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Cooperative for Education – On Location

If 50 People Donate $12, Then Cooperative for Education Can Distribute School Supplies to 192 Guatemalan Children

$12
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No Longer Available
Mon Jul 09 03:59:59 UTC 2012
Value
$24
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50%
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$12
  • T460x279
  • Do-Gooder

In a Nutshell

Donations help purchase school-supply kits containing pencils, pens, a storybook, and a ruler for Guatemalan youth

The Fine Print

The Issue: Limited Educational Resources in Guatemala

According to 2009 data from the World Bank, more than 75% of Guatemala’s indigenous population lives below the poverty line. Without proper resources, such as textbooks, supplies, and training, village schools can be ill-equipped to prepare students for careers outside of agriculture, thereby limiting their futures. In fact, a study by the US Agency for International Development reveals that roughly 30% of Guatemala's total population is unable to read and that nearly 8 out of 10 indigenous children who start the first grade drop out before completing primary school. Without reading skills to understand land contracts and voting ballots, villagers can become targets of exploitation.

The Campaign: Distributing School Supplies to Youth

If this Grassroots campaign raises $600, then Cooperative for Education can distribute school-supply kits to 192 Guatemalan primary-school students as part of its Culture of Reading Program. Each additional $12 raised will purchase school-supply kits for another four children. Business Information Solutions will also match donations up to a $1,000 total. The kits contain items for bringing reading and writing skills to life, including pencils, pens, an eraser, a storybook, colored pencils, and a ruler. Grassroots donors can also attend select tours to Guatemala with Cooperative for Education to help hand out supplies to the children.

All donations will be matched up to a $1,000 total by Business Information Solutions. You can follow the progress of this and other Grassroots campaigns at the Groupon Grassroots website.

Cooperative for Education

Papers with colorful illustrations taped to the walls, students acting out a story to fit it into context, words mixing together to retell a tale in a new way––these are the activities that inspire a love of learning and that Cooperative for Education (CoEd) seeks to make possible in Guatemalan schools. When lessons exchange rote methodology for engaging activity, students are excited to attend class and return home spreading the love of learning to their siblings.

Brothers Joe and Jeff Berninger founded CoEd after visiting Guatemala in the 1990s. Jeff volunteered in a local school, where he noticed students lacked adequate access to learning resources. Together, the brothers left their careers to dedicate themselves to improving the availability of resources, giving students a chance to succeed academically and professionally so that they might break the cycle of poverty.

Today, CoEd team members focus on textbooks, reading, computers, and scholarships. The Textbooks program, which currently reaches about 10% of Guatemala's rural middle schools, rents out books for a small fee to allow students access to resources that would otherwise be prohibitively expensive. Computer Centers give children access to technology, equipping them with in-demand work skills, and the Culture of Reading Program delivers books and supplies to children and teaches them how to become better readers and writers.

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