La BPA Receives a Special Visit from Camp Guatemala for Teens and Adults with Disabilities

Every year around mid December in Santiago Atitlan you're bound to encounter a group of energetic visitors from the US and other villages in Guatemala. They're easy to spot not only because of their energy level and diversity, but also for their bright smiles and laughter...it's obvious that they're having a good time. In addition, you're likely to see a trail of wheel chairs and volunteers wherever the group is present.

US volunteers Sarah Peller and Peter Halby have been organizing Camp Guatemala for 8 years now, bringing together Guatemalan and US young adults and teens for a fun cross-cultural experience.

This year, La Puerta Abierta was a part of the camp itinerary and a wonderful group joined us for games, stories, and holiday cheer. Visiting Jorge Luis taught us sign language, Miss Chonita shared a Christmas story and we merrily decorated Christmas trees while turning up the volume of our holiday music. Truly, we couldn't think of a better way to celebrate the holidays at La Puerta Abierta!

Tis the Season at La Puerta Abierta!

Happy Holidays from Ms. Wendy's Toddler Class at La Puerta Abierta

The library filled with excited children today as we celebrated our last day of preschool vacation classes, "Mis Primeros Pasos," with Ms. Wendy. Her 11 students and their parents joined us at La Puerta Abierta for a morning of holiday festivities and treats.

Boats and Buses...Creative Play at La Puerta Abierta

Vacation Classes at La Puerta Abierta

As the coffee season approaches in Guatemala, the school year draws to an end. In the past, children were seen as an important source of labor in the picking and gathering of coffee, one of the country's major cash crops. At La Puerta Abierta, November signifies vacation...not for the teachers as we offer our programs year round, but for the students of Santiago who will enjoy a two month break for formal education.

Some children will continue to work the coffee fields during the vacation months and many more will accompany their parents to harvest their family crops or to haul fire-wood from the surrounding mountains.

This said, over 100 children will participate in 8 weeks of fun, stimulating, and engaging classes throughout the next two months of vacation at our center. In the mornings, Wendy, Chonita and I have been busy working with our pre-school aged children with 3 different early stimulation classes.

During the afternoon hours, Candelaria and Chonita host a group of 15 school aged children who participate in a program called, "Adventures in Reading." In addition to exploring literature, the students are exposed to creative learning techniques, academic reinforcement and critical thinking skills. Angelika continues to join us every Friday afternoon to teach a two hour art class. Her young artists range in age of 7 years old to 32 year old (I participate too).

4 year old Geremias visits the library three mornings a week for early stimulation classes and a toddler art class. His mother shares, "Geremias loves coming to La Puerta Abierta and wishes that he could assist classes every day."

I am thrilled to know that even at a very young age we are providing the children of our community with a positive connection to education.

Local Scholarship Students Lend a Hand at La Puerta Abierta

With only two weeks to go until we open the doors of the new Puerta Abierta, we have been busy packing up our old center and preparing to make our big move. Now that we have a permanent home for La Puerta Abierta, the teachers and I want our new building to be perfect in every way...kid friendly, good natural lighting, fun paint colors, etc.

We are very grateful for the recent support that we have received from two local scholarship groups, The International Humanitarian Foundation and Starfish One by One. Both organizations provide academic and mentoring scholarships for rural Mayan teenagers. In addition to obtaining academic aid, scholars are also encouraged to participate in community service work.

La Puerta Abierta sends out a huge MUCHAS GRACIAS to the combined 18 teens from both groups who helped us paint our new building over the weekend. We hope that they will feel at home in our new center in the coming months, knowing that they played a role in preparing it for their community.

Pilgrimage to Tzanchaj

As the Guatemalan school year draws to an end, Candelaria, Wendy, Chonita and I are currently making our annual pilgrimage to the rural communities of Santiago where we collaborate with six different schools who participate in our traveling library program.

Today we visited the rural school of Tzanchaj #2 where we work with 3 elementary school grades. We had the opportunity to interview 2nd grade teacher, Mrs. Magdalena who shared, "Throughout the school year, I have witnessed my students grow in excitement about reading as a result of the traveling library program."

