SEACACAR, GUATEMALA
Biblioteca Seacacar, founded 2018
"Without education we cannot save our home," says Juan, a village leader in isolated Seacacar. The local middle school now has textbooks for all students, extending opportunities to teens. Nearby Ak’ Tenamit, a high school accessible only by river, offers coursework in eco-tourism and sustainable business development. Environmentalists and eco-tourists are already visiting this majestic canyon, which generates jobs for the community. And, in the not-so-distant future, a solar-powered library will serve all thirteen villages of Q’eqchí Maya living in the Sauce River watershed.
MOMOSTENANGO, GUATEMALA
Biblioteca Momostenango, founded 2016
At the Instituto Privado Mixto Kajib’ No’j, a Mayan school for five- to sixteen-year-olds, everyone helps. Third graders sweep the patio with adult-sized brooms, and mothers prepare lunch. Now when teens take visitors on a school tour, they can include a library with books, games, and puzzles. Here teachers plan lessons and older students read some of the world’s great literature. "The books are motivating students to set and achieve goals and dreams for their lives," says Principal Pedro Euligio. "They know that learning is a privilege that will lead to better opportunities for themselves, their families, and their community."
RABINAL, GUATEMALA
Biblioteca Jun Toj, founded 2012
At Jun Toj elementary students dress in their traditional clothing. The boys’ shirts and girls’ huipiles are unique to Rabinal Mayans. This bicultural/bilingual school teaches academics and cultural traditions. After delivering Jun Toj’s first books, FBTB volunteers and their Austrian partners listened attentively to a first-grader read a well-known local legend in Achi, his home language. The only part we understood was his smile. With that first cache of books, teachers created reading corners in their classrooms. Today their dedicated library is always busy. An after-school program draws kids to the library, where they can do homework, play ping-pong, put puzzles together, or sing songs.
EL ESTOR, GUATEMALA
Biblioteca Aj Awinel, founded 2012
Located at Aj Awinel middle school, this library serves seventh-to ninth-graders and, on the weekends, local college students. In 2013, German, Spanish, and English speakers struggled to keep up with the young Q’eqchí-speaking teens while renovating this small structure. In the tropical heat and humidity, the students broke out the cement floor, hauled buckets of water, mixed bags of cement by hand, and enlarged the door and windows to create a place to read and study. Now with thousands of books, both fiction and non-fiction, the library offers students access to countless educational resources.
SANTO TOMAS LA UNION, GUATEMALA
Biblioteca Centro Educativo Austriaco Maxeño, founded 2011
A school library stocked with hundreds of books and classroom materials transformed teaching and learning at this indigenous school, founded over two decades ago by the Austrian Guatemalan Institute. Here FBTB partners with the Austrian founders and local Guatemalans to provide literature and texts, all purchased in Guatemala City, and aligned to the needs of this community. Now the school’s bilingual students enjoy reading literature in both K’iche’ and Spanish. Class sets of math, social studies, language arts, and science textbooks facilitate learning for kindergarten through sixth-grade students and provide the resources essential for their Mayan teachers.
