PATRIZIA Inclusive School Alotenango
In San Juan Alotenango, children with an indigenous background who have physical or mental disabilities and learning difficulties often have no access to normal educational institutions. This reinforces the stigmatization and discrimination to which they are already exposed because of their ethnicity. This situation was exacerbated by the devastating consequences of the 2018 volcanic eruption, which further restricted the already limited educational opportunities. Children who were already facing enormous challenges found themselves in an even more precarious situation. Our local partner organization, Fe y Alegria Guatemala, is currently looking after 210 children in temporary facilities. These are temporary, which is why the need for a long-term solution is urgent. Together, we are therefore planning to build an integrative school to provide these children with a permanent and reliable educational facility.
“The community is looking for us, trusts us, but we can’t grow with more students because we don’t have the classrooms and infrastructure…”
Jessenya Sicajol
School principal
The school
There are currently 210 indigenous children aged 6-12 in five classes at the elementary school. These are children who have been turned away from regular schools because they have disabilities, learning difficulties or are too old. Despite limited resources, a committed community worked to provide educational opportunities. In the beginning, teachers even worked on a voluntary basis to give these children access to education.
However, the school faces challenges such as caring for children with special needs, mixed classes and a high attendance ratio. The school can no longer be maintained in its current form. The demand for education is increasing, but the already overcrowded school cannot accommodate any more children.
The PATRIZIA School Alotenango aims to expand access for a total of 630 children aged 6 to 12 in an inclusive new school.
Our goal:
To give children in Guatemala better access to education and a more promising future by building a new inclusive school.
New construction of an integrative school
The current facility, located in rented rooms from a parish and the city administration, suffers from ventilation and space problems.
The school is planning to build seven classrooms, a therapy room, a library, an office, storage rooms, disabled-friendly sanitary facilities and a school kitchen so that a warm meal can also be provided.
Disabled access ways and entrances are to be realised within the school in an urgent first construction phase. In a subsequent phase, digital teaching methods and the start of a ‘Ready for the Future’ programme will be introduced.
The expansion will be accompanied by a close five-year partnership for quality development, including impact monitoring and evaluation in collaboration with the University of Vienna.
Support the PATRIZIA Inclusive School Alotenango and give children in Guatemala better access to education and a brighter future. Donate for the construction of new classrooms and the improvement of the educational facility.
Our promise:
100% of your donation goes directly to our projects.
We thank our supporters!
Big thanks to BILD hilft e. V. ‘Ein Herz für Kinder’ for the valuable financial support. This will enable us to create a better future for the children in Alotenango. We say thank you on behalf of the children.
Support the PATRIZIA Inclusive School Alotenango and give children with special needs access to education. Your donation will help us to build a barrier-free school building with classrooms, sanitary facilities and a school kitchen to increase capacity and offer the children a more promising future.