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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, Because you are a committed supporter of the Maya Educational Foundation and its work, or you may want to join us in this effort, we are sending you a mid-year update on MEF projects and developments. Guatemala Program Highlights Project Oxlajuj B’atz’ (13 Threads), in conjunction with Mayan Hands and Maya Traditions - This new program has the goal of providing workshops to about 300 weavers and craftswomen in rural communities in order to provide better incomes for them and their families. The workshops will focus on weaving techniques, empowerment issues, and business and marketing skills, so that their products can compete more successfully in the local and foreign marketplace. Project coordinators have been hired and have traveled to all rural communities in the project area to make introductory visits. Group interviews have taken place in order to define workshops that fit the needs and wants of the participating craftswomen. Volunteers have now joined the paid staff. In Jacaltenango - Eleven MEF scholarship students are doing well in their vocational diversificado (high school) studies. Their renewed support is made possible through the generosity of the Daniele Agostino Foundation. Todos Santos Cuchumatán - MEF supports two Maya girls from Todos Santos who share a rented room in Huehuetenango, where they must go in order to further their education at the diversificado level. In addition, MEF is helping 3 students in Todos Santos with their elementary and middle school studies, as well as the disabled sister of one of them.
Fundación para Estudios y Profesionalización Maya (FEPMaya) - MEF has long supported the establishment of this non-profit entity, which can now legally and officially raise funds independently. One of FEPMaya’s first successes has been to secure a five-year grant from the Soros-Guatemala Foundation to fund scholarships, a research project and the acquisition of equipment. We applaud the work, skills and commitment of our long-time colleagues from the Programa de Becas Mayas who are now on their way to make FEPMaya an organization of immense benefit to Maya people in Guatemala.
English Language Program - Planning for English language lessons has begun with a visit by Dr. Robert Greenberg of Norwich, Vermont, who traveled to Guatemala in February to meet with 7 students. He and his wife Jane, an experienced ESL teacher, are developing plans to return to Guatemala in December with a group of other volunteer teachers. They will organize and present a two-week English language course for about 18 interested Maya students.
University Students – The success of this program continues. Two students graduated in the first semester of 2004 and two more are expected to do so by year’s end. MEF is currently providing scholarships for 21 Maya students for university-level studies in Chiapas and other parts of Mexico.
Sna Jtz’ Ibajom (The House of the Writer) – The Maya language literacy and instruction program will benefit more than 300 adults and children this year. Ten of the university students with a MEF scholarship are contributing to the definition and implementation of some of the programs offered by this Chiapan NGO. Members of Sna Jtz’ Ibajom continue to excel in their play writing and theater work, as well as in the creation of Mayan literature.
Other Developments Publications - In collaboration with Plumsock Mesoamerican Studies and the Center for the Support of Native Lands, MEF has assisted in the publication of the book, Un pueblo que no se arrodillaba: Panamá, los Estados Unidos y los kunas de San Blas, by James Howe. The Consejo Kuna will receive and distribute several hundred copies of the book among the Kuna themselves. MEF is currently collaborating on the Spanish translation of the book, The Machete and the Cross, by Don Dumond, which deals with the Maya and the Guerra de Castas in the Yucatan Peninsula. The publication of these books supports MEF’s purpose of promoting education and the knowledge and cultural preservation of indigenous populations. MEF Board - Internally, the Board has added two new members, Dr. Christine Eber from the Department of Anthropology at New Mexico State University and the author of two books about the Maya of Chiapas, and Dr. Isaac Cohen, a Guatemalan economist now living in the United States doing private consulting and formerly associated with the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean. As you can see, we continue to be very busy. Obviously, none of these accomplishments would be possible without your generosity. Your tax-deductible contributions, your ideas and your involvement mean so very much to the students and to us. Thank you for your participation.
Route 106, P.O. Box 38, South Woodstock, VT 05071, USA Phone: (802) 457-1199; fax: (802) 457-2212;
MEF is a 501(c)(3) public charity. 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
US$____________ Check enclosed payable to Maya Educational Foundation US$____________ Charge to ___MasterCard ___VISA Credit Card Account No. _____________________________________ Expiration Date _____________________________________________ Signature __________________________________________________ Phone ____________________________________________________ I/we pledge a monthly gift of US$ ____________ for ____________ months I/we wish to help fund scholarship for: a university student a bachillerato/diversificado (high school) student a secundaria/básico (middle school) student a primaria (grade school) student _____ student(s) learning to read and write a Mayan language
Name/Organization: ____________________________________________ Street/P.O. Box, City, State, Zip, Country ___________________________________________________________ e-mail: ______________________________________________________
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