Continues Magdalena, "When my students see Miss Wendy coming into our class-room, they shout, "Horray, here comes the story teacher!"

In addition, her students have developed creative thinking skills. After listening to Miss Wendy's stories, they like to create their own imaginative tales.

When we asked Magdelana what recommendations she had for the library program in 2011, she simply stated "the only thing that I would change about the traveling library program is to receive more class-room visits, as my children LOVE story hour."

We're in agreement with Magdelena...hopefully we'll be able to visit her class every week instead of twice a month next year.

Young Artists at Work in La Puerta Abierta

Rain or shine, 1o year old Dolores is waiting at La Puerta Abierta for the doors to open on Friday afternoons. She has come to our center to receive art classes with collaborating artist, Angelika Bauer.

Angelika has been volunteering with La Puerta Abierta for six months now, teaching creative art practices to our community children.

Dolores shares that she looks forward to her Friday afternoon art class all week long. What she most likes about working with Angelika is "experimenting with new materials like oil pastels and textured paper."

In addition to participating in art classes at La Puerta Abierta, Dolores also enjoys visiting our center to read. She can often be spotted reading classics like Little Red Riding Hood and Cinderella.

Meet Ruth, our September Student of the Month!

Felicidades to Ruth, our September Student of the Month!

Ruth is a part of our Traveling Library Program. Once a week Miss Candelaria visits her small community of Panabaj to bring story hour to Ruth and her neighbors.

Age: 10 years old
Grade: 3rd

Favorite School Subject: Math

Hobbies: Drawing

Favorite Food: Apples

Shares Ruth, "I like the Traveling Library because I always learn something new with Miss Candelaria."

The teachers at La Puerta Abierta comment, "Ruth is an enthusiastic learner and loves to participate."

Teachers use Literature to Engage Children in Creative Play at La Puerta Abierta

At La Puerta Abierta we strive not only to share a positive reading experience with the youth of Santiago Atitlan, but also to provide students with an opportunity to explore their own creativity.

Every Saturday morning we host an Art and Creativity Workshop for a group of local children and last week, La Puerta Abierta was transformed into a comedor, or small restaurant created by the children.

After reading "El Restaurante," with Chonita, students divided into small groups to design a menu, choose a restaurant name, and prepare a tasty snack to be served by child-sized waiters.

In these photos, Maria and Martita proudly display the menu at the library transformed comedor, "El Gran Sol," and Chonita, Candelaria and helpers make tostadas.

Meet Karen, BPA Co-Founder

Karen is a retired schoolteacher from San Diego California. In 2005 she visited Santiago Atitlan as a volunteer in the local schools and discovered that there were very few educational resources for the children and families of this community and outlying villages. This was a need she felt she could fill with her background in teaching and contacts with bilingual libraries in Southern California.

At the same time, Karen met Amanda who was working as a Peace Corps volunteer in Santiago. They discovered they shared the same dream of providing a source of books and materials that could be used with local schools and of opening their own, free library someday. This was the beginning of La Puerta Abierta. After many trips bringing donated children's books to Guatemala and sharing these books in temporary locations, La Puerta Abierta officially opened its doors in January, 2007.

Karen remains an active volunteer at La Puerta Abierta and visits two or three times a year. She also continues to provide substantial funding for the center and supports scholarship students with the help of friends she has brought into the program.

“I am proud of La Puerta Abierta and the commitment Amanda and I have made to create a dynamic, vital, learning center for the children and families of Santiago, Atitlan. Reading and singing with the children remain my favorite activities and I always count the days until my next visit.”

Friday Business

As I was sitting in La Puerta Abierta last Friday watching groups of children flow in and out of our center, I remembered a conversation that I had three years ago with Mingo, a farmer, a father of ten, a respected member of the rural community of Tzanchaj and most importantly, a friend who wasn't afraid to tell me what he really thought of my projects.

I had dreamt of opening a library in Santiago for many years, recognizing that books were scarce, children had few opportunities to connect with literature, and safe spaces for children and teens were difficult to come by in town. Still, I wondered how the community would respond to a library which was more alternative than the municipal library where children went to find fast facts...the locations of countries, the definitions of words, the names of past presidents.

