Local Rotarians head to Guatemala on key project

(CNS): Four Rotarians from the Rotary Club of Grand Cayman will be traveling to Guatemala in February to join with the Cooperative for Education (CoEd) and Rotarians from the USA and Canada to deliver books to secondary schools and open computer centers. Joey Hew, Trevor Neckles, Alan Roffey and Derek Haines will assist on the 10 day trip during which they will cover several hundred miles over bumpy roads in mountainous terrain. This is the 4th trip for the past president Hew who said it brings vital textbooks to secondary schools in Guatemala.

“Studies show that the use of books in the classroom improves grades by 30% and the amount of material covered by over 70%,” Hew said in a release about the trip.

The Cooperative for Education is a Cincinnati based non-profit organization dedicated to breaking the cycle of poverty in Guatemala by providing textbooks and educational opportunities to under-privileged schoolchildren in impoverished areas.  The programmes are designed to improve both traditional and technological literacy, which are the corner stones of economic development.

CoEd was founded in 1996 by brothers Joe and Jeff Berninger who will both be on the tour.

Candidate schools are matched with donors such as Rotary clubs, companies, churches, foundations, and individuals.Donated funds from the above groups are used to purchase textbooks in Guatemala in the vital areas of math, science, Spanish language, and social studies. After delivering the textbooks, CoEd trains the teachers and students in methods for effective use and care of books. This training is essential because most teachers have never instructed using a book and most students have never owned a book nor do they have books in their homes.
Finally, CoEd help the school set up a rental program whereby it rents its books to the students for a small fee. The fees are put into a revolving fund that the school uses to purchase a new set of books when the original ones wear out.

Since the end of the Civil War in1996 that killed over 200,000 people some 150,000 textbooks have been provided by the programme to more than 160 communities in Guatemala.

On what will be his fifth trip Rotarian Trevor said the project establishes computer centers within secondary schools, teaching the students Microsoft software basics and how to access the Internet. “Eighty percent of mid-level jobs in Guatemala require computer skills; CoEd Computer Centers provide training necessary to obtain those positions,” he added.

CoEd identifies candidate secondary schools, typically from its pool of successful textbook project schools.The computer center teachers are selected, directly trained and supervised by CoEd. Like the textbook projects, the computer centers are made possible by matching them with donors and striving for self-sufficiency through the schools’ revolving fund process. Also, individual, corporate or other donors can directly sponsor the computer centers themselves, or individual workstations. 30 plus computer centers have been established in Guatemala, benefiting over 13,000 students supported by 40 libraries. Scholarships have been provided for almost 250 secondary students.

All of the Cayman Rotarians, plus local resident Gordon Barlow and family, are private donors to the computer project. They have also sponsored a student for a scholarship.

Haines will also be on his fourth trip and has been very impressed with what he saw previously. “When one considers that 75% of the rural community is illiterate this programme is vital to the educational needs of the communities. I was delighted at the reception wereceived at all of the schools and the children were extremely enthusiastic and welcoming. It was obvious to all how hungry they are to learn and I have been happy to recommend that we continue to support the programme in the future,” he said.

Roffey who will be going for the second time said he really enjoyed his first trip and was excited about going again. “The enthusiasm shown by my Rotary chums is infectious and I feel the project is rewarding and most worthwhile. This is what Rotary is all about,” he added.

Besides supporting the programme financially, Rotary Grand Cayman has also provided funds for sporting equipment and the Cayman attendees provided the funds for a toilet block at one of the schools they visited in 2011.