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Maya Educational Foundation |
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| Route 106 / P. O. Box 38 South Woodstock, VT 05071-0038, USA Tel. (802) 457-1199 / Fax (802) 457-2212 mayaedfund@mayaedufound.org |
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Maya Educational Foundation Route 106, P.O. Box 38, South Woodstock, VT 05071, USA Phone: (802) 457-1199; fax: (802) 457-2212;
Dear Friends,
The following quote from an article by Catherine Elton in the Miami Herald of Oct. 28, 2004, provides a chilling background to understand the work MEF does in Guatemala:
Over the last twelve years, with the help of our supporters, MEF has fought this separation of opportunities for the Maya by implementing programs that foster study, preservation and understanding of their culture and by creating opportunities for higher education and vocational training in Guatemala and Mexico. Better education and training lead to a stronger voice and better chances in one’s family, community, and country. We urge you to become involved and ask you for your commitment and help. MEF had a busy and exciting year and we would like to share with you an overview of our activities.
Angélica Ramírez Cruz, a student of diversificado from Todos Santos, and one of the letters she sent to MEF thanking the people who have been helping pay for her education in Huehuetenango
• S c h o l a r s h i p P r o g r a m s • Programa de Becas Mayas /FEPMaya, Guatemala MEF’s university scholarship program in Guatemala continued with 64 students in 2004. Seven students graduated in the areas of sociology, industrial and computer engineering, agronomy, and law—with one specializing in women’s legal issues. The university scholarship program in Guatemala is administered by our colleagues at FEPMaya, a recently formed NGO. In addition to support from MEF this past year, FEPMaya received a grant from Soros Foundation to support some of the scholarships. Also, through the help of the Canadian organization Horizons of Friendship, FEPMaya was able to increase their strength and effectiveness by participating in valuable workshops on logistics, diagnosis, and strategic planning. Our colleagues in Guatemala have also been enhancing their board of directors and the scholarship selection commitee. FEPMaya will soon move into a more professional and convenient space located in a safer section of Guatemala City.
In Chiapas, MEF supported 22 university scholarships supervised by FOMMA and by Sna Jtz’ibajom, two Mexican NGOs. We are happy to report that one student graduated in law, one in psychology, and a third started his medical residency and will be done by the middle of next year. Three students are in the process of writing their theses prior to graduation. Right now, ten qualified students are waiting for scholarships.
Scholarships in Jacaltenango, Guatemala Project leader Mercedes Montejo reports that five students have graduated and obtained their diversificado, becoming teachers and accountants. Four students continue with MEF scholarships. Mercedes will monitor these students until they graduate.
MEF supports the education of younger-age children in this remote region of Guatemala. In Todos Santos, two girls are making steady progress at the elementary school level, and another, in middle-school, struggled a bit this year but is completing remedial work to improve her grades. Two students are doing well in their diversificado studies in Huehuetenango. More young students need help in this region. The Daniele Agostino Foundation has been vital supporting this and the Jacaltenango program.
• O t h e r P r o g r a m s H i g h l i g h t s •
MEF’s relationship with CIRMA, a social science research center in La Antigua, consists of funding for acquisitions for their library, photo and historical archives plus some basic administrative costs. MEF supports the upkeep and growth of CIRMA’s collections. CIRMA is in the spotlight now with its multi-media exhibition ¿Por qué estamos como estamos?, which will travel around Guatemala through June 2006. This show on intercultural relations and discrimination, with its life-size photography, video, audio, short texts, and interactive tools, is capturing national and international attention and praise. On Oct 28, 2004, the Miami Herald writes, “The show’s inauguration in Guatemala City was treated as nothing less than a national event,” with Guatemalan Vice President Eduardo Stein calling it a “watershed in history.”
MEF continues to support this NGO which, in addition to writing and performing plays, offers vocational training to Maya women, such as baking and sewing, and provides childcare, meals, and activities to the children of the women who take the classes. FOMMA sent a delegation of five Maya women actors to North Carolina in the Fall. They performed original plays to various groups. Honorary MEF board member Mimi Laughlin reports that the tour was a great success. She also reports that FOMMA has received a grant to build in 2005 a 100-seat theater. FOMMA was also featured on a BBC World broadcast in 2004.
The purpose of this project is to identify Maya students who want to become proficient in English in order to enhance their careers or pursue higher education in an English-speaking country. Following an exploratory session in the Spring of 2004, Bob and Jane Greenberg organized a two-week English course in La Antigua, Guatemala. With the participation of 12 volunteers from the U.S, the course was offered to 21 students in the first part of December. From the instructors and students feedback, we are pleased to say that the event was a memorable experience for all involved. The students rose to the mental challenges and were motivated by the presence of foreign volunteers genuinely interested in their education. New friendships were created, and the instructors developed a clearer understanding of the obstacles the Maya must overcome in order to get a decent education and of the ways one can help through volunteering. MEF is currently raising funds in order to offer audiovisual materials in English for the students and tuition payments for good quality English courses in Guatemala and Chiapas.
Currently CPP works with two organizations: the Indigenous Photography Archive/Archivo Fotográfico Indígena (AFI) and Lok’tamayach/Mayan Photographers from Chiapas. AFI organizes, preserves, exhibits, publishes and provides space for the work of over 200 indigenous photographers from 10 ethnic groups, documenting Maya life in Chiapas. Lok ‘tamayach provides training and workshops, work space, photo contests, and a loan fund/credit union for its members. Also in 2004, it offered scholarships for 16 students attending middle and high school, and for 3 students going to the university. A special fund for the CPP to secure its future is now becoming a reality. MEF began receiving donations for this purpose in November 2004.
The purpose of this program is to promote knowledge and foster study and understanding of the indigenous cultures of the Mayan region and Central America. MEF has completed the edition of James Howe’s book, Un pueblo que no se arrodillaba: Panamá, los Estados Unidos y los kunas de San Blas. The book was well received in Panama, especially by the Kuna Council and has been widely distributed among the Kuna. Please contact MEF if you are interested in obtaining a copy. Don Dumond’s book, The Machete and the Cross: Campesino Rebellion in Yucatan, about the caste war of Yucatan, has been translated into Spanish and is being prepared for publication in 2005. Strong bonds 2004 has seen the highest number of visits by staff, board members and friends of MEF to the programs in Mexico and Guatemala, reinforcing ties. The students and project leaders welcome these visits and the motivation resulting from them.
We are sure you’ll find a MEF program worthy of your interest and involvement. Your donation will help achieve one or more of the following goals: - to offer 15 scholarships more for the children of poor families for elementary, middle or high school;
Maya Educational Foundation
Route 106, P.O. Box 38, South Woodstock, VT 05071, USA Phone: (802) 457-1199; fax: (802) 457-2212;
MEF needs your help to do more for the Maya people. Please print and mail or fax the following form: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Yes! I want to support the Maya Educational Foundation projects Enclosed is my check payable to Maya Educational Foundation in the amount of Please charge my ______ MasterCard ______ VISA in the amount of Credit Card Account No. ___________________________________________ Expiration Date ___________________________________________________ Signature ________________________________________________________ Cardholder’s name ________________________________________________ Phone __________________________________________________________ e-mail __________________________________________________________
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