Latest News
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Deck The Halls Of The School Of Hope
01/12/2020Help us deck the halls of The School of Hope this festive season. Throughout the month of December we will be opening 12 doors into the everyday life of our students and staff. You’ll meet people like Celena EFTC graduate and school nurse , our amazing kitchen staff, Michelle school psychologist, local bus drivers and of course, our students themselves.
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Preparing Our Graduates For The Future
05/11/2020Each year the School of Hope graduating class undergoes an in-depth high school preparation program, this year was no different despite the challenges. Find out how are 9th graders are celebrating and preparing for the future.
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From EFTC Ambassador to passionate fisherman: the many ways in which Malcolm supports EFTC
02/11/2020Malcolm Richards, Business Ambassador for EFTC (and a friend to many at the Foundation), has organised a number of fun fundraisers over the years. Most recently “Esox for EFTC”. So how did this mystery fishing competition go…
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End of the 2020 school year
13/10/2020The academic year in Guatemala runs from January to October, which means we have just one month left of the 2020 school year! Read the latest updates from the School of Hope including our new Covid-safe meeting spaces.
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7th hamper distribution
09/09/2020A quick update on our 7th hamper distribution. As the School of Hope is now partially open for staff, parents were able to safely collect their hampers in-person and hand in their children's homework tasks.
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Marvellous Murals
07/09/2020Learn how university students Indira and Cristian are transforming The School of Hope's white walls during lockdown.
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Entrepreneurship: through business, lives can be changed
28/08/2020“An entrepreneur is someone that thinks bigger. They look at the world and don't just simply ask the question "why?" but "why not” ” We got a chance to “speak” (virtually and mainly in written format!) to Ty New from Project Apoyo about our first collaborative Small-Business grant.
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When Covid Affects the Community
27/08/2020Sara Miller, our Project Director in Guatemala and Brien Ashdown, our US Executive Director have just published an article on the School of Hope’s response to COVID in the journal of Local Development and Society.
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Supporting Entrepreneurs: Kimberly's story
14/08/2020Read the first installment about EFTC and Project Apoyo´s collaborative Small-Business Grant programme. Awarded to Design & Fashion graduate, Kimberly. Who is showing that even in the middle of a pandemic with a lot of planning, dedication and some support success is within her reach.
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COVID-19 6 months on
10/08/2020It is hard to believe that the School of Hope has been closed for 6 months now. Although cases of COVID-19 in Guatemala continue to rise, (total cases = 55,270 including 2,168 confirmed deaths) the Guatemalan government is beginning to open things up again with social distancing measures in place. Read here for the latest update on our 6th hamper distribution.
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Graduating in Lockdown
29/07/2020Discover how students in our Further Education programme are getting to grips with completing their education during Guatemala´s lockdown.
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Covid-19 Cases Rise And We Respond
06/07/2020Covid-19 cases continue to rise in Guatemala with 23,248 confirmed and 947 deaths confirmed as of Monday 6 July. The School of Hope remains closed and we remain committed to the nourishment, well-being and education of our students. Our 5th emergency hamper distribution is vital to give our families what they need to endure this ongoing crisis.
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Laura's mega challenge
24/06/2020During lockdown Laura Mitchell, a previous volunteer intern with EFTC took on the incredible challenge of completing 3.5 marathons on foot and bike! So far she has raised an amazing £740 for the School of Hope. These funds will help us to continue to provide essential support to students and their families throughout this crisis.
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Learning How To Respond
24/06/2020As The School of Hope remains closed, we have to constantly adapt and change our methods to provide both practical and emotional support to our families. Read about how our social department have adapted how they work to conduct a telephone survey with all of our families to determine need and our supporting strategy.
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Global Golf Day FAQs
15/06/2020Get the lowdown for our Global Golf Day and prize giving evening on 9 & 10 July
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Congratulations Emma Honey - EFTC volunteer intern
10/06/2020We were delighted to hear that Emma Honey, one of our recent interns has received the Outstanding Engaged Student Scholarship from Hobart and William Smith College’s 12th annual Community Engaged Scholarship Forum. Emma journeyed from Geneva NY, USA to volunteer as a teaching assistant in the summer of 2019. Here she reflects on her time with her students at The School of Hope.