I envisioned so much more for La Puerta Abierta...a place where children could find a comfortable corner for exploring a good book , a center for a variety of creative activities, a base to bring reading and non-formal learning out into the rural communities.

In all fairness, Mingo liked my idea, but he asked with doubt, "Will the children come?"

"Children are busy. They work the fields, make tortillas, go to school, clean the house, buy in the market. They don't have time to read books," he shared with honesty.

After living in Santiago for three years and working in schools, I understood many of the hardships that Mayan children face. At a very young age, children often find themselves facing "adult" responsibilities such as caring for younger siblings, contributing to the family income, and participating in house-hold chores.

This said, I had also witnessed another part of life in rural Guatemala where days move on a slower clock, where children sit idly on street curbs simply to watch people pass by, where rainy afternoons are spent in-doors sharing stories with family members, where people often wait for ______________(fill in the blank with just about anything).

Surely children had the occasional free afternoon to stop by La Puerta Abierta.

On a weekly basis, La Puerta Abierta works with over 500 students. We have over 200 children who stop in for reading and home-work help, 40 students enrolled in our Early Stimulation Classes, 10 in our Preschool, 15 in our Friday Art Club, 15 in our Reading Club, 20 in our Saturday Morning Creativity Classes, not to mention the 200 children who receive story hour every week in our out-reach program, La Biblioteca Movil.

Now, I can confidently answer Mingo's question with a giant smile of satisfaction, "Yes, the children are coming!"

The Power of Children

By: Rachel Sloane

When you travel, you leave home with specific intentions… to understand a culture, to fill a void, to find an adventure. And sometimes, you won’t discover your purpose of travel until you are well immersed within the journey.

Doing outreach work with Wendy and Candelaria has brought purpose to my experience abroad. I alternate between accompanying Wendy to schools in the urban center of Santiago and working with Candelaria in the rural schools.

It isn’t the lesson plans or my fulfillment of doing a good deed that makes me leave with a smile; it is the children. It is witnessing their desire to learn, watching their participation, appreciating their wealth of intelligence and creativity and most of all, feeling welcomed.

While the villages I visit with Candelaria are poor, I’ve been touched by what the communities have come together to offer for their children. In the small village of Panabaj, everyone knows each other. There is a community approach to caring for children and while working there, I have been able to contribute to the love and support that most adults provid for the community children.

The children now know me by name, they greet me when I enter the schoolroom, and they gaze at Candelaria and me with wide eyes as we share stories with them. We all try our best despite the poor conditions to encourage the children to grow and learn. Chickens parade through the room as we work on projects, and rain dribbles through the roof as Candelaria reads. Children slosh through the rain and mud to participate in story hour. Nobody complains because a great story in a leaky room is much better than no story at all!

My experiences working with rural youth in Santiago have showed me how resilient the youngest people can be and how incredible the power of community togetherness is. I’ve never worked with children before. These small revelations have showed me that working with kids really is good for my soul.

Diaries from a Volunteer

By: Rachel Sloane


I had been struggling with the language barrier working at La Puerta Abierta in my first few weeks. It had been hard for me to loose my talent of communicating well with others. My language barrier was starting to feel like a burden. I knew it wasn’t a huge issue, because we were always able to complete the tasks at hand, but for me, I felt like I was wasting a lot of the librarians' time having to repeat directions over and over.

So, you can imagine I would walk in with a little anxiety...but one student helped change that all.

Cary is an enthusiastic, blonde haired cutie who never walks into class with out saying ¨Buenos Dias.¨ He was pleasantly reading out loud to himself as I swept the classroom floor. His adorable interest in books about trucks somehow caught my attention. It was the first chance I had to hang out one on one with one of the students. I squatted down and pretended to follow along as he read about fire trucks, garbage trucks and dump trucks. Eventually he stopped and started asking me questions ¨Como se lama?¨ was his first inquiry, and questions about my family and my friends soon followed. The greatest part about this conversation was that I could follow along! Finally I was able to respond in a conversational manner and I discovered that I actually understood what somebody wanted to say to me!

This child had no idea what he did for me that day. He took a stress of my shoulders, he gave me a boost of confidence and me made me smile. But then again, I am quickly learning kids do a lot of wonderful things for us ¨grownups” with out realizing it.

