Developing Scholars Notes on 2011 Budget
Financial Support for new High School in Primavera
In 2009, the community of Primavera did not have a high school. CasaSito provided 7 students from the community with scholarships to attend a high school outside of Primavera. The number of students to continue their education was very limited and relatively expensive as the students had to secure lodgings in another town where the high school was located. Because of these difficulties, only 4 of the 7 students successfully completed their academic year.
Developing Scholars started the first high school in Primavera in January 2010. The high school enrollment was 24 students in 2010, and is projected to be 40 to 50 students in 2011. The high school is accredited by the government. It is hoped that the government will agree to fund the school in 3 or 4 years, once it has proven itself. There is precedent for this approach by the government in Guatemala. The government presently pays the salary of the primary and junior high school teachers in Primavera. In Primavera there are some 480 pre-school and primary students, and 220 junior high school students, so the need for a high school in the community is clear if their young people are to progress beyond grade 10.
The community has determined that the cost of running the new high school will be Q 300 or $40 per student per month, in a 10-month school year, which would cover materials, supplies and teacher salaries .
The proposal for 2011 is that Developing Scholars provides 1/3 of the monthly operating cost, the community provides 1/3 with the students and their families responsible for coming up with the remaining 1/3. This Q100 is still a big sum for many students in the village, especially those with large families, but set at a level that would be just manageable for most. So the DS support will be instrumental in enabling up to 50 students to attend high school who otherwise would not have the opportunity to continue their education beyond the junior high school level. This cost sharing approach ensures that the students, their families and the community are making a significant investment of their own in the future of these students.
With the success of the new school in 2010, we are expecting 50 students in 2011 as the enrollment naturally increases we add a second school year. The budget for Developing Scholars to continue to support this basic program is estimated at US$ 7,000 in 2011. After 2012 or 2013, we hope that the government would take over most of the funding of the school, and Developing Scholars would shift its support to other educational initiatives, such as providing scholarships for successful students who wish to continue their education beyond high school.
In order to attract the best students into this new high school and to ensure the growth in registration in the coming school years, Developing Scholars will also be offering additional help in the form of scholarships to the 4 female and 4 male students with the highest academic qualifications entering grade 10 and grade 11 each year. These scholarships will cover the family contribution.
University Scholarship for Don Andres
Also in Primavera in 2010, DS provided a special university scholarship for Don Andres Sebastian Andres. He is a volunteer organizer in the community of Primavera who was nominated by the village to be the volunteer administrator of the new high school program. Alice Lee So Fong, our agent in Guatemala has worked with Andres over the last year and describes him as very dedicated. Andres attends the Rio Grande branch of San Carlos University on weekends to further his studies, but he requires Q500 per month to continue those studies. (Q 500 x 10 months=Q5,000), or US$ 625 for the year. Alice has recommended this as a very good investment for Developing Scholars that will enable a dedicated and hard-working community leader to develop his skills, and be of future benefit to both the high school and the community.
Cultural Activities for La Primavera
There is a provision in our 2011 budget for US$ 1,300 for two cultural activities for the students of Primavera. The exact nature of these events will likely be decided at a community meeting in January 2011, but each event will involve at least 30 students from Primavera. We expect the 2011 cultural activities will be similar in nature to those which took place in previous years, and which were funded by DS. We are asking for this budget allocation now, based on our final satisfaction with cultural activities that they decide on. For almost all of these students, it will be their first time traveling outside of their community, which has an educational value as well. These sites are about a 10-hour trip by bus for the students. Travel and lodging costs for these trips are kept very low and amount some US$ 21.00 per trip per student. These are categorized as cultural activities, but they obviously have an educational benefit as well that these students wouldn’t get on their own.
In 2010, the events included a trip to Antigua Guatemala for 30 Primavera students, viewing of cultural sites in the city and attending a lunch for the scholarship recipients where they were recognized for their scholarship. Each student made a presentation of what they were studying and what they wanted to do in the future. As their second cultural event, 30 junior high school students traveled to Lake Amatitlan to learn about the causes of water contamination in this badly polluted lake. Water quality is a big issue for the Primavera community and there has already been contamination of one of their water sources from fertilizer run-off. Their visit to Lake Amatitlan is designed to make them aware of the causes of contamination and what steps they might take to prevent similar problems in Primavera. They will be meeting with government official to understand their programs to rehabilitate the Lake. It is hoped that theses students will spread the learning from this trip to others in Primavera.
