We would like to share the most recent trustee report from the GVI Charitable Trust. This report covers the six month period from July to December 2011.

This has been by far the most successful period. In six months we have raised nearly as much as we did the whole previous year. This increase in funding has brought a corresponding increase in the impact we have been able to create on our programs around the world.

During this period we have invested in sustainable education across Latin America. This includes support for the elderly in Guatemala and income generation schemes to support education in Honduras and Ecuador. In Mexico we have worked with a community to establish a recycling centre and in Kenya our partners in Mombasa will now see impoverished students complete primary education to earn qualifications for the first time.

These are just a few highlights of an amazing, productive and rewarding six months. Thank you to everyone who has supported us and played a crucial role in these achievements.

• GVI Charitable Trust Annual Report (PDF)
  

We are delighted to share that GVI have just been announced winners of the best volunteer organization category at the Virgin Holidays Responsible Tourism Awards. We would like to extend our sincere appreciation to everyone who voted for and supported us.

GVI volunteers work on this project throughout the year making important hands on contributions to our work. The attached article explains some of the impact made on our project in Guatemala and elsewhere thanks to everyone’s hard work and support.

• GVI Responsible Travel Article (PDF)
  

Scholarships for national school were recently distributed in the community of Santa Maria De Jesus, Guatemala.

Each year in addition to providing a free education for many of the communities poorest children in our own school we fund scholarships for national school where the students can earn their recognised qualifications.

Donations to this project help us to support these students and give them a chance to learn, thank you to everyone who has supported the project.   

The recently constructed school in Santa Maria is now in use and has brought huge benefits for the students, community and volunteers. The new school is much larger than the previous building and as such is able to cater for the ever increasing number of children benefiting from this project.

In addition to funding construction work GVI Charitable Trust donations have been funding food programs, birthday celebrations, educational materials and also scholarships.

Over the coming month scholarships for primary education will be rewarded to over 200 children in the Indigenous community of Santa Maria De Jesus. As Project Director Dom Williams explains ‘By paying for materials and school fees for the children, the parents are able to send their children to school, when otherwise they would not have had the money to do so.’

Donations to this project help children to access this basic human right and earn an education. Many thanks to everyone who has supported the project and played an important part in this.

Thanks to donations and funds raised from the recent volcano and bike challenges the construction of our school in Santa María is almost complete. With so many kids now since we started in 2004, we needed a bigger space!

We are building six new classrooms, a kitchen, two toilets and two rooms to store all our supplies, tables and chairs at the foot of Volcano Agua. Since November, Beto (our stove mason) and other masons have been busy under the baking sun, readying the school to open later in April 2011.

When we re-open the doors, over 250 children will continue to receive first-time and continued education in literacy and numeracy. Thanks to all the challengers, donors and volunteers who have made this possible.

2010 was a very tough year for Guatemala as Tropical Storm Agatha devastated both of the communities in which we work. There was loss of crops, homes and very sadly lives. When the storm finally passed the extent of the damage really became clear and a long term plan was necessary to help people.

We started a fundraising campaign and the response from our supporters was overwhelming, with the funds we were able to provide emergency food supplies, fast growing crops and rebuild houses, streets and our schools. We could also provide raincoats to children to prevent drenching their clothes if they brave the journey to school in poor weather and emergency supplies so that next time a disaster like Agatha strikes our communities will be more prepared.

The Agatha campaign helped to bring some stability to the communities during this very hard time meaning that we were able to continue our work in the schools. As with every year there seem to be many more eager students in both schools as the projects are constantly expanding. Excellent results have been achieved as proof that the projects are working and these great kids are receiving the opportunity to earn an education and the benefits this will bring.

To round off the year we had joyous Christmas Celebrations with a surprise visit from Santa himself!

Two if our students Chezy and Wendy Marisol led the way in the mid-term exam results with a string of 90's, really great to see some of Guatemala's poorest children achieving some of the countries best grades! Average in the Calse Pacaya morning class went up 10% in language to 85%, with sciences rising 7% to 80%. Amazing results!

In the afternoon class we also saw massive improvements particularly by students Glendy Izabel and Yazmin, the whole class average rose into the 80%'s. The kids in great stead for the rest of the year and we look forward to seeing the progress.

The mid term results are in for clase Atitlan in community San Adrés Itzapa. One of the morning students Axel led the way with 100's in all subjects! Other children Iris, Yeimy and Erick were not far behind. The top half of the class averaged in the high 80's, this really shows that the support is working as these are some of the poorest children in Guatemala yet these are some of the best results!

