Challenges face Guatemalan students here and at home

Partnership established among teachers from Princeton and village outside Guatemala City

By: Rachel Silverman
   For young Guatemalan students, it’s tough on both sides of the border.
   At Miguel Vásquez No. 103, a dilapidated school outside Guatemala City, students have no textbooks. They use newspaper clips to practice reading and coiled ropes for exercise in gym class. Many drop out to work because their parents — poor migrant workers, prostitutes, maids — can’t hold a steady job.
   Here in Princeton, the challenges can be equally difficult. Often separated from their parents, young students take up residence with aunts, uncles, cousins or church members. Many struggle with literacy — not only in English, but in their native tongue.
   On Wednesday morning, two Guatemalan teachers, Yesenia Ortiz and Doris Galicia, and two teachers in Princeton, Silvia Estrada and Betsy Stokes, sat down to discuss the challenges facing their students.
   Several years ago, they had a similar discussion in Guatemala.
   The unique partnership began three years ago, when Ms. Estrada, a Spanish teacher at the Princeton Friends School, visited her aunt’s school in Guatemala.
   "The roof was provisional … the patio decaying … children don’t have resources," Ms. Estrada said, recalling her early impressions of Miguel Vásquez No. 103.
   Motivated by what she saw, Ms. Estrada initiated a school spring-break trip to Guatemala — or, as she calls it, "a vacation with a purpose."
   "The idea was that parents and students would be doing something meaningful on their spring break," she said. "An outreach."
   In 2003 and 2004, Ms. Estrada led trips — involving 38 students and parents — to the Central American country.
   "The students teach lessons in storytelling, crafts, dental hygiene and geography," Ms. Estrada said. "They work on their Spanish."
   The parents also have an important role to play, Ms. Estrada said.
   "We have the parents painting classrooms, patching the patio, cleaning the kitchen," she explained.
   Ms. Stokes, an English-as-a-second-language teacher at Princeton High School, was one of those parents. Attending the trip with her son, a Friends School student at the time, Ms. Stokes found the experience eye-opening.
   "I’ve been teaching ESL for 10 years," she said. "It was the first chance I got to see where my students are coming from."
   Ms. Stokes said visiting Guatemala showed her things her students left behind.
   "Many students here live without parents or with an aunt or uncle," Ms. Stokes said. "For the kids, it’s a big adjustment, learning to be self-sufficient and independent."
   She also learned why students come in with certain deficiencies.
   "Typically for families, there is a need for children to work," she said. "We have children here who have backgrounds like that."
   This may lead to older students repeating grades several times, Ms. Stokes explained.
   Ms. Stokes identified basic reading skills as another major hurdle.
   "The biggest indicator of whether you’re going to succeed is how well you’re prepared in your first language," she said. "If you only had fourth-grade education in Spanish, to get them up to speed in content areas in English is very difficult."
   Ms. Ortiz and Ms. Galicia are well aware of these problems, yet remain optimistic. They said they look forward to a productive week of conversations and site visits in Princeton.
   They also said they look forward to this spring, when Ms. Estrada and her Princeton team return once again to Miguel Vásquez No. 103 — the dilapidated school building outside Guatemala City.