Meet Rachel, our Newest Volunteer at La Puerta Abierta

Rachel was born and raised in Raleigh, North Carolina. She is currently studying Interpersonal Communication at North Carolina State University. She plans on heading to Portland, Organ after graduation to pursue her Masters in Social Work.

Rachel loves working for her college radio station, listening to music, riding on trains, and reading good books.

She decided to visit Guatemala for a much needed adventure. She has enjoyed the people she has met in Santiago and feels that they have already taught her to view the world differently.

La Puerta Abierta welcomes Rachel to their team. Stay tuned...Rachel will be sharing her experiences as a volunteer on our blog.

Celebrating our Teachers!

Today is Dia de los Maestros (Day of the Teachers) in Guatemala. We are so grateful for our wonderful staff of three teachers at La Puerta Abierta. Today we celebrate and honor Wendy, Candelaria and Chonita!

Meet Jose!

Name: Jose

Age: 4 years old

Attends: Mommy and Me/Early Stimulation Class at La Puerta Abierta

Says Jose, " My mom and I participate in the Early Stimulation program every week. I like visiting with my friends at the library. Miss Concepción is my teacher and she shares a story with us every Wednesday."

Favorite book: Oso Pardo, Oso Pardo, Que Ve Alli ? Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do You See?

The teachers at La Puerta Abierta comment, "Jose is full of energy and laughter. He likes to sing, dance, and especially likes story hour!"

Moving Right Along...A New Home for La Puerta Abierta

In 2007, La Puerta Abierta Library began as a small children's reading room which occupied a tiny space in the second floor of a local community project. As our programs began to expand, and our one room library grew crowded with children and parents, we quickly learned that we were going to need a larger space which would allow us to cultivate our programs.

Luckily in 2008, we received funding to transport our project to a local house which we rented and converted into a community learning center. We painted the walls with bright colors, filled our book shelves with games and toys, and opened our doors to a variety of new classes. With each passing month, new students would enroll in our reading clubs, our early stimulation classes, and our creativity programs.

At the end of last year, we recognized that our biggest problem once again was the size of our building due to the amount of children who were soliciting classes and home-work help. As far as problems go, I suppose having too many children interested in reading and learning is a good one to have!

Three months ago, we celebrated breaking ground of the future Puerta Abierta! We continue to "move right along" with the construction of our new learning center which will host two large rooms for reading, activities, and creative learning as well as an outdoor area for children to explore.

Like most things in Guatemala, construction is slow and unpredictable. With a little luck , we'll be inaugurating our new center in August, 2010.

Diaries from a Volunteer at La Puerta Abierta

By: Brittany

BPA visiting volunteer

My experience volunteering with librarians and the children at La Puerta Abierta was wonderful. I traveled to Santiago Atitlan to volunteer at the local hospital as a nurse with my newly earned RN. I luckily stumbled upon La Puerta Abierta one day as I was walking through Santiago exploring. The energy at the library was alive and vibrant, and I quickly set up a time to volunteer. I ended up volunteering about four days a week with the library, and found my niche to be in a local community in Panabaj where the library hosts an out-reach project.

The children in Panabaj were warm, energetic, and easy to get to know. I quickly found myself looking forward to our meetings and having difficulty saying goodbye after each session.
I remember my last day volunteering in Panabaj… After reading our book and completing our activity, we played a massive game of hide and seek throughout the community. Our game became more and more intense and we began sprawling further and further into the surrounding coffee trees. I have so many memories with the children, and ones more educational than this one, but their smiles, enthusiasm and sheer joy throughout our last game of hide and seek are still very clear in my mind.

Another special memory I have also took place in the Panabaj community. This is a memory of pride and success. This was a day that I presented an activity that I created using the children’s book, “La Casa Adormecida.” One of the follow up activities was to attempt to recall all the characters that were presented sequentially throughout the book. It was a large task, but I wanted to see if anyone was brave enough to stand in front of the class and go for it. There were about eight characters, a bed, a grandmother, a boy, a dog, a cat, etc. Basic words, but the challenge was in standing before all their peers and public speaking. I was not surprised that no one volunteered at first. However, I asked my special friend, Ruth, if she would do me a favor and give it a try. She very reluctantly walked towards the front. I said, “Ruth, look at your classmates, not at the ground!” And she bravely looked up, and slowly recited every single character in perfect order to her classmates. I was so thrilled, and so was she! Her smile and sense of achievement were so memorable. I will always remember Ruth and all of her impressive talents.

