Heavy rainfall from two back-to-back hurricanes in less than two weeks has devastated the Ixil region of Guatemala. Hurricane Eta, a Category 4 storm, hit the Ixil region around November 5-8th with torrential rain. A brief respite from the rain in mid-November allowed our Nicolás Christian School graduation to take place on a beautiful, sunny day with roads that allowed Professor Braulio (principal) and Ivan España (Country Director) to visit every graduate’s home in every village to bestow diplomas and offer congratulations. Circumstances changed drastically when Hurricane Iota hit Guatemala a few days later. Massive rainfall led to severe flooding that destroyed 65% of the cornfields, killed livestock, ruptured and collapsed roadways, and washed-out bridges. Mudslides killed several people, and entire villages were rendered uninhabitable. Sumal Grande and Sumalito villages suffered significant damage in Hurricane Eta. Even before Hurricane Iota hit, the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) described the situation in the Ixil region as a “major humanitarian crisis.” IFRC planned a large-scale disaster response, but at least initially, most of the communities have were left to fend for themselves. Groups of Ixil volunteers helped to evacuate those stranded by high water. Hurricane Iota delivered the knock-out punch only a few days after NCS graduation with tremendous rainfall (more than five inches in 48 hours), flooding, and mudslides destroying essential roads and bridges. The villagers from Villa Hortensia 2 and Villa Hortensia Antigua evacuated to Cunen (where Professor Braulio lives). Villagers from Santa Avelina 1 and 2 walked for hours to reach refuge in Villa Hortensia 1. Several mudslides and flooding led several families to evacuate Cajixay. Some Cajixay families fled to VH1 and others …
Are you willing to be a Social Media Ambassador for NFE?
Hi, I am so grateful for our donors and volunteers for Nicolás Fund for Education! I am writing in hopes that you will agree to be a social media ambassador for NFE on Giving Tuesday, December 1st! You choose when you post as long as you post on December 1st! Post about WHY you support NFE in ALL forms of social media you use: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc. Encourage people to donate directly to NFE on our website, or you may choose to create a personal Facebook fundraiser that benefits Nicolás Fund for Education. If you do run a personal fundraiser on Facebook, please reach out to thank these donors yourself. We are not given their names and addresses by Facebook. You can use your own trip photos and stories to explain why you support NFE, or you may use one of these three images (click the link to see and download the images). If you are at a loss for what to say, here is a suggestion: “Nicolás Fund for Education provides secondary education for indigenous Mayans in the mountains of Guatemala. In this region, less than 20% of children attend school beyond 6th grade. Free education stops after 6th grade and most families in this region cannot afford to pay tuition for students to continue their education. Nicolás Fund for Education donors give the gift of education to these students, providing excellence in education for these young men and women that will help them become the future leaders in Guatemala. Education is the #1 way to combat poverty.” Please include the two hashtags #GivingTuesday and #NFE in your posts so we can find them. You can also @mention us, so …
Letter from Nicolás Fund for Education’s National Director
Dear Partners in the ministry: This year was special in many ways. We said that our building was closed but our school was not. And it was real. I just returned from the Ixil area a couple of hours ago. In spite of the disaster created by Hurricane ETA, thanks to your donations, we were able to celebrate the graduation of thirty-eight students from ten different villages! In some cases, like in Villa Hortensia I, these students are the very first graduating class ever in the history of that village! Seven eleventh-graders and two ninth-graders celebrated with close family members. Keeping the COVID-19 safety protocols, we visited the homes of each one of the graduates and performed a mini-graduation ceremony. In the presence of parents and some close family members, we prayed for our graduates and blessed each student’s home. After several days and 25,000 steps, I can tell you, this wouldn’t have been possible without your past support. In the middle of this pandemic adventure we celebrated. Thanks to you, every one of our Nicolás Christian School students was able to access the gift of education through the use of tablets and the first off-line educational platform of the region with NICO (New and Innovative Learning Content Off-line). In the San Nicolás Village, we had a brand-new graduating class from our preschool. This is the first class of students under the age of six graduating from preschool in the history of the village. In one of the villages we visited, Jacinto Pasá expressed his Joy because his daughter, Maria Isabel, had just graduated from the eleventh grade. I saw that smile and I couldn’t resist staring at him. Jacinto immediately said, “I AM VERY …
Exciting Key Performance Indicators at Nicolás Christian School!
Each year, the Guatemalan Ministry of Education administers standardized testing to 11th-grade students and 9th-grade students. Nicolás Fund for Education has only been able to access those results concerning Nicolás Christian School (NCS) since the 2018 results became available. Frankly, those first results were disappointing. None of our students passed the national standardized test. What was more disturbing was that very few students from any school in the Ixil area passed this test. Results in more urban areas were also surprisingly low. Academic Director Bill Safstrom cautioned, “It is important to remember that these tests are aspirational. It is expected that no one will achieve 100% on this type of test.” Bill Safstrom commented that these initial results were helpful because it provided much-needed information on where our strengths and weaknesses were at Nicolás Christian School and “…the data was a place to start”. The evaluation measures the learning of students throughout their educational history. It is not a curricular evaluation but rather an evaluation of basic life skills. NCS Math Scores Exceeded the Guatemalan Ministry of Education Expectations The difference in the students’ average score in relation to what was expected may be because of the work they do at NCS, which is related to the teaching strategies our teachers use in the classroom, Professor Braulio’s educational leadership as Principal, our Christian school climate, and use and creation of learning opportunities. The Ministry of Education takes into account the Socioeconomic and Cultural Index (ISEC) of our students’ families and, based on that information, our average math scores actually exceeded what was anticipated by the Guatemalan Ministry of Education. Challenge Accepted Being a Mayan female student is unfortunately associated with lower …
Introducing eWAVE: Education With A Village
New year, new seventh graders, and new partnerships! Nicolás Christian School starts their new school year in mid-January and we already have an eager batch of seventh graders ready for middle school. Would you, your church, or your small group be interested in sponsoring the new students from a village this year through eWAVE’s “education with a village”? This program gives you the opportunity to support a small batch of students from a village on their educational journey. Get to know them personally through mission trips, video conferencing and personalized communication. Supporting them through donations, visits, communication and prayer shows our students how much they are valued and cared for. This partnership can be scaled for any budget – check out our website for more info and contact us with any questions!