Strengthening Education and Professional Skills
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Computer skills are essential for inclusion in an increasingly educated work force. Guatemala is no exception; in order to escape the impoverished life of sustenance farming in rural areas, students must learn professional skills while in school, yet access to technology in remote rural areas is extremely limited. Many large towns have local businesses where residents can pay for computer use, however in the small villages of Coxjac, Vasquez, and Chotacaj, Totonicipan, and Choquiac, Quetzaltenango, students frequently did not have access to anything more than a few century-old typewriters.
These students are fighting a losing battle as without the basic resources necessary for a decent education, their current schooling will not be enough to get them the jobs that they dream of. For children in the developed world, dream jobs include being CEOs, doctors, psychologists, artists, writers, and so on. For these young people, a dream job is to be a secretary, accountant, teacher or nurse with steady income. Without access to computers, the students of Cojxac don’t stand a chance getting jobs like these as long as they are deprived of essential computer skills.
PaperSeed is working with local organizations, business partners and the Ministry of Education to ensure that these students will have the opportunity for computer skills by establishing computer labs and libraries to strengthen education for the next generation, and to break the cycle of poverty for the children of rural farmers.