Individual Scholarships for Secondary and Post Secondary Students
The 2011 budget has provisions for special scholarships for 4 promising students who are in the Antigua Guatemala area. None of these students would be able to continue studying without DS support. Three of these students are Wanda Mayte Kraemer Duarte, Karin Maricela Hernandez Santos and Glender Oslan Cardenas Roldan. Shelley and I have met these students and they are all progressing well with their studies. Profiles of Wanda, Oslan and Karin are included in the general material describing Developing Scholars.
The fourth special scholarship that we are supporting in 2010 is a new scholar for us, Wendy Flores Mijangos. We cover part of her costs at a high school in Antigua. We met Wendy as a volunteer at the San Mateo project, “Semilla de Esperanza y Amor”, and she has also done volunteer work in the office for CasaSito. Wendy is the daughter of the administrator of the Semilla after-school program. She is a very good student and this support enabled her to attend high school where she intends to study administration. With her volunteering background, she may well develop into a future teacher in the program in San Mateo. Wendy excelled at her studies last year and was recognized as one of the top students in the Antigua area. DS provided $500 in 2010 for Wendy to attend high achool.
In 2011, we are planning to increase the number of our scholarships from 4 to 10 as more promising students progress through our network of programs.
Junior High School Teacher Salary in Samox San Lucas
Samox San Lucas is another remote indigenous village in which Developing Scholars is active. The population of the village is too small (600 people) to warrant the establishment of a normal junior high school, although the community is anxious for their children to have to opportunity to continue their education past the elementary level. In 2007, Developing Scholars was approached to support the opening of a telesecondaria school. This is a curriculum delivered via DVDs and supervised by a classroom instructor. Developing Scholars purchased the television and generator to play the DVDs and the community purchased the DVD player and the families provide the gasoline to run the generator.
Developing Scholars has been supporting the telescondaria junior high School in Samox for 3 years and will continue to do so in 2011. The cost of the salary for the teacher for 2011 is $3100, which will keep this school operating for 2011.
Three Teacher Salaries for the Semilla de Esperanza y Amor Educational Program in San Mateo Milpas Altas
This is a poor indigenous town located close to where we live in La Antigua Guatemala. We have visited the town and this after-school program on several occasions. This program was started about 4 years ago on the initiative of Lys Flores, a retired Guatemalan educator living in Antigua. It began as a place for students to gather after school to do their homework, get some extra help, do craft activities and learn some English. It was originally housed in unused offices of the town’s mayor.
The program has grown exponentially under Lys’ direction. They now have over 120 students attending their educational programs. They have added a preschool session, as well as an adult education program in literacy and handicrafts for some of the mothers in the community. They also have a lunch program operated by a Belgian NGO. They developed a small parcel of vacant land through volunteer efforts that allowed them to move out of their temporary quarters in the mayor’s office. A parcel of land was later donated by another NGO on which they have built a large new facility which opened in 2010 to accommodate their growth. As the program expands, the need for more teachers and resources has developed.
In 2011, Developing Scholars is providing the funding for three of the teachers’ salaries. This is a highly successful program that is making a major impact in this small community.
Administration Services
To manage these programs effectively, we need to have a strong and experienced local agent who is fluent in Spanish and deeply involved in the communities in which we operate. The agent also advises us on what projects are most likely to be effective, provides periodic progress reports on our projects, and ensures that the funds we provide get into the right hands and are properly spent and accounted for. Our Agent in Guatemala, Alice Lee Fong, provides a great service to DS. Some of you will have attended her presentation in Toronto in October 2010 and will understand how fortunate we are to have her talents helping to make our programs effective and innovative.
Part of John and Shelley Eby‘s annual commitment to Developing Scholars will cover all of these administrative fees so that donors can be assured that 100% of their contributions will go to our projects, without any allocations for administrative, marketing or any other fees.
