Learn Achieve Become (L.A.B) - UK registered charity no.1174514
Escuelita en el lago - Little school on the lake
As of January 2024, we're creating our first permanent 'Escuelita' on the shores of Lake Atitlan, Guatemala. Escuelita means 'little school' and was a concept created by L.A.B in 2022, during our short project in Mexico. Here, we offered free reading and writing classes on the beach for children who didn't attend formal schooling. Doing this inspired us to refine the idea of an 'Escuelita', which we now define as an informal school-like facility, where local students can learn basic, yet essential academic skills, completely free of charge.
Our first permanent Esucelita in Guatemala will deliver free education to children who are out of school, and children who don't receive an ongoing education, in and around the town of Santiago, on the shores of the picturesque Lake Atitlan.
The academic curriculum for our Escuelita will focus on supporting the students to improve their knowledge across some of the following key areas:
- Reading
- Writing
- Number work - Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, Division
- Relevant Stories and Arts
- About me and the world around me
In addition to this, we shall also offer holistic opportunities for our students, to learn more about the local environment, permaculture and sustainability - Raising a new generation of changemakers.
Preserving an ancient mayan language - Tz'utujil.
In and around Santiago de Atitlan, Spanish (the national language of Guatemala) is a second language for most of the local inhabitants. Instead, their first language is 'Tz'utujil' - An ancient Mayan langauge.
Unfortunately, although Tz'utujil is commonly spoken, it is rarely written and recorded. Local schools focus the majority of their resources towards teaching in Spanish, meaning that most students learn around 1 hour of Tz'utujil every 2 weeks.
In our Escuelita, we will have a focus on delivering our curriculum in an equal mix of Spanish and Tz'utujil languages. We will encourage stories to be read to our students in Tz'utujil, and ensure that our work helps to continue with the preservation of this language.