She Needs a Scholarship to Become a Nurse - Open ...
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
Newsletter Spring 2021
She Needs a Scholarship to Become a Nurse
In January Escarleth began her university studies,
strictly online, to become a nurse. In February her
mother was killed by a motorist while walking to work.
In March she was informed that in-person classes
would begin April 8.
The loss of her mother also meant the loss of much
of the family’s income because her father works only
sporadically doing whatever odd jobs he can find.
Without the steady income her mother provided, the
family of a father and four children can no longer
afford the costs of the university.
We are looking for donors to provide up to $1100 so
Escarleth can complete her first year studies. If you
can help, please either go to our website
(openwinfound.org) and click on the “Donate” button
to make a PayPal donation, noting that it is for
Escarleth, or mail a check to: Open Windows Foundation, c/o John Davis, 1268 E. McNair
Drive, Tempe, AZ 85283. Every little bit helps.
En enero Escarleth empezó sus estudios en línea en la universidad. Pero su madre murió en
febrero y a partir del 8 de abril las clases serán en persona. Sin el ingreso de su madre, la familia
con cuatro hijos no tiene el dinero para pagar los gastos de la universidad. Buscamos donadores
que puedan ayudarla. Si usted desea contribuir, puede ir a nuestro sitio web (openwinfound.org) y
hacer un pago con PayPal, con una nota que es para Escarleth, o bien mandar un cheque a
nombre de Asociación Ventanas Abiertas a Nilda Girón, Calle Real 3-43, Zona 1, San Miguel
Dueñas, Sacatepéquez, C.A., Guatemala.
Re-Starting
Middle and high school classes began again
online on February 15 and Open Windows
opened its doors to primary schoolers. While the
primary schools continue to distribute homework
assignments without providing lessons, Open
Windows is permitted, as a non-school
educational center, to open with in-person
sessions, albeit with some limitations.
As in the past, primary school children come to
the learning center in the afternoons. Those in
grades one through three come on Monday,
Wednesday and Friday, while those in grades
four through six arrive in the afternoons of
Tuesday and Thursday and the mornings on Friday. Scholarship students come in the
mornings to do their homework, usually on the computers, and to get help from the teachers.
In addition to the classes and homework help for
primary school children, our new typing courses
have also begun. The typing students, most of
whom are in middle school where typing is a
requirement, come either Monday through Friday
for shorter sessions or on Saturdays for longer
ones. Currently, there are 42 typing students and
the number has been growing.
El 15 de febrero Ventanas Abiertas se ha reabierto a los niños. Debido de la pandemia los niños
no pueden asistir cada día. Los estudiantes de lo primero, segundo y tercer grado vienen el
lunes, miércoles y viernes por la tarde; los de cuarto, quinto y sexto grado el martes y jueves por
la tarde y el viernes por la mañana. Además, hemos empezado a brindar clases de
mecanografía, y nuestros becados vienen para hacer sus tareas en las computadoras.
A Second Grade Problem
The closing of the schools last March affected Guatemalan children more than those in
countries where the school year starts in September. Here the children lost almost an entire
year of schooling. While that has had a negative impact on all of them, we have discovered
that it is especially problematic for the second graders.
Every one of these children simply lost his or her first year of school. There are now 15
second graders coming to Open Windows and four of them not only cannot read, they do not
even recognize the letters. The rest can read but have problems with comprehension. They
read each letter rather than whole words and by the end of the sentence they have no idea
what they have just read. Much the same applies to mathematics where the children do not
know their numbers.
We are going to have to pay special attention to this year’s second graders. While we do not
often think of first grade as very different from any other year, we are finding out that its
absence robs the pupils of a basic foundation.
Hemos descubierto que el impacto negativo de cerrar las escuelas el año pasado es peor
para los estudiantes de segundo grado. De quince niños de segundo grado que vienen a
Ventanas Abiertas ahora, cuatro no pueden leer y no conocen ni las letras. Los demás
pueden leer, pero tienen problemas con la comprensión. También en el área de
matemática desconocen los números. Sin las clases del primer grado, no tienen la
preparación necesaria para estar en segundo primaria.