Santiago Atitlan bounces back after Tropical Storm Agatha

Agatha, the first tropical storm of Central America's hurricane season, hovered over Guatemala last weekend bringing heavy rains and flooding to our community.

The staff at La Puerta Abierta thanks our friends and family for their thoughts concerning our community, our students, and our center. We are happy to report that we are all fine and have had 4 consecutive days of sunshine post storm.

This said, many families throughout the region lost their homes, belongings and crops to the heavy flooding which quickly swept through villages.

While school has been suspended for the week as a nation wide mandate, we are trying to maintain some level of routine at La Puerta Abierta. We have "opened our doors" for children who continue to attend our classes. Students have been dropping in to read books, gather with their friends, play games, or to simply escape some of the stresses and fears associated with the heavy rain falls.

As we begin to bounce back into the swing of things, I am reminded of how resilient the people of Guatemala are. Roads are quickly being rebuilt, homes and centers have been opened offering temporary shelter for displaced families, and community members are reaching out to one another.

If you would like to make a donation to support the reconstruction process, check out http://www.internationalhf.org/page.php?10

Performing without Borders visits La Puerta Abierta

There was no silience at La Biblioteca Puerta Abierta last Saturday morning which was perfectly OK!

Performing without Borders (cupwb.blogspot.com) is on a two week tour of Guatemala and working with a variety of NGOs throughout the country sharing songs, games, and leadership activities with youth in a program designed to inspire children to speak up and feel confident using their own voices.

30 elementry aged children gathered with the team of actors from Colorado for a mutually good time. Reflects Chelsea, the program coordinator, "I forgot how fun it is just to play with little kids."

The library quickly filled with the echoes of a childhood favorite classic chanting song "Boom-chika-boom," and our young students wiggled their bodies to create body movements to accompany the words of the song.

As the morning progressed, our students became increasingly more comfertable speaking up. 6 year old Maria sat quietly in her chair as she searched for the self confidence to share her name with the visiting group as we initiated the morning activities. Timidly she whispered "Me llamo Juana," and while her voice was quiet, I could tell that simply saying her name was a small accomplishment.

In rural Guatemala, women struggle to speak up. Young girls in Guatemala are rarely encouraged to share their minds and they may not have female role models in their lives who reflect skills of self confidence.

As the morning activities came to an end, Maria found the courage to stand in the center of a circle of linked hands of children and visiting actors, to look everyone in the eye, and to comfortably say her name. The endeavor may seem small, but for 6 year old Juana, learning the power of her own voice could transform her into a community leader.

With heart felt gratitude with thank Performing without Borders for their visit to our community center.

Artist Angelika Bauer Inspires Children with Art at La Puerta Abierta

Throughout the past three years, La Puerta Abierta has become much more than a library. It has transformed into a place where children gather with their mothers for early stimulation classes, where friends meet on Friday afternoons to play with our educational games, where teachers visit to borrow story books for their classes and where children sign up for a variety of classes and workshops.

In addition to serving the community as a library, La Puerta Abierta has been opening it's doors to the public as a genuine learning center. This month, we have been collaborating with Angelika Bauer who has been hosting a children's art work-shop at our center. German born Angelika has been living in Santiago for over twenty years and her paintings and drawings are celebrated in Guatemala and abroad.

Angelika hopes to inspire our students to explore creative art practices and has been teaching our students about abstract art and color combinations. Using oil pastels as their medium, local students have been revealing great artistic potential.

Shares 10 year old Maria, "I am having so much fun with art...maybe I'll be an artist like Angelika some day!"

Meet Chonita, Our Outstanding Program Coordinator

I have fond memories of going to school as a child. I liked to study and to see my friends daily. By the time I finished sixth grade, I had also learned a variety of handy-crafts. I could embroider, sew, make beaded jewelry and crochet hats. I am grateful for learning these skills, because they allowed me to earn a small income and pay for a part of my school costs in Jr. High and High School.

