The Mayan Indian village of Yalambojoch is located in northwestern Guatemala on the border with Mexico. In earthquake-stricken Guatemala, rural Mayans are very poor. Guatemala is one of the countries in the world where the differences are greatest between rich and poor.
The villagers of Yalambojoch have long been treated very badly by the government and by the military. In the 80’s they had to flee to Mexico, but now the village is rebuilt. Several Swedish organizations, Swedish schools and volunteers have been involved in the construction of the village and the school system, e.g. the association Libros.
The Book Aid contributes to purchase of books for the school library in one of the schools, materials for the reading circles and for purchase of a computer for the village activity centre.
Teacher Ana Mateo Pérez, responsible for the library, leads study circles at the centre in five weeks each. These are reading circles for middle school children and textile handicrafts for teenage girls, where in addition to textile work, there are discussions about relationships and girls’ / women’s rights. They also hold chess courses as well as courses in origami, mathematics, geography, and home economics.
A small museum in the centre Niwan Nha in Yalambojoch is under construction with the help of an archaeologist and an ethnographer in Berlin, which can give more life to the centre.
The project has also received Corona support in addition to regular grants.
Motivation: Activities fit very well with The Boook Aids’s purpose of stimulating reading and other teaching for the weak and vulnerable groups in society.