Supporting Student Learning in Guatemala

Teachers around the world are struggling to figure out how to best support their students through this pandemic, and our teachers in Guatemala are no exception. But can you imagine preparing lessons for home learning when some parents can’t read or write?

Grade 2 teacher Grisley Suc explains how the Vida Teachers have developed study guides, and how they’ve provided photocopies to the families so that the students can keep learning at home with the help of their parents, but she adds, “I know that in some cases this is difficult, because some parents cannot read.” Grade 3 teacher Hilda Quej echoes the sentiment, “Home is difficult for some students because some parents don’t know how to read to be able to support the tasks, and the students aren’t yet able to guide themselves through the tasks on their own.”

“I teach in the stage of learning to read and write,” explains Yenifer Cú, who also teaches Grade 2, “It’s worrying and sad for me, since before all this situation, the students were making good progress, but now it has been limited. I thank God for technology, although many of my students don’t have access because they live in areas that are too remote or they simply don’t have the medium.”

Access to technology is limited, though teachers have been able to connect to some students through phone, text messages or WhatsApp, a common way to communicate in Guatemala.

Grade 1 teacher Paola Ac tells how she brought a few weeks of schoolwork to a student whose parents don’t have a phone for daily contact: “For me, that day was a great blessing to see him very well, and the huge smile on his face was enough to forget the long journey I had made to get to his home.”

We are so thankful for our teacher’s efforts and creativity as they maintain contact with our students during this time. We hear from our students that they are washing their hands and not going out on the street, they are praying at home and they are even singing – but they are also a little bit scared. 

We are also thankful to all of you who are supporting a class through Impact Ministries. You are supporting our teachers and our students at this time.
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All of our teachers are looking forward to the time when they can be back in the classroom with their students. They can’t wait to be able to see their smiling faces and enjoy devotionals together accompanied by the children’s voices.  

In the meantime, the teachers are praying for their students, and supporting them as best they can from a distance.

As Grade 4 teacher Mayco Xoná says, “Each of these days have been filled with a lot of learning and drawing near to God.”  May God continue to draw our teachers and our students near to Him!