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Critical Support Continues Under Curfew
01/06/2020Covid-19 cases in Guatemala have been steadily rising causing President Alejandro Giammattei to extend the evening curfew and implement nationwide weekend lockdowns from Friday 15th May. Find out how we're meeting the challenge to distribute both food, hygiene supplies and homework to ensure all our students remain healthy and learning.
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Looking after our mental health in a time of crisis
21/05/2020In support of Mental Health Awareness Week, our head of Social Services, Aracely, tells us how the team in Guatemala are continuing to provide mental health support during quarantine. Aracely started working for EFTC in 2007 as our first ever school psychologist. Now she oversees our Social Services Department, who are currently working hard from home to help our families through this crisis.
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Keeping Dreams Alive
18/05/2020Patty Castillo, our Head of Scholarship at the School of Hope, shares how her team is supporting our scholarship students and the initiative and resilience of these young people as they hope to progress to university
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Phenomenal Proven Partnerships
14/05/2020Ever since the foundation was established back in 2003, we’ve pushed the boundaries to better serve our student community. Part of that ethos is being outward looking and collaborative wherever we can. There’s huge benefits to establishing long term partnerships.
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Erick’s Egg Escapade
06/05/2020Our 3rd food hamper distribution went eggcellently. Excuse the pun, but it’s got to that point in lockdown:) Our wonderful chef Erick steps up once again. He’s becoming a hero on the frontline, king of distribution and egg-juggling multitasker. Read his story of what it’s like to be coordinating through all of the crazy right-now.
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Project Director, Sara Miller tells all about her team of heroes who fed our families
09/04/2020Our mission was to feed our families and we did just that. Foundation Director, Sara Miller updates us on the herculean effort it took to get all of the life-nourishing food out to our families before the curfew.
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The next stage of our coronavirus response: feed our families
03/04/2020Tough times call for immediate action. Our families' income is coming to a screeching halt and we must step in and change our focus from educator to provider.
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Educating Students in Lockdown
01/04/2020Our Education Director Kelsey Carlton updates us on how the School of Hope's teachers are getting to grips with providing support to our students during lockdown.
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Impact of Covid-19 on the EFTC Foundation
18/03/2020We live in unprecedented times that are changing minute by minute. Here's an overview of how the coronavirus pandemic is affecting our students and staff at The School of Hope and at our Foundation offices in the UK.
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International Women's Day is every day at EFTC
08/03/2020Sunday the 8th of March is International Women’s Day, when we celebrate the achievements of women worldwide, both past and present, and continue to strive for equality everywhere. The realities of being a girl in Guatemala include many obstacles such as gender-based violence and discrimination. However, within the doors of our School our students have a space where they are safe and equal, regardless of their gender.
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Dreams to reality: From a student to a young professional
04/03/2020Here at the School of Hope our vision is to empower all our students through quality education to ensure that they become motivated and employable leaders of change in their communities. Some of our students have a clear career path that they want to embark on as soon as they leave the School. This is exactly what happened to Rocío.
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High school student, avid reader and football referee: meet Edwin, a student of many talents
24/02/2020February has been a busy month at the School of Hope with all classes taking part in our Football Tournament. Playing with and against their classmates is teaching the children about teamwork and healthy competition. One of our graduates from 2018, Edwin, has been volunteering in the tournament as a referee to ensure fair play. While being a football referee has been fun, Edwin has other plans for his future.
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From The School of Hope to City Success: The journey of Carlos Escalante
17/02/2020You may remember Carlos from our blog in 2017. He was studying Pedagogy and Psychology in a university in Guatemala City while working nine hours a day, four times a week, just to keep a roof on his head. The hardworking and determined student has since graduated and has come a long way since his studies.
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Donate Your Dinner for The School of Hope
12/02/2020In the lead up to World EFTC Day on Thursday 19 March we're asking all of our supporters to donate their dinners to fund our 2020 nutrition shortfall budget.
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Meet our auto-mechanic students: building futures for themselves one car at a time . . . Thanks to a generous grant from The Foux Foundation!!
10/02/2020We want to encourage all our students to follow their own educational path after they graduate from the School of Hope. To our graduates Jennifer, Nixon and Kevin, this path led to high schools studying auto-mechanics. They are breaking the mould and building a career and future in the field they are passionate about.
