Phenomenal change is happening in the Ixil, and I have witnessed that change firsthand. In 2002, I traveled to the Ixil on an AGROS trip to work alongside the village of La Esperanza. My husband Dave and I continued to work with Villa Hortensia Uno (VH1).
Now, as a veteran traveler to Guatemala, I have made twelve working trips to the Ixil. I attended the Nicolas Christian School graduation ceremony for Villa Hortensia Uno in 2018. These were the first students ever to complete ninth grade in this village. It was a thrill to see their joy and accomplishments celebrated. Some had waited years to have the opportunity to learn past the sixth grade. It was a dream of a lifetime to earn a ninth-grade education. Two of the students were twenty and twenty-one years of age. Thank you to Nicolàs Fund for Education for extending education to this remote village.
This past February, I was elated to travel back to VH1, now with a ten-member team of congregation members from Peninsula Lutheran Church in Gig Harbor and one team member from Vinland Lutheran Church in Poulsbo. It is by God’s grace that I was able to lead this group of new travelers to Guatemala.
Villa Hortensia Uno is nine miles from La Esperanza, up a rocky mountain road to the very last Mayan village that dead-ends at the top of the mountain. VH1 is a satellite school of Nicolas Christian School that offers schooling from sixth to eleventh grade in a three-room building.
I had the joy and excitement of meeting the three teachers and one tutor employed at the school. I knew these teachers from elementary age. These teachers graduated from the very first graduating class in 2018. They worked hard to overcome adversity to complete high school and continued their education beyond high school to become teachers. This is their village. They were born and raised and educated here. And now they have chosen to pass on the blessing of education to their brothers and sisters, cousins, and friends, who would not otherwise have an open path for the future. They are thirsty to learn. Two of the teachers in VH1 are pursuing university degrees using online learning. Eliseo is studying theology, and Juan is studying English.
By investing in the strength and integrity of the Ixil people, the impact of education was made very clear to me in VH1. I loved seeing the results of excellent Christian education being lived out. There is a desire to improve lives through God’s care and pass along the gift of education to one’s neighbor. It is a beautiful display of the incredible mission of Nicolàs Fund for Education. I have loved having the long-term history and perspective to note the progress over twenty-two years of serving the people of the Ixil. Phenomenal change is happening in the Ixil. God’s plan is on the move.