On top of this class sizes have swelled to almost 30 in the morning so we have lots of work to do!

Clase Atitlan

We played our annual football match with the dads in Santa Maria this week, with the Blues coming out on top, 3-2. The mums cooked a great Pepian for all afterwards, then we began stage 2 of our support in the Tropical storm Agatha recovery.

The families have lost 99% of their maize crops, which means that there will be no harvest for the everyday staple tortilla and worst, no income until the next harvest, which will be beans in January 2011.

Thanks to the Agatha Fundraising our first stage was completed by handing out a month's supply of maize. We have now started the medium-term plan, by handing out 15 pounds of frijol (beans) seeds to each family, to be sown in July and harvested in January 2011.

It had to be a different bean seed as conventional beans grow up the canes of the recently harvested maize crop, though with these destroyed, we had to use beans that can grow on the floor. If it is a good crop in 2011, this should yield a year's worth of frijoles.

The fathers of the children

A volunteer handing out the frijoles

Sacks of Frijol seeds

Links:

• Project Blog

Fantastic news from Guatemala, where one of our old students, who we put through school and teacher training college has got a job as director of a rural school. This is the first evidence of the fruits of our long-term program and we hope to see much more of this in the future. Many thanks

Thanks to scholarships, over 70 children will be moving onto the next grade here in Guatemala, with results averaging over 70%. With our English classes we give, the average in this subject was over 80%. Secondary education is so important and thanks to all the donors who have made this possible. Happy New Year and cheers

Eyes on the whiteboard

Class interraction

Greetings. The final results of our children in secondary school have all come through, and they have all passed with flying colours, which is a great achievement. We will be adding a further 30 children in secondary school in 2010 so to start fundraising for next year, I will be embarking on a Charity Challenge this weekend, climbing 4 volcanoes in 6 days, so please, if you can, spare a penny or two to help raise funds for such a good cause. cheers

Our secondary school children continue to surprise on the upside, with their second set of exam results due this month. Despite schools being shut, their learning has continued at pace, and their results should confirm the positive strides they have made this year in secondary education. To add to the 80 children we have so far in secondary education, we plan to add a further 40 for 2010, taking us well over 100 children who would otherwise not even dream about dreaming of this opportunity.

The year flies by, and the exam results for our secondary school children are due soon. They feel confident, and so they should, they are great kids and very dedicated to their education. The costs of education in Guatemala is rising, though we will do all we can that these kids don't fall behind. cheers

English is now part of the curriculum

One-on-one

Our ranks of children in our projects sped past 500 this year, with over 50 starting secondary school. This for children who would never have had primary education, is a huge thankyou to everyone involved. Many, when asked, want to become teachers, so with us giving them that helping hand financially, these dreams can become a reality.

2008 has seen a record number of children entering secondary school in our projects in Guatemala, with the number close to 50. What's more, almost 10 children are now in Teaching College, so bringing the education full circle. In 2009 it is hoped that over 50 children will be attending secondary school from our projects, with this figure set to rise to almost 500 in the next 5 years.

More girls than boys

English classes are now part of the curriculum

Links:

• GVI Phoenix Blog

Thank you all to those who have kindly donated so far. Why not consider joining volunteers out in Guatemala and helping on the ground?

From December 2007 all our children in Guatemala now receive primary education in the local schools and some for secondary for the 2008 educational year. We are now embarking on scholarships for secondary school and "carrera" or college. Our aim over the next year is to legalise our own schools and hire our own teachers (ex-students) to run the primary and secondary schools. It is a huge project, though one I feel together we can accomplish.

Scholarships being awarded.

Links:

• Volunteer in Guatemala with GVI

GVI and their volunteering scheme covers hundreds of children to go through primary education and also receive extra food and materials for school. Over the last few years through the GVI-Charitable Trust we have increased this commitment both in terms of numbers and scope. What this means in real terms is that many many more children are receiving a primary and secondary education, the chance they all deserve for a proper childhood and a way to break out of the cycle of poverty that is especially prevalent in the indigenous communities. To date we have raised over $75,000 from ex-volunteers, corporate donors and fundraisers, but with the ever growing numbers of kids, it is more and more important to get a long term solution in place and fund our own secondary school.

Links:

• GVI's programs in Guatemala
• Videos of a number of GVI's programs in Latin America