Dream with me

Although primary school attendance is compulsory in Guatemala, starting at age seven, only one-half of those Mayan girls of primary-school age, who are classified as extremely poor, have entered school. Fewer than 10 percent of these girls aged 13–24 who entered primary school have completed the sixth grade, and just 14 percent of these primary-school graduates have ever enrolled in secondary school.

So let me do the math for us.

Start with 100 economically poor Mayan girls age 7.

50 will enter primary school.

5 will graduate from primary school.

1 might go onto secondary school.

Acceptable? Dare to dream with me. What if we could change this paradigm - even slightly. According to a 2002 census, Cotzal has a population of 9,037 people (the municipality which includes the outlying villages has a total population of slightly more than 30,000 people). With the Lords help – dealing with one family situation at a time – what if we were able to achieve a 100% primary graduation rate for girls who enter the program. We would see lasting change that would impact every aspect of the community within two generations.

Something to throw into the dream machine.