Budget Information 2011
Developing Scholars Notes on 2011 Budget
Financial Support for new High School in Primavera
In 2009, the community of Primavera did not have a high school. CasaSito provided 7 students from the community with scholarships to attend a high school outside of Primavera. The number of students to continue their education was very limited and relatively expensive as the students had to secure lodgings in another town where the high school was located. Because of these difficulties, only 4 of the 7 students successfully completed their academic year.
Developing Scholars started the first high school in Primavera in January 2010. The high school enrollment was 24 students in 2010, and is projected to be 40 to 50 students in 2011. The high school is accredited by the government. It is hoped that the government will agree to fund the school in 3 or 4 years, once it has proven itself. There is precedent for this approach by the government in Guatemala. The government presently pays the salary of the primary and junior high school teachers in Primavera. In Primavera there are some 480 pre-school and primary students, and 220 junior high school students, so the need for a high school in the community is clear if their young people are to progress beyond grade 10.
The community has determined that the cost of running the new high school will be Q 300 or $40 per student per month, in a 10-month school year, which would cover materials, supplies and teacher salaries .
The proposal for 2011 is that Developing Scholars provides 1/3 of the monthly operating cost, the community provides 1/3 with the students and their families responsible for coming up with the remaining 1/3. This Q100 is still a big sum for many students in the village, especially those with large families, but set at a level that would be just manageable for most. So the DS support will be instrumental in enabling up to 50 students to attend high school who otherwise would not have the opportunity to continue their education beyond the junior high school level. This cost sharing approach ensures that the students, their families and the community are making a significant investment of their own in the future of these students.
With the success of the new school in 2010, we are expecting 50 students in 2011 as the enrollment naturally increases we add a second school year. The budget for Developing Scholars to continue to support this basic program is estimated at US$ 7,000 in 2011. After 2012 or 2013, we hope that the government would take over most of the funding of the school, and Developing Scholars would shift its support to other educational initiatives, such as providing scholarships for successful students who wish to continue their education beyond high school.
In order to attract the best students into this new high school and to ensure the growth in registration in the coming school years, Developing Scholars will also be offering additional help in the form of scholarships to the 4 female and 4 male students with the highest academic qualifications entering grade 10 and grade 11 each year. These scholarships will cover the family contribution.
University Scholarship for Don Andres
Also in Primavera in 2010, DS provided a special university scholarship for Don Andres Sebastian Andres. He is a volunteer organizer in the community of Primavera who was nominated by the village to be the volunteer administrator of the new high school program. Alice Lee So Fong, our agent in Guatemala has worked with Andres over the last year and describes him as very dedicated. Andres attends the Rio Grande branch of San Carlos University on weekends to further his studies, but he requires Q500 per month to continue those studies. (Q 500 x 10 months=Q5,000), or US$ 625 for the year. Alice has recommended this as a very good investment for Developing Scholars that will enable a dedicated and hard-working community leader to develop his skills, and be of future benefit to both the high school and the community.
Cultural Activities for La Primavera
There is a provision in our 2011 budget for US$ 1,300 for two cultural activities for the students of Primavera. The exact nature of these events will likely be decided at a community meeting in January 2011, but each event will involve at least 30 students from Primavera. We expect the 2011 cultural activities will be similar in nature to those which took place in previous years, and which were funded by DS. We are asking for this budget allocation now, based on our final satisfaction with cultural activities that they decide on. For almost all of these students, it will be their first time traveling outside of their community, which has an educational value as well. These sites are about a 10-hour trip by bus for the students. Travel and lodging costs for these trips are kept very low and amount some US$ 21.00 per trip per student. These are categorized as cultural activities, but they obviously have an educational benefit as well that these students wouldn’t get on their own.
In 2010, the events included a trip to Antigua Guatemala for 30 Primavera students, viewing of cultural sites in the city and attending a lunch for the scholarship recipients where they were recognized for their scholarship. Each student made a presentation of what they were studying and what they wanted to do in the future. As their second cultural event, 30 junior high school students traveled to Lake Amatitlan to learn about the causes of water contamination in this badly polluted lake. Water quality is a big issue for the Primavera community and there has already been contamination of one of their water sources from fertilizer run-off. Their visit to Lake Amatitlan is designed to make them aware of the causes of contamination and what steps they might take to prevent similar problems in Primavera. They will be meeting with government official to understand their programs to rehabilitate the Lake. It is hoped that theses students will spread the learning from this trip to others in Primavera.
