Safe Passage and Colegio Maya –
A school-wide Community Service Connection

In order to further develop the community service relationship between our two institutions we have agreed to work towards accomplishing two goals. In doing so, we agree on the benefit that we see for the people involved on both sides and the value to continue to better understand each other’s realities. The following represent possibilities in developing our working relationship:

1. Increase the understanding of Safe Passage/Camino Seguro’s work by the Maya community;
2. Coordinate projects that are aligned with the interests of both institutions;
   

About Safe Passage/Camino Seguro

With more people at our school becoming involved, it is felt that it is beneficial for all of those involved to know a bit more about Safe Passage/Camino Seguro.

For the basic information about Safe Passage/Camino Seguro (Mission, Objectives, Program), you can visit their web site: http://www.safepassage.org/ . In addition, you can view the brief slide show of some of our past work with them. Currently, Safe Passage/Camino Seguro is working on a new presentation of their project as their work continues to grow. In addition, here are few more pieces of information that are important to understanding their operation:

• Their current program attends to 528 children! Each year over 100 applications are received for the 25 open spaces. 5 Social Workers are responsible for attending to all of these children in supporting their connections between home/family, school and the Safe Passage Programs.
  
  
• Recently, Safe Passage/Camino Seguro was awarded second prize (Q350,000) by the Fundación Juan Bautista Gutiérrez for “Apoyando a quienes apoyan” (Supporting Organizations that provide supportive services in Guatemala).
  
  
• Safe Passage/Camino Seguro has the following structure of programs:
  • Centro de Educacion y Apoyo Integral – Which is the new school located near the dump; All of the children study at a public or private school, either in the morning or the afternoon and attend the Centro in their available time each weekday, all year long – 9:00 to 12 noon or 1:00 to 4:00 (example: attend public school in the morning and then attend the Centro in the afternoon). Children ages 5-17 in grades Maternal (PK & K) to Tercero Basico participate in the program. Not all children live by the Dump. Many live far away, but participate in the program because their families work in the Dump. The focus of the Centro de Educacion y Apoyo Integral is to support children to stay in school and to make a difference with their lives. They do this by provide tutoring for the children as well as other basic services (health, food, clothing, family support and more).
    • The Centro offers a Girls’ Club and a Boys’ Club on Saturdays from 8:00-12 noon. About 50-60 children from the Centro’s weekly programs participate in these clubs. In the past, the students that have participated in our organized Play Days have come from these clubs. In the afternoons there is a club for Mothers where they learn about home and parenting practices.
    • The Centro has a Maternal Program (PK & K) that is a pilot program which utilizes Montessori and bilingual education methods. The director is Mrs. Lecours, a mom of one of our own Kinder students.
      
      
  • Estimulacion Temprana – is a new program that started 1 year ago in an effort towards early intervention for the children. Currently there are 32 children with an eventual goal of 100. Their facility is currently a warehouse, but construction is under way for a new facility at the Park site (Remember last year’s work day? – The wall was finished around the park and a plan was drawn up by a university group from Washington; ). Their hours are 8:30 to 3:00 Monday through Friday. They welcome people/kids to come play with theirs.
    
    
  • Casa Residencial – The house is located in Antigua, where 44 children from the city from ages 3-16 live and receive 24 hour support. These children, mostly from the city, have been identified as needing extra care and attention. Some of the children visit their parents once every two weeks. Currently, there are 8 children living with foster families in the Antigua area. Most of the children attend a private school in Antigua (many of them at the school run by Anabella Santella, a former Maya teacher).
    
    
  • Hotel – Located in Antigua, this serves as a place for training in hotel services as well as providing a source of income for Safe Passage. One of the goals of Safe Passage is to be able to offer more vocational training in the future, especially at facilities at the Park in the city.

· In addition to these programs, Safe Passage/Camino Seguro offers a Padrino-Sponsorship program where sponsors may pledge $25 p/month to pay for half of the support for a child or $50 p/month for a full month’s support in the Safe Passage program. Out of the current 528 students, approximately 150 to 200 are sponsored.

The following projects have been identified for consideration for this year based on interest shown between Safe Passage and Maya. For some of the projects, many people and groups have expressed interest in participating across the grade levels. In order to make them happen, we need lead people to organize the projects. Please let us know if you are interested in being a part of one of the projects.

Teacher Workshops: Safe Passage is interested in more workshops about classroom management as well as open to other suggestions. The teachers meet every Tuesday at 3:30 in addition to any other day that might be planned.

Play Days: Repeatedly, interest has been expressed from many parties to continue to offer these. Traditionally, they have been held on Saturday mornings, one time per semester with the possibility of students from all of our grades participating. The some 11th grade members have expressed an interest in promoting Play for Peace, where adolescent students are trained to be play leaders.

School Supply Support: Each year Maya has chosen a way to support the Safe Passage children as they prepare to go to school in January. In some years we have helped to buy shoes for every child, in others we have purchased backpacks.

Pen Pals: Safe Passage is really interested in making this happen and recommends that perhaps one of the best strategies would be to have a class to class relationship. Spanish is a consideration, but not insuperable.

Special Connections: Below are specific connections that have been requested:

• Class visits – establish a relationship from your class with another one and share with them some Active Learning activities. Last year’s science projects/demonstrations for Earth Day were well received.
• Drama – The Safe Passage students really want to be able to learn the various skills that they see our students exhibit.
• Teenage Conversations – Safe Passage would like for their students to be able to benefit from presentations and/or conversations about teen health topics. Also, since they are beginning to develop their English, they would like for them to have the opportunity to practice.
• Reading – SP would like for older students to come and read to the younger students. A majority of the reading would need to be in Spanish.
• Arts, Crafts & Cooking – Any class, group or teacher that is willing to teach any of these are welcomed by SP.
• Music – Safe Passage has a group that play guitar and sing that would like to come to Maya to perform on our stage and to share with us their talent.
• Lacrosse & Soccer – Safe Passage has teams for these sports (ages 12-16) who would like to play.
• Currently, our National Honor Society is considering a project with the Centro to increase their listening learning center options.