This year has brought us a renewed sense of community that our students and their families have brought to the village of Chocola. Students have become more determined to not only achieve at a high level in their school classes, but to instill a community spirit through a love of their neighborhoods, promotion of businesses and caring for their schools, parks and public spaces. Our scholarship students are required to perform community service as part of receiving this funding. However, many of them are happy to pitch in and clean up the parks and streets and do whatever it takes to show their pride in Chocola.
This year 14 students graduated from high school. Some students are already on track to begin a career in their chosen field. Others are hopeful of attending college to explore fields of study for which they may be better suited. We wish that all those who want to attend college could be supported with scholarships, but our budget limits the number of students we are able to fund. Some may be able to attend college by working to pay their tuition and fees. Others may delay their college careers and work to save enough to attend at a later time. Our graduates are better suited than ever before to enter the workplace. While none of us know what the future holds for them, it is certainly brighter that it would have been without the support of Amigos de Chocola’s scholarships.
My recent visit to Chocola revealed that students are better prepared to begin life after their schooling than ever before. Many students request funding for their college studies. Since we can’t accommodate all of those requests, students are still determined to get started on a working career that will help support themselves and their families. This is progress in the fight to overcome hardcore poverty in rural Guatemala.