In addition to studying, I really wanted to be able to help my parents with our family expenses. We are seven children all together, and I am the oldest sibling.

Fortunately, I was able to graduate from the teaching academy in Santiago Atitlan and I spent my first three years after graduating, working in different schools.

Nearly three years ago, I began working in La Puerta Abierta Learning Center. I feel very blessed for my current work because in addition to working in a pleasant environment, I am also helping my community, and I am continuing to learn new skills.

I divide my time between working at La Biblioteca Puerta Abierta, and caring for my two year old daughter Lea, who has the privilege of coming to the center with me daily. I hope that when she is older, she will cultivate an appreciation for reading and a love for learning.

La Puerta Abierta Mommy and Me Class--Honoring Guatemalan Mothers!

Being a mother is definitely the toughest job you'll ever love, especially in rural Guatemala where moms are expected to care for large families.

Mothers wake up early to prepare baskets of fresh tortillas, spend the morning washing clothes by hand, walk to the market to purchase fruits and vegetables for the afternoon meal, tend to small children, and weave colorful textiles so that they can contribute to the family income.

When we began the Mommy and Me Class two years ago at La Puerta Abierta, I wondered if mothers would find the time in their busy days to bring their toddlers to our learning center for an hour of early stimulation.

Currently, La Puerta Abierta hosts two groups of toddlers and their mothers twice a week. Together, they explore a variety of toys and games. They gather on our colorful carpet for story hour and dip their fingers in sticky glue and finger paint to elaborate creative art projects together.

This week, I'd like to celebrate the mothers of our early stimulation class...mothers who have carved a magical hour out of their busy week to share the gift of early childhood education with their children.

If you'd like to celebrate a mother in your life and present her with a meaningful and alternative Mother's Day gift, you can support our Mommy and Me program with an online donation at http://internationalhf.org/page.php?105 A $25 donation supports a class of 15 mothers and their children for one month.

Traveling Library Partnership Provides Creative Learning Opportunities in Santiago

La Puerta Abierta (Open Door) Children's Library in Santiago Atitlan is visited by hundreds of students each week. Older students gather around large rectangular tables to work on their homework in the afternoons, toddlers visit the library in the mornings for Mommy and Me activities, and IHF ( http://internationalhf.org/) scholars use the learning center over the weekend to receive academic support from Candelaria, a Puerta Abierta Librarian and an IHF student mentor.

While many children and teens benefit from using the resources located at our center, two years ago we recognized a need to bring books and story hour to the rural schools and students in Santiago who were not be able to afford transportation costs to visit our library in the urban center. In 2007, we piloted La Biblioteca Movil, The Traveling Library Program. Candelaria, our Traveling Library Coordinator, went to three selected schools where she would share a story and an art activity with local school children. Simultaneously for the elementary school teachers she would demonstrate teaching techniques on how to incorporate reading into the school curriculum. In addition, Candelaria would leave a lending book bag for each class to explore throughout the week. She'd return the following week with a new story, art activity, and book bag to share.The Mobile Library achieved wonderful results. Candelaria said that when the students saw her entering into their class, they'd enthusiastically shout, "Here comes the story teacher!"

In just one day, Candelaria was able to share stories with three classes or approximately 100 students and provide them with a positive reading experience. Many children held a picture book in their hands for the first time. Teachers were especially thankful for the use of our lending book system and for having stories to incorporate into their day of teaching. Two years later, the Traveling Library now visits five schools in the surrounding communities of Santiago.

Each year, we receive new requests from schools who would like to participate in the Traveling Library Program.Please help us bring La Biblioteca Movil to more schools within our community. An annual donation of $550 can sponsor one local school to participate in our program. It covers the salary of the visiting librarian, her transportation costs, purchasing art supplies, and upkeep of our book kits. A $50 donation can cover the expenses of art supplies for one month for the traveling library, and a $25 donation can purchase one lending book bag filled with new books for children to explore.

With heart-felt gratitude,

The Teachers of La Puerta Abierta