The First Volunteer Project of the Year
Even though there was just one
volunteer, in March we were
able to conduct our first
community volunteer project in a
year. Diane, who has
volunteered with Open Windows
three previous times and who
was part of the last group of
volunteers just prior to the
pandemic, arrived in Dueñas on
February 28 to help add to a
one-room house where three
youth whose mother died of
Covid-19 last year are living
together. Their grandmother
had asked that we add a second
floor for the boy, so that the two
girls, both scholarship students, could have some privacy. With classes still being conducted
online, that was an educational issue as well as a personal one.
Along with a contractor we use frequently, Diane built a staircase, put in a pine floor and then
enclosed the room with wood panels, topping it all with a metal roof. It is one more step
towards getting back to our full range of services.
Al principio de marzo Ventanas Abiertas ha tenido la primera voluntaria después de un año.
Diane, con su cuarta visita a Dueñas, ha ayudado en la construcción de un segundo piso de la
casa de tres jóvenes de quienes la madre murió de covid-19. El niño tendrá la nueva habitación y
sus dos hermanas, que son becadas, podrán disfrutar la vida privada y podrán estudiar sin
distracciones.
Helping the Helpers
Aside from working directly with those in need, we also
support other groups of helpers. Open Windows recently
made a donation of both reading glasses and sun glasses to
the Lions Club of Antigua. Many people with vision problems
come to the Lions Club for help and these donations will
provide one more resource the club can use to address some
of their issues.
We made another donation to the Second Company of
Volunteer Firefighters from the city of Villa Nueva. This
one consisted of clothes and other items that can be
sold in the firefighters’ second hand store or be given to
people in need. In addition, we also gave them first aid
items, including gauze, tape and gloves, among other
things.
Hemos dado una donación de lentes para leer y para el sol al Club de Leones de la Antigua con el
fin de que puedan utilizarlos en beneficio de los pacientes que llegan a consulta al centro de
atención oftalmológica. Además, se realizó una donación al cuerpo de bomberos Voluntarios de la
2ª compañía de Villa Nueva. La donación consistió en ropa y objetos para realizar baratillo o para
donarlo a personas necesitadas y en implementos de primeros auxilios.
Internet Access
While the video lessons the teachers at Open Windows are developing get a lot of views and
have undoubtedly helped many students, it has become increasingly clear that a substantial
proportion of the kids cannot access them
because neither they nor their parents
have internet access. Virtually none of
the families whose children attend Open
Windows have computers and many do
not even have smartphones. In other
cases, the parents have phones but
cannot afford to buy internet time.
The problem is especially difficult for our
scholarship students, six of whom we
discovered did not have internet access.
Middle and high schools are holding
virtual classes; so far, none of them has
opened to in-person lessons. So, with support from Developing Word Connections, we purchased six used Windows-based computers from Amazon (with a bit of the price going to Open Windows through the Amazon Smile program). In addition, we have used additional DWC support to purchase internet service. The issue is more difficult for our primary school students, in part because there are so many more of them. So, we are trying a different approach. With an in-kind donation of two used but well functioning smartphones we are experimenting with lending phones to students for one week at a time. We charge five quetzals per week which includes internet time and credit towards the purchase of the phone. When a student (or a family) has rented a phone for a total of 38 weeks (paying the equivalent of about $25 USD, one-third of the average price of the phones), he or she owns it. If the experiment works, we will purchase (or preferably get donated) more phones. We want every child who attends Open Windows to have internet access, partly so they can view the videos the teachers have made for them and partly just to give them an opportunity to learn skills that will be critical to their future success. The pandemic has forced us to think differently about how we promote education for Guatemala’s children. Expanding scholarships to include computers and internet time is one method; creating a phone library is another. As we find additional needs and barriers to children’s learning, we will look for other strategies, as well. Ventanas Abiertas ha descubierto que seis becadas no tenían acceso al internet. Con una donación de Developing World Connections, estamos comprando computadoras de segunda mano y un año de internet para que las chicas pueden asistir sus clases en línea. Para los estudiantes de la primaria hemos creado una biblioteca de teléfonos que los estudiantes pueden alquilar. Con estos pueden mirar los videos que nuestros maestros hacen y también hacer investigaciones en el internet. Change a child’s life today: Find out more about Open Windows Send a tax-deductible check to: Learning Center: Open Windows Foundation Contact: c/o John Davis Nilda Girón, Director 1268 E. McNair Dr. openwindows.nildag@gmail.com Tempe, AZ 85283 (502) 7834 0292
You can also read
