Home

THE PROBLEM; ESPECIALLY FOR YOUNG WOMEN.

WOMEN DO NOT HAVE VALUE, therefore they do not have the opportunity of advanced schooling. Spirit Education Foundation is committed to helping the least of these, the young women. the ones that, by no choice of their own, are victims of poverty.

Spirit Education Foundation, a non-profit organization, is committed to changing the lives of Guatemalan girls, by providing education scholarships, materials, equipment and support, so they can grow and develop in a supportive environment.

At home, at school, at play and at work, Spirit girls are making a positive difference by contributing to society, being role models, and providing positive alternatives in their world. We cannot change the entire world, but we can change the entire world of one girl. Then, she will be able to change future generations, her family, neighbors and work place.

EDUCATION IN GUATEMALA

A poster in the Coatepeque hospital shows only 12% of the population has some education beyond primary school. We are targeting the 2.5% of students in the small red section. The 2.5% has to grow for Guatemala to prosper. We look for those girls whose families have managed to afford a middle school education, who want more, but can't afford the much higher fees.

Statistics don't tell the whole story. Many young women are committed to improving their lives and are dedicated to completing their education. However, the constant wall they hit is the lack of resources and the monthly struggle for their family to meet basic needs- food water and shelter.

COATEPEQUE REGION, GUATEMALA. . . .

Coatepeque is located at the red dot in the western part of Guatemala, 4 hours from Guatemala City (the blue dot). Coatepeque is the region's major city, surrounded by many satellite villages. It is also the location of the diversificada (a post middle school type of career school) and the university that our scholarship students attend.

This is an economically devastated region due to;

The elimination of the low land coffee industry: employment for thousands
replacement industries are rubber, cattle and bananas, employing few workers
a high birth rate and impoverished families
education is not free; tuition, uniforms and supplies prevent attendance
An uneducated population, results in few job opportunities and high unemployment.

December 2010 Update

The 2010 Monsoon season was a disaster for the country. The rains were continuous and severe to the point where there was massive crop failure, putting the very poor out of work and prices skyrocketing. As a result, our becada families are suffering. We have lost 4 girls who needed to find jobs to keep their families from starvation. Other families are managing, but barely.

GUATEMALAN HEALTH CARE

Dental and Health care is non-existant for many of the becadas. The Guatemalan government does provide public hospitals, but either the patients must bear much of the cost or it is non-existant. Medicines are not affordable.

Dental care is never provided, so children will start losing teeth at 3 years old and permanent teeth by 4-15 years old. We have had 15 year old applicants in need of extensive extractions and dental plates.

OUR DREAM FOR DENTAL CARE

When we had dental teams, we were able to provide dental care to scholarship girls and their families. Families sacrifice in order to give their girl the opportunity of education. This was one way to say thanks to the family.

In 2009, we no longer could take volunteer dentists to our nearby clinic, so reached an agreement with new dental graduate. Mayling. In exchange for the equipment she needed, she would provide dental care for the scholarship girls. The families were out of the system.

Each new applicant in 2010 needed on average some 25-30 fillings plus four needed partial dental plates. The material expense had us scrambling to meet the need.

Our dream is to have enough supplies, so the expense of providing for family member is affordable. Each scholarship girl will receive a voucher for so much dental care value based on her grade point average. It is hoped:

that the family will have incentive to promote study time for the girl in order to receive dental care

Minimize any sibling problems for the favored daughter.

Give tangible value to families who traditionally send their daughters out to work as poorly paid domestics.

DENTAL SUPPLY DONOR STARS

We have been so blessed by two companies who came to the rescue.

IVOCLAR was again very generous with a wonderful donation of filling materials. Thanks to them, our new girls will have pretty while teeth.
SMART PRACTICE in Phoenix also donated 3 huge boxes of dental supplies with the promise of more in the future. Brenda and Jim are dedicated to the idea of helping the less fortunate.

Also thanks to their generosity, we can impliment the family reward program. Thank you