Individual Scholarships for Secondary and Post Secondary Students
The 2011 budget has provisions for special scholarships for 4 promising students who are in the Antigua Guatemala area. None of these students would be able to continue studying without DS support. Three of these students are Wanda Mayte Kraemer Duarte, Karin Maricela Hernandez Santos and Glender Oslan Cardenas Roldan. Shelley and I have met these students and they are all progressing well with their studies. Profiles of Wanda, Oslan and Karin are included in the general material describing Developing Scholars.
The fourth special scholarship that we are supporting in 2010 is a new scholar for us, Wendy Flores Mijangos. We cover part of her costs at a high school in Antigua. We met Wendy as a volunteer at the San Mateo project, “Semilla de Esperanza y Amor”, and she has also done volunteer work in the office for CasaSito. Wendy is the daughter of the administrator of the Semilla after-school program. She is a very good student and this support enabled her to attend high school where she intends to study administration. With her volunteering background, she may well develop into a future teacher in the program in San Mateo. Wendy excelled at her studies last year and was recognized as one of the top students in the Antigua area. DS provided $500 in 2010 for Wendy to attend high achool.
In 2011, we are planning to increase the number of our scholarships from 4 to 10 as more promising students progress through our network of programs.
Junior High School Teacher Salary in Samox San Lucas
Samox San Lucas is another remote indigenous village in which Developing Scholars is active. The population of the village is too small (600 people) to warrant the establishment of a normal junior high school, although the community is anxious for their children to have to opportunity to continue their education past the elementary level. In 2007, Developing Scholars was approached to support the opening of a telesecondaria school. This is a curriculum delivered via DVDs and supervised by a classroom instructor. Developing Scholars purchased the television and generator to play the DVDs and the community purchased the DVD player and the families provide the gasoline to run the generator.
Developing Scholars has been supporting the telescondaria junior high School in Samox for 3 years and will continue to do so in 2011. The cost of the salary for the teacher for 2011 is $3100, which will keep this school operating for 2011.
Three Teacher Salaries for the Semilla de Esperanza y Amor Educational Program in San Mateo Milpas Altas
This is a poor indigenous town located close to where we live in La Antigua Guatemala. We have visited the town and this after-school program on several occasions. This program was started about 4 years ago on the initiative of Lys Flores, a retired Guatemalan educator living in Antigua. It began as a place for students to gather after school to do their homework, get some extra help, do craft activities and learn some English. It was originally housed in unused offices of the town’s mayor.
The program has grown exponentially under Lys’ direction. They now have over 120 students attending their educational programs. They have added a preschool session, as well as an adult education program in literacy and handicrafts for some of the mothers in the community. They also have a lunch program operated by a Belgian NGO. They developed a small parcel of vacant land through volunteer efforts that allowed them to move out of their temporary quarters in the mayor’s office. A parcel of land was later donated by another NGO on which they have built a large new facility which opened in 2010 to accommodate their growth. As the program expands, the need for more teachers and resources has developed.
In 2011, Developing Scholars is providing the funding for three of the teachers’ salaries. This is a highly successful program that is making a major impact in this small community.
Administration Services
To manage these programs effectively, we need to have a strong and experienced local agent who is fluent in Spanish and deeply involved in the communities in which we operate. The agent also advises us on what projects are most likely to be effective, provides periodic progress reports on our projects, and ensures that the funds we provide get into the right hands and are properly spent and accounted for. Our Agent in Guatemala, Alice Lee Fong, provides a great service to DS. Some of you will have attended her presentation in Toronto in October 2010 and will understand how fortunate we are to have her talents helping to make our programs effective and innovative.
Part of John and Shelley Eby‘s annual commitment to Developing Scholars will cover all of these administrative fees so that donors can be assured that 100% of their contributions will go to our projects, without any allocations for administrative, marketing or any other fees.