Hands For Peacemaking Foundation

School Facilities & Education

It is often said that unless things change everything will remain the same. The extreme poverty that provides a daily struggle for the villagers of rural Guatemala is often fueled by the lack of education. When a village lacks a school or it is in such terrible condition that it makes it difficult for the youngsters to learn, children often go to work in the fields instead of getting an education.

Thanks to the generosity of Rotary Clubs in the US, Hands For Peacemaking has been able to partner with some of the most remote villages to build a school. The villagers purchase the land, clear it and prepare the concrete foundation. The Rotary teams often stay in the village while they build the school.

The Rotary teams realized that the children and teachers needed new desks for their new school. Hands For Peacemaking established a desk building business and taught locals how to work with power tools, to

weld and the skills needed to assemble the desks. Today, the desk building operation employs nine workers and has built over 7000 desks for schools in the area.

Village families know that if their children are going to have a better life than they have had, they will need an education. They struggle with the balance of the need for a quality education and the need for the children to work to earn enough money for the family to survive.

The schools have become a community center that not only help the children learn but now mothers go to school in the afternoon and villagers use the buildings as a community center.

The schools are changing village life.

The future is looking much brighter!

1818 Holbrook Avenue | Everett, WA 98203 | P: 425.348.3030 | F: 425.355.8238

Email: info@handsforpeacemaking.org