About MayaCREW

Education in Guatemala

While the law in Guatemala says that education is mandatory through 9th grade, there is no enforcement.  Families are required to pay for tuition and basic school supplies and for families living well below the poverty level, it is a struggle to afford to pay for their child’s education. Many children may never attend school or may attend only for a few years. Teachers and administrators in Chichicastenango report that six out of ten students fall by the wayside and do not finish six years of primary school.  In 2000, meanwhile, a national survey showed that adults 15 and older had completed an average of less than four years of school.

History of MayaCREW

MayaCREW was founded in 2004 with the vision of alleviating ongoing poverty through the education of indigenous children. Our goal continues to be to see our scholarship students “beat the odds” and not only exceed the national average for education, but to see them go to middle school and graduate from high school. While it is overwhelming to observe the profound economic need of families in Guatemala, it is heartening to know that each day a child goes to school, it is a victory – each child who learns to read and write improves their chances of emerging from the poverty in which their family currently lives.

Collaboration

Working with our Guatemalan partner non-profit organization, ACEBAR, we have funded the education of over 1500 “student school years” to date. We proudly celebrate that dozens of our scholarship recipients have now graduated from high school. We are also gratified that, for those receiving scholarships from MayaCREW/ACEBAR, there is a very low attrition rate.

Scholarships

In Guatemala, the school year commences in January and concludes in October. The beginning of the school year is an exciting time to be in Chichicastenango as there is a steady flow of parents arriving at the ACEBAR resource center to pick up scholarship funds and supplies for their children. Over 250 scholarships have been awarded each school year in the past few years. The mix of scholarship recipients is evenly distributed between primary school, middle school and high school, showing clearly that the recipients of scholarships from MayaCREW/ACEBAR are steadily advancing their education.

Sustaining our Commitment

Sustainability is extremely important in MayaCREW’s commitment to ACEBAR and to the children and parents of Chichicastenango. Scholarship numbers are carefully managed in order to ensure that the number of scholarships awarded can be sustained annually. With our students advancing into middle and high school, program costs naturally increase each year. While other scholarship programs have come and gone in recent years, MayaCREW/ACEBAR’s presence in the community of Chichicastenango has been consistent and enduring. The community respectfully views MayaCREW/ACEBAR an important partner in the education of their children.