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David's Tonne Run Banishes the Winter Blues
10/02/2020In the lead up to World EFTC Day on Thursday 19 March, we’re sharing our supporters' stories of how they have challenged themselves for the School of Hope. Here, David Wilson from our longtime corporate partner HD Decisions, tells us what motivated him to take on the Tonne Run Challenge.
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Conquering mountains for The School of Hope
27/01/2020We have so many supporters who give up their time and challenge themselves to support EFTC. Here, Michael Berry gives us the low-down on the gruelling SAS Fan Dance Challenge and why he wanted his efforts to support our students.
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Mahalia Celebrates One Year With EFTC
18/12/2019Our UK Development & Fundraising Manager, Mahalia Carroll has almost completed her first year with EFTC. At the end of 2019, she the reflects on her summer trip to Guatemala......
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Help our graduate students to fulfil their dreams
10/12/2019Hi, I’m Patricia Castillo, Further Education Director at The School of Hope. I’ve been with the school for fifteen years and it is a delight when I see students progress to higher education. Five of our students are pursuing their dream to gain a technical qualification at university and build a better life for themselves and their families. They’re all such lovely young people with bright futures on the horizon.
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Turbulent economic times causing EFTC 2020 funding shortfall
30/10/2019Our school has grown tenfold since its inception sixteen years ago. This is both inspiring and challenging as we strive to meet our ever increasing costs. This year, sterling continues to suffer from uncertainty and is at levels significantly below the average since we have been active in Guatemala.
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Andy’s journey of discovery
28/08/2019My first involvement with Education for the Children (EFTC) started over four years ago, when my friend Louise, Sponsor coordinator at the School of Hope in Jocotenango, Guatemala, introduced me to the organisation. She told me all about the fantastic work that EFTC is doing and asked me if I’d like to get involved by sponsoring a child. His name is Rafael and from the first photos of the School of Hope, my life has been enriched by the children, staff, volunteers, sponsors and everyone I have met.
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An internship at EFTC
30/07/2019I really recommend it to anyone interested in the nonprofit world, Central America, education issues and/or improving their Spanish. It’s so hard to leave once you have made a connection with the pupils, staff and the country but you will come away feeling empowered and ready to spread the word of EFTC and continue making a difference wherever you find yourself next.
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Esperanza Festival at Rushcliffe School
24/07/2019Last week we had the pleasure of attending Rushcliffe School’s annual Esperanza Festival. This is the sixth year Rushcliffe school have run the fundraising event, and every year it gets more popular! The school arranges a fair for all the students to attend, where they can listen to music, play on the bouncy castle and peruse the various stalls on offer.
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Catherine completes the “3 Peaks” Challenge for EFTC!
10/07/2019EFTC would like to thank Catherine Pilling, Head of Spanish at Nottingham Girls High School and long time supporter of EFTC who completed the National 3 Peaks Challenge last week to raise money for the School of Hope.
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9 years of dedicated work
17/06/2019Mrs Bibi has been working at The School of Hope for 9 years. She has always worked with the kindergarten children and has nothing but praise for the school and how it has grown over the years.
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Coffee Central Partnership
06/06/2019EFTC is very pleased to announce that it now has its very own Guatemalan coffee available to buy online from local Nottingham based partners Coffee Central
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The London Marathon - Carla’s Story
20/05/2019Carla had the opportunity to run in the 2019 London Marathon for the Education for the Children Foundation and the School of Hope in Jocotenango, Guatemala.
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So how do you cycle from the UK to Guatemala?
20/05/2019It’s a very long way from the UK to Guatemala - a daunting 5,396 miles (8,685 Km) from our offices in Nottingham to our School of Hope in Jocotenango, Guatemala. We've now held our first cycle challenge to ride all the way in under 12 months!
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GB Olympian serves up ‘Play the Pro’ fundraiser
24/04/2019We recently hosted a ‘Play The Pro’ Table Tennis challenge in Nottingham, where for a donation, players put their Table Tennis talents to the test against Olympics and Commonwealth Games Table Tennis star Sam Walker.
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World EFTC Day - celebrations around the globe
29/03/2019On Thursday 7th March our wonderful network of supporters came together to celebrate World EFTC Day! From dinner parties to a ping pong challenge, scavenger hunts, Facebook fundraisers, and bake sales, every corner of the globe hosted brilliant events to raise vital funds and celebrate the global EFTC community!
