Child Aid - Building Brighter Futures

Pasaq, Guatemala – Three years ago, when Child Aid helped Alberta Guarchaj launch a school-break reading program in her village’s new library, fewer than 10 children showed up. Alberta continued to participate in Child Aid’s librarian training sessions, and she tailored the program, known as Adventures in Reading, to fit the needs of her village.

Children participating in reading activities during Child Aid’s Adventures in Reading program in Pasaq.

The following year, 30 children turned out for the program, and Alberta continued to promote it in her community. Because books were formerly rare in Pasaq, even in the village school, parents began to take interest in the program. Most adults in the village are unable to read and know from experience that literacy has tangible economic benefits.

Throughout Guatemala, impoverished parents, especially women, express sadness about their inability to contribute more to their families economically. For most of them, the obstacle is the same: they cannot read.  So parents in Pasaq saw Adventures in Reading as an alternative. The program could help their children avoid the crippling trap of illiteracy. The more time their kids spent in the library, the quicker they were learning to read and the better they performed in school.

In 2011, Alberta conducted Adventures in Reading again. But this year, 70 to 100 children crammed into the library each day to listen to the stories she read. They pulled books off the shelves to read to themselves, and they participated in the literacy activities that form the heart of the program.

At a recent Child Aid Librarian Training Workshop, Alberta told librarians from other villages about her successes with Adventures in Reading. She described children beginning to read on their own and checking out books to bring home to their families. She talked about improvements children were making in their writing skills, and about parents attending reading sessions with their kids.  And she talked about how the program, combined with Child Aid’s other work in the village, is creating opportunities for her community that never before existed.

For Child Aid, the success of Adventures in Reading in Pasaq is another indicator that our program works. Literacy doesn’t happen overnight. It takes long-term commitment and requires flexible programs that communities can adopt and make their own. This year, a total of 21 villages conducted our Adventures in Reading program, engaging thousands of children in reading activities during the three-month school break.