This holiday season, we’re reflecting with deep gratitude on the success of our programs and the
impact you’ve helped us to make on the lives of the youth and children we serve, as well as their families. Here are just a few of the successes we’d like to celebrate with you, our terrific supporters who make it all possible.
Youth and graduates are getting better grades and going further. While fewer than 12% of students in Chajul graduate middle school, in our Youth Development Program:
- 100% of our 52 youth passed their school years. In fact, our youth have higher grade point averages this year than ever before!
- 100% of our youth in their final year of middle school graduated. 9 of the 11 grads are continuing right on to high school in 2014.
- All but 2 of the graduates from the Class of 2012 found employment or began a university education in 2013–a stunning statistic in Chajul. And 100% of this year’s grads are already planning on employment and/or university education!
We’ve seen growth and innovation in the community library:
- We have more than 1,400 registered library members–up from around 1,000 last year!
- LHI’s community library received an average of almost 900 visits a month by Chajul residents of all ages! The average user was 11 years old, reflecting LHI’s vision to ensure that all children in Chajul have access to literacy-development tools.
- Our librarians delivered more than 230 hours of story hour and reading club–literacy activities in which children practiced Spanish-language reading and comprehension.
- We started monthly cultural story hour, when community elders share Chajul’s history and folklore with children in the Ixil language.
While women in Chajul have few opportunities for work that pays living wages, our Artisan Program weavers are earning an income for their craft:
- While 93% of the Chajul population earns less than $2/day, women and youth weavers from17 families earned fair wages by creating more than 600 artisan products. Many of the women earned the first paycheck of their lives, and used their wages to support their families’ education and well-being.
- Our weavers are producing 2 beautiful new shawl designs in a variety of colors. (Have you seen them?)
2013 in Review: Faces of LHI
Watch our 2013 slideshow for photos from our annual kick-off meeting with youth and parents, activities with visiting tourists and groups, fun in the library, our year-end field trip, graduation, and more! Click here to see the inspiring faces of those who drive our work and give us our purpose.