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Adventures and celebrations in support of EFTC
26/11/2018It has been a busy few months of activity in the UK with a series of events to support both awareness and fundraising for EFTC.
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Graduation 2018
31/10/2018Yet again a ceremony of mixed emotions. Our graduations are a time for both celebration and reflection.
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Serving our one millionth meal
31/08/2018The School of Hope served it’s millionth meal today to our well deserving students, with the support of Greenyard UK.
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Employing our first school nurse
02/02/2018Celena has became the first nurse the school has ever had. She is also a fantastic example of perseverance, as Celena began her journey with the Foundation almost 10 years ago, when she enrolled in our middle school!
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A new sports pitch - thanks to the UEFA Foundation
02/10/2017Thanks to the generosity of UEFA the construction of EFTC´s all-weather Sports Pitch has been made possible. This Sports Pitch has been a dream of the Foundation for years and with the amazing donation of £32k from UEFA at the start of 2017 this dream has become a reality.
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Guatemalan Ambassador helps raise funds for the School of Hope
30/09/2017Guatemalan Ambassador to the UK, Señor Acisclo Valladares Molina helps raise funds for the School of Hope at this year's annual ball.
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Cycling for a future: Wheels4life
21/09/2017Thanks to the amazing supporters of the fantastic NGO, Wheels4Life, this year we received 50 new bicycles for our students.
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Carlos Escalante, An Outstanding Student despite the odds
06/09/2017“Even by helping only one person with their education, here in Guatemala, we are making a real difference”. Carlos Escalante.
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Our volunteers are love in motion
23/08/2017Each year EFTC receives over 150 volunteers. They vary in age, language, and nationality. Many of them are hopeful college students who come to trade textbooks for concrete experiences. While others are retired individuals happy for a chance to give back now that they have the time and opportunity.
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Ana Lara: The Importance of Empowerment
22/06/2017The task for our Youth Empowerment and Leadership Coordinator, Ana Lara, is to motivate our older students, to ‘empower’ them and teach them the skills that will help them overcome the many obstacles they will face in life.
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Gracia Anderson's life changing experience in Guatemala
26/05/2017For me going to Antigua Guatemala to volunteer at Proyecto La Esperanza was literally a life changing experience.
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EFTC's Milk Campaign: 'MILK MATTERS'
26/04/2017Most children grow up with a constant reminder from their parents: Drink your milk. This is not nearly the case of our children at The School of Hope, but you can help change that.
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From Tikal to the School of Hope via Football Focus
27/03/2017Paul Sanders, our guest blogger, taught maths for a very long time in the UK and this year he came down to Guatemala to meet his sponsor kids for the 1st time! He also worked on training math teachers and also worked closely with our junior high English teacher.
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Home visits: Understanding the situations our children come from and the difficulties they face
21/02/2017The objective of the home visits is to be able to monitor the current situation of each and every family our foundation supports. We assess their financial situation, the families health and the general environment of our students.
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Aura Alvarez from student to teacher at the School of Hope
13/07/2016Aura is one of our wonderful teachers at the School of Hope, working tirelessly to educate students from the same underprivileged background she once belonged to. We're so proud of Aura, who recently graduated from university, becoming a licensed teacher from kindergarten to high school!
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José Ángel, the entrepreneurial student who started his own business
24/06/2016José Ángel is one of our young entrepreneurs, a hard working student of Business Administration who runs his own Internet Cafe and dreams of becoming a successful businessman.
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A Year Abroad at the School of Hope
14/06/2016Lauren Martin, our guest blogger, is a Spanish and International Relations student from Scotland who chose to volunteer at the School of Hope for seven months as part of her Year Abroad, as she wanted to spend her time doing something worthwhile that would also help her gain experience in the NGO and development sector.
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Our new Chef tackles malnutrition
27/05/2016Even though Guatemala is very rich in natural resources, food availability is a serious problem. 24% of children under five are underweight and 46% suffer stunted growth. But this year, a new chef is helping us fight malnutrition at the School of Hope.
