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Rural Education:
The Model
The Centro Explorativo (the "Centro") was established in Nebaj, Guatemala in February of 2003 through the combined efforts of CE Solutions leadership (Co-Founder Greg Van Kirk served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Nebaj), Peace Corps volunteers, motivated local educators and with the financial contributions of El Descanso Restaurant and the First Presbyterian Church of New Vernon, New Jersey.
The Centro Explorativo is located in the municipality of Nebaj, in the department of El Quiche in Guatemala. Nebaj is situated in a remote valley surrounded by the Cuchumatan Mountains. Nebaj and two other neighboring towns, Chajul and Cotzal, together form the Ixil Region. Due to its location, natural borders, and the undeveloped roads, this region has remained relatively isolated. Most women in this area continue to use their native dress and the population’s first language is Ixil, a dialect only spoken in this small corner of the world.
The Ixil Region was one of, if not the region most affected by the thirty-year civil war that ended in 1996. The Cuchumatan Mountains served as the base of operations for guerilla groups and the Guatemalan army fought hard to maintain control over this area. As a result of the conflict thousands of local civilians from this area became victims of torture, many were disappeared and even a larger number were internally displaced.
Today, however, the region has recovered from the violence of the past. People are friendly and open and by and large simply want to live their lives and forget and move on. However, resources and infrastructure are still highly inadequate. This is nowhere more true than in the area of education.
"It has been a great experience to become a part of this big family of highly motivated and diligent people and to feel how big and positive an impact a relatively small group like ours can have. One advantage of the very personal working method of CE Solutions is that – despite the many projects going on at the same time – it is possible to react quickly and adequately to new ideas."
Volunteer, Florian Ostman (Germany)
Although there are dozens of schools (ranging from primary school to a teachers college) in Nebaj and the surrounding villages, not one of them has a library nor any resources to speak of. And the few libraries in town have very few books, most of which books were either antiquated or exclusively reference material. Most schools simply have classrooms filled with desks and a whiteboard. Textbooks are often “required” but most children and youth cannot afford to buy them. As well, there is no public schooling. Families must pay a monthly fee to send their children to school.
As an example of the difficulty in providing a quality education, CE Solutions Co Founder Greg Van Kirk taught in a local high school on a volunteer basis in Nebaj for two years without any clearly stated goals. (Co Founder George Glickley volunteer taught in a school as well as while serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in another part of the country). Greg taught two classes of 45 students each ranging in ages from 12 to 20 (many children quit school when their families lack financial resources and then come back later) for 35 minute periods with no materials. Not only did the school not have any materials, but rather there were no appropriate materials in any of the three very inadequate “libraries” in town. Needless to say, and unfortunately, the children didn't learn very much. How could they under such conditions? A sadly humorous fact is that, more than anything, Greg's greatest achievement in the eyes of the director and students was that he showed up to class and showed up on time.
As a result of this, Greg collaborated with other Peace Corps volunteers in the region and local educators to devise a solution, if only an incremental one. Tackling the problem of inadequate resources in schools was obviously an insurmountable task. However, combining the profits of El Descanso with generous donations of family and friends to create an education center, albeit a small one, that any child from any school could have access to, was feasible. The Centro Explorativo became the solution. An education center was created with the goal of providing previously inaccessible books and resources and to instill a love of reading in the children of the Ixil Region.
What began as a closet-sized library with 100 books has now organically grown into a full service education center run by a local association named “Associacion Centro Explorativo” whose leadership is comprised of local passionate individuals as well as the educators of the Centro. The Centro now has over 1300 books, offers free computer and internet classes, provides free after-school classes five days a week to an average of 40 children year round and employs three full time teachers. The services and benefits of the Centro continue to increase and have served thousands of Ixil Guatemalans in response to community needs. At its heart the Centro strives to offer practical and enjoyable educational solutions for long-standing problems to the children and young people of the Ixil Region.
"I believe that the classes that we offer here at the Centro Explorativo are helping the children greatly because many of them cannot read, add, or multiply. The education we are offering them is helping them to better themselves and create more possibilities for their future. I think that parents in this area should take advantage of the resources we offer because there are no other organizations like this one here in Nebaj.”
Silvia Lorenza Brito Perez, Teacher, Nebaj, Quiche
Of most recent note, this past May a group of motivated university students from Nourish International traveled to the Ixil Region and spent over a month helping to construct an annex to the Centro in the nearby village of La Pista. (click here to read more about the new Centro Explorativo Annex in La Pista)
This exemplary team raised all of the funding necessary for this project on their own and, apart from helping with construction, was also tasked with (amongst other important work) designing and building an adjacent demonstration greenhouse, conducting needs assessment surveys, as well as improving the educational materials in the Centro.
CE Solutions currently covers 100% of the operating costs of the Centro Explorativo through the generous contributions of our donors.
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