Alta Verapaz Blog: Edition #2

During our February visit, students in Chimayxat discussed their wishes for uniforms and sports equipment to encourage their classmates to stay in school and practice Soccer.

After a long day of celebrations, the local school and computer lab student ASB stayed late into the rainy evening to present to us their need for uniforms, tennis shoes and sports equipment. In the last year, they had started a team to represent the computer lab program we fund, and saw that that helped motivate students to stay involved in their studies, gain confidence and practice teamwork and leadership skills.

Their main concern was female students who often choose not to play becuase they do not have proper footwear or shorts. And those that do choose to play end up with more injuries or are at a disadvantage because they play in flip flops.

Personally, seeing student leaders both male and female presenting a well thought out proposal to support their fellow students was so inspiring to see. I felt a strong connection as well with their desire to see more females be able to participate as we are actively trying out strategies to encourage higher enrollment of females in our computer programming.

Their proposal is for 55 students to be provided with proper physical education gear and uniforms; 18 girls and 36 boys. Students are between the ages of 9 and 25 years old and are currently enrolled in computer courses with our computer lab program. The uniforms would allow them to practice and compete against other villages, and would allow students who are the most economically disadvantaged the ability to participate.

The next day, we met all of the students participating and watched them practice with their current gear. It was clear that having the ability to play soccer is very important to the students and will help encourage them to stay involved with their studies.

With that, I have decided to dedicate my annual birthday fundraiser to raising 2,000 dollars to support their uniforms, tennis shoes, and sports equipment, with an additional 1,000 dollars to cover the whole cost being fundraised by the Key Club run by students at the High School I work at in Seattle. Please consider donating and stay tuned to learn more about the progress of the team in the upcoming weeks.

Next up, we will talk about updates in Chimayxat and their sports teams!

- Kelli M. Perletti, Secretary