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Scholarships

All of our Maya students are bilingual in their native Mayan language and Spanish. In our current group of scholarship recipients there are 13 of the 23 Mayan languages of Guatemala spoken, and we even have 2 students who speak two native languages in addition to Spanish.

Foundation students are required to do community service work during their summer vacations. These opportunities to practice community organizing gives them valuable experience for what lies ahead after graduation in terms of interacting with their village leaders and exercising their newly acquired leadership skills.

Over 80% of the rural Mayan population live in poverty. Illiteracy in the Quiché region is over 70%, one of the highest in the country. In most rural villages, there are NO middle schools or high schools, and 85% of the middle schools are private. More than 90% of the high schools are private.

In many rural Mayan villages, a staggering amount of children never advance past the third grade - a large majority of which is girls who are pulled out of school once they achieve a basic reading level. Foundations sees promoting Mayan girl' education as a huge opportunity to create positive ripple effects in the Mayan communities. This year, we are supporting 87 students, 60% are young women. We will have 16 students graduating in October.

Socorro Institute for Indigenous Girls in La Antigua Guatemala.This is a private Catholic boarding school that trains primary teachers.

Santiago Institute for Indigenous Boys in Guatemala City.This is a private boarding school specializing in bilingual education for primary teachers, orientation in agriculture, animal husbandry and a special Maya Health program.

IMOA Middle School in Xix, Chajul, El Quiché.This is the school that Foundations built. The school serves grades 7 to 9 with Orientation in Agriculture. The school offers special classes in sewing, weaving, computers and they learn how to read and write in their native language. The school opened as a boarding school in January of 2006.

The majority of our students study in boarding schools. Based on our experiences over the year we find that the students do much better in a boarding school type environment. Below is a breakdown of how much one year costs where we have students, as well as the details of what the students receive in the scholarship package.

Boarding Schools	Yearly (In US$)	Scholarship Covers
Socorro Institute	$1,000.00	Tuition, Travel Home, School Supplies
Santiago Institute	$850.00	Tuition, Travel Home, School Supplies
IMOA Middle School	$416	Tuition Only
University	$500 to $600	Tuition
Other	$300	Tuition, School Supplies