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Sponsorship Stories: "if you can make a child smile, that’s priceless"
13/05/2016A sponsor is more than someone far away supporting a child’s education, they can become mentors and friends, like Dave, Debbie and Fitzy, long-time EFTC supporters and child sponsors at the School of Hope.
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How books can help us dream
22/04/2016A new Reading programme was implemented this year at the School of Hope to encourage children's love of books and help them dream big. We talked to Jayra, our Reading teacher, to find out more.
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The importance of our Further Education programme
08/04/2016Meet Susana and Ana Laura, our Further Education team! The program is meant for students who graduate from the School of Hope and want to continue their education in high school and university, supporting them financially, emotionally and in their search for employment.
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Meet our Scholarship students: Melvin is becoming a Doctor!
19/03/2016Melvin, a 22 year old who's been with EFTC since 5th grade, is in his third year of Med School at one of the most prestigious universities in Guatemala. He's dreamed of being a doctor since he was five, and for that he commutes to the city everyday, spending up to 4 hours to get there and back.
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Sophie’s Story: How did EFTC start?
04/03/2016Sophie McKee is our current Foundation Director and one of EFTC’s founders, but the first time she came to Guatemala was 13 years ago, right after finishing High School, and what she discovered changed her life forever.
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UK Volunteer starts after school programme
12/02/2016Tam Winter, a volunteer from the UK, shares his experience at the School of Hope and how he contributed to the school's programme.
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Fitness blogger fundraises for EFTC’s London to Paris bike ride
29/01/2016“Never say you can't do something! If you set your mind to it you can do it. It's hard work but it will pay off in the end.” These are the words of Instagram health and fitness blogger JoLo, known to thousands as a young woman with a highly toned body and a love of good food.
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Tech company creates new opportunities for underprivileged children
08/12/2015Hide My Ass!, a UK based internet company, has been instrumental in providing access to the internet to disadvantaged children in Guatemala, therefore creating better employment opportunities for them in the future.
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Water everywhere and not a drop to drink...?
03/09/2015Far from Jocotenango, where great black clouds are threatening a downpour at any moment, experts in global water issues gathered in Stockholm for World Water Week, August 23rd-28th.
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Children answer volunteer's questions
23/02/2015Every time I heard my name from the other side of the playground and someone rushed towards me, wrapped a bracelet around my wrist or tattooed my arms all over with pen "te amo's" (I love you), I grew a little bit more attached to the wonderful children at the School of Hope.
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Boxes of love arrive at the School of Hope!
08/12/2014This year, for the second time, the School of Hope received the Christmas boxes of love thanks to the help of a wonderful organisation called Cajas del Amor.
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New computers arrive at the School of Hope!
17/09/2014The IT campaign ran on Indiegogo in August was 100% funded! We were able to purchase 14 reconditioned computers to equip a study room for our 120 Scholarship students, as well as 20 flat screens to replace the old deep screen monitors here at the School of Hope. All this happened thanks to your support!
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Amy's Q6 Challenge
12/08/2014Amy Holly, who has been with EFTC for 6 years, is leaving the Foundation in August to pursue other opportunities. Before she leaves, she is doing one final challenge for the Foundation. Amy will be living on 6 Quetzales a day ($0.75) for a week - which is how much an average EFTC beneficiary lives on.
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Community Spirit!
09/06/2014Aracely Chajon (Head of Social Support at The School of Hope) -Working at Education for the Children Foundation means a lot to me; being part of the change in my country represents the opportunity to build a better future for the current generation in Guatemala.
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Supporter Story: Rosanne
04/04/2014Taking a six month sabbatical from her job in London in the summer of 2012 was both daunting and invigorating for Rosanne.
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Q & A with Cindy
31/03/2014We put your burning questions to Cindy, our first graduate to become a child sponsor, at The School of Hope in Guatemala.
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Meet Evelyn and Her Brothers…
18/02/2014My name is Evelyn Azucena. I’m 14 years old. My older brother is a scholarship student and I have two younger brothers at the school too; Kevin and Juan Carlos. I don’t have any sisters.
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Doorway to the Future - John Niland
29/01/2014The buzz was palpable. Arriving at the school for opening day, I walked into scenes of eager preparation: PA being tested, key speakers rehearsing, all the scurry of preparation and anticipation.
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From EFTC Ambassador to passionate fisherman: the many ways in which Malcolm supports EFTC
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