The Rotary Club of Jasper has been instrumental in helping a local school in Alotenango Guatemala. Jasper reached out to the Rotary Club of Slave Lake and asked them to help fund building new classrooms and purchasing equipment for the school. Our members were very supportive of the initiative and have provded funds in 2019 and 2023. The full story on the Alontenago school is below.
Jasper Rotarian, Donnelly Hart began her volunteer work in Guatemala in 2005 with a small sewing project to give under privileged families a vocation which could improve their quality of life in an economically depressed area. Within a couple years she had moved her operation to Alotenango, a rural area of Guatemala known mostly for growing coffee. This farming community is nestled between three large active volcanoes about 55 kms from Guatemala City. It has a population of over 16,000 people with 70% being indigenous. The literacy rate is only 25% and only 3 out of 10 children graduate beyond grade 6!
After a few years developing both a sewing and cooking program she contacted a school run by a local non-denominational, non-profit organization called Asociación Bendición de Dios. They were thrilled to have a sewing program. Their wish list for the future included a sewing and cooking program. They even had the rooms set aside, but did not have funding or equipment. Its director, Guatemalan born teacher Julio Garcia, founded this school in 2002 after seeing the need for education for so many children whose families didn’t have the means to send them to public school. His dream became “to change the lives of children of San Juan Alotenango through education”. Donnelly recognized that Bendicion de Dios was doing wonderful work in the community of Alotenango.
Firstly, it is now a school for 500 children, offering classes from kindergarten to Grade 6, and extra homework help to students who have gone on to public school for Grade 7 to 12. They also help families build better houses, provide and install smoke-free cooking stoves, and water filters to help improve the health of the families. All families involved in the school have a home visit by a member of the school in order to determine their economic situation. Each family pays school fees according to their economic situation. All families are poor and those that cannot afford to pay anything must volunteer time in lieu. Everyone works together for the benefit of the family as a whole.
Donnelly got started with the school in 2011. As she puts it: “We started sewing classes March 1st and within the first two weeks we had approximately 75 students, including a class of young students from the school. Most of the other students are young mothers whose children attend the school. We have developed a third year sewing program, and the goal is to be able to advance the students to that level and beyond”. The vocational classes of sewing and cooking fit well with the school and Donnelly has continued to develop programs which fulfill the need of the students, both young and old.
Her newest endeavour is The Wisehart Charity a registered charity in Canada to then focus more aid and attention towards developing the vocational programs to a point of economic sustainability for the community.
While the Association was born with the desire to provide education to poor children, now its activities include way more than that. Changes in the community have begun and although much remains to be done, the smiles of children confirm that their lives are filled with hope.
The Rotary Club of Jasper has been supporting this project since 2010, having accessed both Rotary District Grants in 2012 and 2013, and a Rotary Foundation Global Grants in 2017. The Global Grant, in the amount of $97,000USD, helped elevate the quality of programs within the school and community resulting in a better chance for the families of Alotenango to pull themselves out of the cycle of poverty through education.
Follow this link to a Project video produced by Rotary Club of Nuevo Guatemala (District 4250).