. Uniforms are required, and there is a
strict haircut code for the boys. The school day runs until 1pm.
While we are working to improve the quality of education for
the children here, we are bound by certain standards set by the Guatemalan
Ministry of Education. A passing grade for a class is 60%- if a student fails a
class due to homework that was not turned in, there is a short period of time
at the end of the school year when this work can be made up. If it is due to
failing tests, there is an opportunity to study and take the test again. The
kids get to decide whether they want to bother with the “recuperación” or
“nivelación,” or just accept the failing grade. The idea of making up lost work
or failed tests seems fine. However, if
after all of this a student still ends up failing even one class, then
that student has to repeat the grade. One 17-year-old I know is repeating
seventh grade for the third time.
A number our kids have to repeat a grade this year solely
because they failed their class in Kaqchikel, an indigenous Mayan language
spoken by about 400,000 people in the Guatemalan highlands (don’t ask me why this is a required class).
In addition, a disappointing number of our high school students (almost half of
the girls) also failed the year and need to repeat a grade. The policy of the
house here is that any high school student that fails the year in school needs
to spend a “year of reflection” back here on the main campus, which is
basically an additional Year of Service. After this year, the students can
return to repeat the grade they failed and continue with their high school
studies.
We clearly need to do a better job monitoring our kids and
their performance, and work on finding ways to motivate them to study and help
them to learn. The adults living and
working with kids in the sections are mostly caring and concerned individuals,
but are often themselves without much formal education, and so are not in the
position to help the kids with their studies. We have some very dedicated
teachers and staff, especially in the Montessori program (Pre-K – 1st
grade). But teachers are paid minimum wage, and most have at least one other
job. The educational standards required to become a teacher are fairly low
(just a high school education is needed to teach in primary school), and the
classroom environments would not be considered adequate from the perspective of
American learning standards. The kids do not have books; they take detailed
notes in notebooks, often copying materials that the teacher has written on the
white board. I think that the number of kids who failed high school was a wake
up call for us, and we are implementing new safeguards, supports and programs
to help ensure a more successful year this year. In addition, we are looking at
how to work individually with the kids suffering from attention difficulties.
Indeed, some of our kids have excelled in grade school and
high school, and we have a healthy population of university students pursuing
their dreams. These serve as examples for our younger kids, and the fact that
NPH works to support the kids through their university years speaks of how much
stock they put into the value of education (most other orphanages/homes for
kids kick them out once they turn 18).
Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos considers education to be the way
forward for the children entrusted to our care. American educational
consultants spend time with the school administrators and teachers helping them
to do a better job. But given all this, I wonder what, realistically, their job
prospects will be. Some of the kids talk about wanting to go to the United States,
illegally if necessary, in order to find a better life. The outlook here in Guatemala,
while perhaps improving, is still pretty grim. The economy is stagnant, and
very few have the chance to live beyond a level that Americans would consider
lower class. (Many in Guatemala
live at a level that make the poorest in the United States look like they are
doing pretty well for themselves.)
I see great potential
in focusing on the kids’ religious development. This is something that need
not be stymied by the educational or economic problems of the country. And even
if, despite getting a decent education, they end up working the fields or manning
a fruit stand in the marketplace or taking orders behind the counter at
McDonald’s, a meaningful spiritual life will serve them both in this life and
in the next. In addition to Sunday Mass, we have small group Masses with the
kids during the week. Religion class is, unfortunately, only forty minutes/week
(about half of what public school children at home get in their weekly CCD
sessions, and a quarter of what most Catholic school children get).
Fortunately, Guatemalan culture is infused with a sense of Christian identity,
and popular piety and devotion also help to communicate the truths and the
practice of the faith. The reality is that those in the First
World do not have any advantages from a faith perspective. In
fact, they are perhaps disadvantaged due to the distractions of materialism and
consumerism. My sense from people I have gotten to know in the local parish is
that while most here live simple lives and are much less educated, their level
of theological and spiritual sophistication surpasses that of the average adult
parishioner in the US.
Perhaps this is because with less to distract their attention, and with a
greater sense of dependence upon forces beyond their control, more energy is
devoted to this part of their lives.
