Educating Indigenous
Girls for a Better Future

As is common in traditional societies, women in rural Guatemala are oppressed. Most girls drop out of school after first, or second grade to help their mothers at home and only five percent complete sixth grade, according to the United Nations. Most marry and become pregnant as teenagers, when they are ill equipped to raise healthy, prosperous families, which perpetuates the cycle of poverty.

Studies show that educating girls leads to a decrease in teenage pregnancies and early childhood mortality and an increase in household incomes. Since 1994, Ak’ Tenamit has implemented a UN program called We Must Educate the Girls, which has resulted in steady growth in the number of village girls finishing sixth grade and entering high school.

• Almost half of the Moran Center’s student body is now female, up from just 12 girls in 2001.
• First year female students receive extra help and participate in workshops that raise their self-esteem and help them adjust to life at the Center.
  
• Upper-level female students act as role models and advocates, visiting villages to convince parents to keep their daughters in school and encouraging girls to study hard.
  
• Various young women who graduated from the Moran Center have enrolled in universities.
  

Please consider sponsoring one of these girls– you can change a girl’s life forever!

Education: Overview | Elementary Education | Secondary Education | Work Study Program | Cancuén | Educating Girls | Student Sponsorship