Student Profiles
This is a special section where you are able to get to know some of our Maya students.
The population of Guatemala is almost 13,000,000 and there are 22 departments (similar to states or provinces). 60% of the population is of Maya descent and there are 24 different Maya languages
Would you like to help girls like Odilia? She is in 8th grade and studies at the IMKOA boarding school that was built by Foundations for Education. She is Maya/K'iche' and is 12 years old from the isolated Maya village of Pamaxan, Cotzal in the municipality of Chajul in the department of El Quiche. Odilia has 7 brothers and sisters but only 3 of them are in school. She lives in a wood house with a tin roof and a dirt floor. The community has no electricity. Odilia says, "My goal is to continue my studies so that I can have a better future. I would like to be a teacher because we have no teachers in my community."
This is Ana Erlinda. She is Maya/Ixil and 18 years old. She will start her studies to become a teacher at the Socorro Institute. She graduated last year from IMOA. Ana has 10 brothers and sisters and 6 are in school. She lives in a wood house with a tin roof and a dirt floor. She is from Santa Avelina, Cotzal. Ana says, "My goal is to become a teacher so that I can help my family."
Tomas is 16 years old, Maya/K'iche' and is in 11th grade at the Santiago Institute. He is studying to become a bilingual intercultural primary teacher. Tomas is the oldest of 5 children in the family. He is from Sacbichol in the Chichicastenango area. Tomas says, "I think violence is one of the biggest problems in Guatemala and it could be resolved if parents let the children study and didn't let them run in the streets."
Nhley is 18 years old, Maya/Q'anjob'al and is in 11th grade at the Socorro Institute. She is studying to become a primary teacher. Nhley is the second oldest of 5 children in the family. She is from Santa Eulalia in Huehuetenango. Nhley says, "The young Maya people could improve themselves if they studied more and if the girls didn't look for husbands and get pregnant."
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